Chillow Health   -   Chillow at Home



Pregnancy

Keeping a cool head during those last months of pregnancy is a wise idea, but keeping your body from overheating can actually be critical to the health of your baby.
When you’re pregnant, you feel the heat more than normal, due to a combination of the increased volume of blood in your body and having a slightly higher temperature. Even on cooler summer days, you can feel overheated.

The Chillow has been designed to actively keep your body at room temperature, simply apply the Chillow to the neck and shoulder areas, or wherever is needed to cool and relax your body.


Sleeping

Lying in a hot stuffy bedroom is anathema to a good night's sleep, but there is a simple step you can take to ensure you stay cool and comfortable and so avoid a miserable and restless night in bed.

The Chillow device can help relax the night-time consumer right from the start. Its cooling and soothing effect seems to slow both the mental and physiological aspect of the body. Some report a tranquillising effect. In a sleep study carried out in Michigan in 1998, the test subjects using a Chillow® were documented as falling asleep an average of 68% faster.

The Chillow is designed to keep you comfortable all the time and can be described as feeling like cool, soft leather against your skin. This leather like outer material of the Chillow surrounds the unique fluid-cool inner core allowing you to enjoy a more restful deep sleep, or REM sleep as many people know it. You won't be awakened with hot flashes and headaches that are usually brought on by being too warm. With the combination of a few of the right materials, the Chillow pillow will remain at room temperature, which is just below body temperature. The pillow will absorb the heat from your body and release it into the air around you.


Insomnia & Poor Sleep

Insomnia currently affects 17% of the adult population in the UK. Poor sleep impairs our ability to react creatively and appropriately to situations and has dramatically negative effect on a person's physical health. It leaves someone tired, anxious and feeling emotionally unstable.

Causes
Poor sleep patterns can be triggered by a number of factors including worry, depression or simply noise. In order to go to sleep, we need to relax, so if someone is constantly worrying they will prevent the natural process of sleep. People suffering from depression will often over-dream, resulting in exhaustion the next day. In order to compensate for this, the body will sometimes wake them up before too much dreaming has taken place, a problem that is called early-morning-waking syndrome. If someone has suffered disturbed sleep for a while, they can become anxious in advance about whether or not they will have a good night's sleep, which can lead to the problem continuing even after the initial cause has disappeared.

Solutions
Sleeping pills will put you to sleep but they also inhibit deep sleep and REM, reducing the quality of the sleep. Furthermore, the body develops a tolerance to them, necessitating larger and larger doses to have an effect. For these reasons, they should only be viewed as a short-term solution to specific situations.

A real solution would be:
1. Before bedtime, have very little to eat or drink.
2. Keep on a regular sleep schedule, including weekends. Say good night, and arise at a consistent time. If you get enough sleep, you will awake on your own.
3. Avoid caffeine and nicotine. They are stimulants, they are addictive, and they may keep you awake.
4. Exercise. Physical activity greatly enhances the ability to get deep, refreshing sleep. Exercise in the afternoon, if you are able.
5. Keep your sleeping environment cool. Your metabolism naturally slows at night; and the quicker you can relax, the better. Cooling seems to slow you both physiologically and mentally. Use an air conditioner or fan to keep the room cool. Using the Chillow® allows for a direct cooling effect in quiet, dry, powerless fashion.
6. Sleep only at nighttime. Limit any daytime sleep to brief naps.
7. Keep your sleeping environment quiet.Turn off the radio and TV. A constant, soothing sound in the background will help cover up undesirable noise.
8. Make your bed. Make sure your bed and mattress is supportive and comfortable. Change your mattress about once every 6-8 years.
9. Relax! Slow, deep breathing after a hot bath or shower will help put you in a nice tranquil state before dozing off.
10. Sleep. All Chillow users have found this soft cooling effect very relaxing and able to ease their mental activities as they approach sleep.


Eczema

One person in ten has eczema at some time in their life, usually during childhood and the majority of these children will attend mainstream schools. It is therefore very likely that in every school there will be a number of children who have eczema in varying degrees of severity.

In the majority of cases eczema can be managed well within the school environment. By making use of the following information and guidelines most children should be able to lead and active and fulfilling school life.

Eczema is a skin condition, which can result in dry, inflamed and sometimes weeping or infected skin. There is no cure - only different ways of managing the condition.

The main type is atopic eczema, which is usually inherited, and often allied to asthma and hay fever.

Important facts

• Eczema is a highly individual condition that may differ from child to child and also within the same child from time to time. It can appear anywhere on the body though it is commonly seen on the backs of the knees, elbows, wrists, ankle and neck. Some children who are severely affected may have eczema that covers the whole body and face.

• Eczema is a dry skin condition that needs regular moisturising. Dry skin will itch and this leads to scratching which will damage the skin and cause bleeding. Dry skin can also crack and fissure making movement difficult. Sometimes it hurts even to smile because the skin cracks open; and fingers may be too sore to hold a pencil. Soreness and stiff limbs can make children miserable and moody.

• A hot, itchy skin is the predominant symptom. The greater the itch, the greater is the desire to scratch. This can cause pain and bleeding, but the need to scratch remains. For some children this itch is almost constant and it may be unreasonable to expect a child always to resist the need to scratch in the classroom.

• Constant itching and scratching, with sleepless nights, is often the pattern for a child with eczema. Children may be late for school, may have difficulty concentrating during lessons and may fall behind with work. Some children who are severely affected may also have periods of absence.

• Eczema is not contagious, but children with eczema can be the butt of cruel teasing. Even very small children can he made to feel rejected - some children may not want to hold their hands for example.

• Eczema often improves as the child grows older, although it can reappear at any time (for example, in adolescence and at times of stress). The condition fluctuates and can move in its own cycles - some children are worse than others in spite of excellent care.

How can the Chillow help?
The Chillow uses a unique material that is kind and soothing to the skin. It’s cooling effect keeps your skin fresh and feeling less irritable. The Chillow® is made of super-soft medical-grade materials that are hypoallergenic and also non-toxic. By combining the right materials and an ingenious design, the Chillow® stays at room temperature, which is always cooler than your body. It absorbs heat from your body and releases it into the air around you. The Chillow® is meant to be pleasantly cool, but not cold because cold is uncomfortable to our bodies.


Fever in children

Normal body temperature is around 37°C. Fever is an abnormally high body temperature. Children are more likely to have a wider range of normal body temperatures than adults. This means that small temperature increases in children are generally less significant than the same increase in an adult.

What causes a fever?
Fever is not an illness in itself. It is a sign of other problems in the body, and is usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection. It is thought to be the body's natural defence mechanism - the body tries to reach a temperature that the virus or bacteria cannot survive in.

However, fever can also be a symptom of a wide variety of other illnesses. For example, certain blood disorders, respiratory (breathing) problems, and psychological or emotional disorders may cause fever. Fever can also be caused by teething, dehydration and some childhood immunisations.

All these conditions trigger the immune system (the body's defence system) to produce chemicals. These chemicals affect the normal functioning of a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, the heat-regulating centre in the brain.

Symptoms
Fever means having a body temperature at least 0.5°C above normal on two recordings taken at least two hours apart. As well as a high temperature, children with a fever often have:

• clammy skin

• sweating

• headache

• irritability and crying

• a flushed appearance

• tiredness

• aches and pains

A rapidly rising fever may cause chills - periods of shivering. In some children between six months and six years old, a high fever (over 39°C) can lead to seizures (fits), which are called febrile convulsions. During a febrile convulsion, part or all of the body may shake and twitch, and the eyes may roll back in the head. Although febrile convulsions can be frightening they are believed to be harmless and usually last less than five minutes.

Taking a child's temperature
A satisfactory temperature reading can usually be obtained by placing a mercury or digital display thermometer in the child's armpit, directly against the skin, and holding the arm gently against the chest. The reading will be 0.5°C lower than it would be if the temperature was measured with a thermometer in the mouth (oral). This should be taken into consideration when assessing the child's fever. The thermometer needs to be held in place for five to ten minutes, so this method may not be suitable for younger children who will not stay still for this length of time.

Oral readings can be taken in older children, but are unsuitable in babies and very young children. To take an oral reading, place the thermometer in the child's mouth under the tongue. Leave it in place for two minutes, checking that the child is not biting on the thermometer.

Remember to clean the thermometer after use. With mercury thermometers, shake down the column before use. Fever scanners, which can be held on the child's forehead, are not as accurate, but give a general idea of the child's temperature. They can also be useful for children who are resistant to having their temperature recorded by other methods, or are sleeping.

Another option is a digital aural thermometer that measures the temperature in the ear. A clean cover is placed over the thermometer and the tip is placed in the ear. Pressing the button activates the thermometer and gives an immediate reading. These are now used routinely in hospitals and by GPs and give very accurate readings, but they are expensive to buy.

It is best to read children's temperatures before giving any fever-reducing medication.

Treating a fever
In most cases, fever is due to a viral infection and will get better within a day. If the child's temperature is less than 38.8°C, you can help to reduce it.

• Encourage the child to have enough cool drinks or ice-lollies to avoid dehydration. The child should urinate at least every six to eight hours, and the urine should be pale yellow. They will need to drink more if they have diarrhoea or vomiting.

• Dress the child lightly.

• If they need to rest in bed, cover them with a light sheet rather than blankets or a quilt and keep the room cool (approximately 20°C).

• Apply the Chillow, this will help to bring down the temperature of your child and reduce any further temperature. The Chillow will also calm your child with its cooling effect allowing them to relax and try to get a restful night sleep.

• Only give medication that is suitable for children, such as children's paracetamol (eg Calpol) or ibuprofen (eg Nurofen for children). Follow the guidelines on the container. Never give aspirin to a child under 16 years because, rarely, it can cause a serious illness called Reye's syndrome.

Check the child's temperature regularly to check that the fever is under control. If the fever has not gone within 24 hours, call a healthcare professional for advice. NHS Direct can give advice 24 hours a day.

When to call a doctor
Contact a healthcare professional if fever develops in any child who has recently had an operation, or recently returned from any foreign travel.
Also seek medical advice if:

• fever is accompanied by confusion or disorientation

• temperature rises above 38.9°C in children or 38°C in a baby under one year

• there is any fever in an infant under two months

• fever has no obvious cause

• fever is accompanied by, more than three episodes of diarrhoea in the last 24 hours

• there is blood in the diarrhoea

• fever is accompanied by vomiting and an inability to keep fluids down

• fever lasts longer than 24 hours

• the child is persistently drowsy and difficult to wake

• in babies, less than half the usual amount of feed has been taken in the last day

• in babies, there have been fewer than four wet nappies in the last 24 hours
   

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

The Chillow has been recommended to Multiple Sclerosis sufferers as the cooling effect of the Chillow calms the nerves, which in turn will easy the pain a MS patient is suffering.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a condition of the central nervous system. It is the most common disabling neurological disease among young adults and affects around 85,000 people in the UK. MS is most often diagnosed in people between the ages of 20 and 40, and women are almost twice as likely to develop it as men.

Once diagnosed, MS stays with you for life, but treatments and specialists can help you to manage many symptoms well. Although its cause is not known and a cure has yet to be identified, research continues into all aspects of the condition.

The central nervous system
To understand what happens in MS, you need to understand how the central nervous system works. Your central nervous system is made up of your brain and spinal cord. Your brain controls bodily activities, such as movement and thought, and your spinal cord is the central message pathway. Messages are sent from your brain to all parts of your body, controlling both conscious and unconscious actions.

Surrounding and protecting the nerve fibres of the central nervous system is an important substance called myelin, which helps messages travel quickly and smoothly between the brain and the rest of the body.

What happens in MS?
MS is an autoimmune condition. This means that your immune system, which normally helps to fight off infections, mistakes your body’s own tissue for a foreign body, such as infectious bacteria, and attacks it. In MS, the immune system attacks myelin. This damages the myelin and strips it off the nerve fibres, either partially or completely, leaving scars known as lesions or plaques. This myelin damage disrupts messages travelling along nerve fibres – they can slow down, become distorted, pass from one nerve fibre to another (short circuiting), or not get through at all.

As well as myelin loss, there can also sometimes be damage to the actual nerve fibres. It is this nerve damage that causes the accumulation of disability that can occur over time.

As the central nervous system links all bodily activities, many different types of symptoms can appear in MS. The specific symptoms that appear depend upon which part of your central nervous system is affected and the job of the damaged nerve.

Making it easier to understand
The simplest way to understand what happens in MS is to think of your nervous system as an electrical circuit, with your brain and spinal cord acting as the power source and the rest of your body being the lights, computers, TVs, etc. Your nerves are like the electrical cables linking all of the appliances together and the myelin is the plastic insulation surrounding these cables. If the insulation gets damaged, the electrical current to appliances can become faulty or temperamental and there may be a short circuit, preventing the appliances from working properly.

Why is it called 'Multiple Sclerosis'?
The word sclerosis comes from the Greek 'skleros' meaning hard. In MS, hard areas called plaques, lesions or scars develop around the nerves. 'Multiple' refers to the many different areas of the central nervous system that may have damaged myelin.