AAOS offers information and tips to help you stay cool and prevent heat illness and injury. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons offers the following information and tips to help you stay cool and prevent heat illness and injury. To understand what causes heat injury, it's important to know how your body responds to changes in temperature. Heat injury, or hyperthermia, occurs when these mechanisms fail to restore normal body temperature. Heat injury can take the form of heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
Heat cramps are the mildest form of hyperthermia.
A person with heat cramps may complain of muscle twitching, cramps or spasm. Treatment typically consists of drinking water to restore adequate hydration and rest in a cool environment. Heat exhaustion is the next severe form of heat injury. A person may complain of headache, fatigue, weakness, lack of coordination and excessive thirst as well as the symptoms of heat cramps. In addition, he or she may suffer nausea or diarrhea.