How to Cool Down Your Body When You’re Really Hot and Can’t Stop Sweating

Just note that you want to stick with cool water versus ice water, Dr. Diller says. If the water is frigid, it can cause those blood vessels in your hands and forearms to constrict (or get narrower), which allows for less contact between your warm blood and the surface of your skin, meaning less potential for heat to transfer out—not good. By contrast, tap water on the chillier side is “quite effective for cooling the blood flowing through the vessels while still keeping them open,” Dr. Diller says.

Dab your face with a cold wet towel.

Your cheeks and forehead are also spots with a bunch of blood vessels right below the skin’s surface—hence that flush you might get when you’re boiling. So the same general principle as above can apply here: By just chilling your face, you’re going to cool down a lot of blood quickly, which can make you feel much better ASAP, Dr. Diller says. Not to mention, your face is very sensitive to temperature, Dr. Morris says, which is also why you can get such instant relief from directly cooling that area.

Down an ice-cold drink.

You might remember from above that chugging something cold won’t actually drop your body temperature if you’re already mid-sweat. What drinking a chilled beverage can do, though, is slow down your body’s sweat response, allowing more of that liquid to quickly evaporate from your skin (as opposed to dribbling down it).

As you slurp that icy drink, your overall temperature will stay about the same, but you’ll eventually be less damp, and therefore, more comfortable, Dr. Morris says. Any cold beverage can do the trick here, but if you reach for plain water or an electrolyte-rich sports drink, you’ll also maximize your rehydration, which is key whenever you’re schvitzing (and especially post-workout).

If you’re home, take a cool—not frigid—shower.

If wetting your hands, forearms, and face can chill you out, it only follows that covering even more of your body with cool water will just enhance that effect. Of course, it’s not always possible to douse yourself—say, if you just got to work or a restaurant, and the beads of sweat are forming—but if you’re home, and a shower or bath is feasible, it’s a quick way to cool down and stop sweating, Dr. Pryor says.

If you’re extremely hot, it might be tempting to go full ice bath or crank that faucet as cold as you can handle—but it’s possible to take things too far, Dr. Diller says. Again, super cold water can cause your blood vessels to constrict, which blocks heat from transferring out as easily (the opposite of what you want).

And if you really can’t cool down…

Feeling overheated can go from a mild nuisance to a serious health issue quickly if you aren’t able to lower your core body temperature. If the above steps don’t seem to be chilling you out, or you’ve been active in the heat and feel like you just can’t stop sweating, it’s important to seek medical attention, as you may be experiencing a form of heat illness, like heat exhaustion. (Common signs include nausea, vomiting, headache, and feeling dizzy or lightheaded.)

With a bit of prep, and by taking some heat-of-the-moment action to cool your body down, though, you can soak up the sun this summer without feeling personally victimized by it.

Related:

• It’s Not Just You: Extreme Heat Is Making All of Us Really Cranky
• How to Survive Boob Sweat Season
• Here’s What ‘Sun Poisoning’ Actually Means, According to Dermatologists

Get more of SELF’s great service journalism delivered right to your inbox.