Signs of fatigue

Fatigue is a feeling familiar to every person who is able to move and think. Many people also know the signs of fatigue. In this article, we will try to voice them and understand the mechanism of their occurrence.

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Early Sign of Fatigue

The primary symptoms of fatigue are somewhat different due to the genesis of the process. If the cause of the discomfort is mental overstrain, then the early sign of fatigue is:

• To memory deterioration.
• Problems with the speed of information processing.
• It becomes difficult for a person to concentrate.
• There is a feeling of emptiness and fog in the head.

The appearance of these symptoms is associated with long-term and intensive mental work, for example, preparing a student for an exam, work associated with constantly solving mental problems.

If a person's professional activity is associated with physical exertion, it may be heavy physical work or monotonous work even with a small load. For example, such a condition may be observed in a person working on a conveyor belt, in an athlete after an exhausting workout, in a truck driver after a long drive, and so on. An early sign of fatigue of this nature is manifested by:

• There is a desire to sleep.
• Apathy.
• Decreased performance:
  • The person begins to work automatically.
  • If at the initial stage the worker could perform several actions simultaneously, for example, directly perform his professional actions, talk, look out the window, then, over time, his strength is only enough for work.
  • Gradually, there is a breakdown in the coordination of movement and the worker's body begins to spend more energy to perform the same work.
  • Labor productivity is falling.
  • There is a loss of attention, it is more difficult for a person to concentrate on performing certain actions.
  • The number of defects is increasing.
  • As a result, such a situation can lead to an accident.
• A response to fatigue of the autonomic nervous system is observed:
  • Increased sweating.
  • The need to breathe deeper and more often.
  • Increased pulse rate.
  • Hyperemia of the human skin.

There are often cases when fatigue comes from a combination of both physical and psychological (emotional) stress.

With any kind of load, the condition of the blood changes and the body needs to speed up its circulation in the vessels. This is the work of the cardiovascular system. Consequently, with increased physical load, first of all, the heart has to do a lot of work, since the volumes of the pumped medium increase, the volume of filling and emptying of the cardiac ventricles increases, and the body has to apply more effort and burn more reserves to get the necessary amount of energy for contraction and straightening of muscles.

In order to have enough energy to perform a certain physical action, more blood is supplied to the straining muscles, and its volumes are redistributed in the body. This occurs due to the reaction of the vessels: some capillaries narrow, while others increase in cross-section. In addition, the volume of circulating plasma is replenished by pumping blood from the so-called "storage tanks" - local expansions of the vessels, which are mainly located in the lung system, liver and skin. If necessary, these vessels spasm and the blood located there is supplied to the general blood cycle.

Oxygen, the main element of nutrition and energy, enters the body through the respiratory system. And if in a calm state a person needs from 150 to 300 cubic centimeters of air per minute (depending on age and gender), then in the case of high physical exertion, the body begins to consume this product 10 - 15 times more, that is, the volumes of pulmonary ventilation increase.

With high intensity of physical labor or its prolonged monotony, there comes a time when fatigue comes to the body. A person begins to feel signs of fatigue.

In physical and chemical terms, early signs of fatigue are:

• Precipitation of lactic acid, toxins and other metabolic products in muscle tissue.
• Inhibition of the vegetative-neuralgic system, decreased ability to work in the nervous apparatus of the peripheral system.
• "Fatigue" of the cortical part of the central nervous system.

Today, doctors consider the theory of central cortical fatigue in muscle function to be the most probable. The essence of the theory is that the appearance of signs of fatigue is a cortical protective reaction of the body to physical overexertion by reducing the performance, primarily, of the cells of the cortical region.

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Objective and subjective signs of fatigue

In medical monograms, representatives of this field of human activity distinguish between objective and subjective signs of fatigue, which differ somewhat from each other.

Objective signs of fatigue are: •

• Dulling of the sense of caution.
• Decrease in labor productivity.
• Observed physiological changes in the body:
  • Impaired perception.
  • Increased heart rate.
  • Increased breathing. It becomes shallow but frequent.
  • Increased blood pressure.
  • Changes in the nature of response motor skills.
  • Attention escaping.

Subjective signs of fatigue include:

• General fatigue of the body, decreased muscle tone.
• Local feeling of fatigue. That is, a person feels fatigue in a specific way, for example, in the lower or upper extremities.
• There is a real desire to reduce the work rhythm or completely stop physical or mental activity.
• During physical work, weakness and slight tremors appear directly in the limbs.

External signs of fatigue

Fatigue is a physiological characteristic of the human body, which is a temporary decrease in the body's ability to fully function. Externally, the main symptom of fatigue is a deterioration in the quality of work and a decrease in its pace. Other external signs of fatigue are:

• The shade of the skin changes. Depending on the intensity of the work, it can fluctuate from slightly pinkish to crimson-red (with pronounced cyanosis - a visible blueness).
• Increased activity of sweat glands. At low intensity – these are small beads of sweat, localized mainly on the face in the frontal part. During heavy physical work, sweat secretion is quite abundant. At the same time, stains from salt coming out with sweat can be observed on clothes.
• Changing the breathing rhythm. It can change from smooth - accelerated to more rhythmic and intense - accelerated. Raising and lowering the shoulders in time with the breathing is added.
• Failures in movement coordination. If at the beginning of the work a person's movements are coordinated and less energy is involved in their implementation, then later the movements become more uncoordinated, swaying, tremors in the upper and/or lower limbs appear, there is no strength or desire for further movement.

If a person begins to feel tired or there are external signs of fatigue in a person working nearby, it is worth stopping the activity and taking a short break, allowing the body to at least partially recover.

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Signs of fatigue and exhaustion

What is fatigue and overfatigue? Fatigue is a physiological reaction of the body to the load applied to it. Overfatigue is a prolonged feeling of tiredness that occurs due to the absence of a long period of rest. So what are the signs of fatigue and overfatigue and what is the difference between these two terms?

Fatigue is the physical, psychological and emotional exhaustion of the human body. While overfatigue is a long-term feeling of exhaustion, that is, fatigue. The state of overfatigue is a constant feeling for many modern people, due to our rhythm of life and constant stress. This fact mostly concerns residents of megalopolises. This situation is dangerous for human health, and in some cases, maybe not directly, for his life.

Signs of fatigue and overwork are quite obvious and familiar to almost everyone.

• Such a person is haunted by constant drowsiness.
• He may be plagued by constant, almost never-ending headaches, the intensity of which changes throughout the day.
• Even after a seemingly peaceful night, such a person feels weak and "broken". That is, during sleep, the body is no longer able to restore the amount of energy that was spent during the day.
• Despite the constant desire to sleep, I can’t fall asleep for a long time.
• Other diseases also haunt such a person. It would seem that you have just treated one, and another one immediately catches on. Which is the result of reduced immunity.
• A sign of fatigue and overwork is a deterioration in memory and a decrease in physical performance.
• A person becomes apathetic and wants everyone to leave him alone.
• Attention becomes distracted. Such a person may need to make a certain effort to concentrate.
• All these factors can cause high blood pressure.
• In this state, people become taciturn.

If a person is exposed to unfavorable factors for a long time, fatigue becomes chronic. Chronic fatigue is what is called overfatigue. Against its background, the body's ability to resist external influences decreases, which leads to an increased risk of injury or illness.

Overfatigue does not pass without leaving a trace on the nervous system.

• Nervous breakdowns.
• Sudden change of mood.
• Such a person has a desire to be alone.
• He may react inappropriately to a seemingly insignificant remark.
• Hysterics.
• Feeling of anxiety, increased irritability.
• Tension in relationships with loved ones.

Signs of physical fatigue

If a person's professional activity is associated with constant physical exertion, then fatigue initially begins to manifest itself locally, affecting those muscles that are directly involved in performing actions. During research using the Mosso ergograph, it was proven that in the process of constant physical activity, muscle fatigue gradually increases and the ergograph begins to record a decrease in the strength, amplitude and frequency with which the muscles continue to contract and relax. That is, there is a disruption in the relationship between antagonistic muscles. The time of the relaxation phase increases especially.

The curve recorded on the Mosso ergograph tape is called the "fatigue curve". Analyzing the results of the study, specialists note that the time between the onset of the stimulus and the emergence of the muscle response gradually lengthens, that is, the latent period becomes longer.

The signs of physical fatigue that have appeared, voiced above, are the precursors to the fact that the body simply stops “listening” to the signals of the brain and “refuses” to continue working. The efficiency of muscle tissue gradually decreases and tends to zero.

A person may not always feel signs of physical fatigue after intensive work at the end of the working day. Sometimes this condition occurs immediately after waking up, although the night passed peacefully, and the sleep was deep. The reason for such a clinic may be asthenia - a condition of the human body, in which it functions with its last strength. This pathology is one of the types of mental disorders.

Diagnosis of asthenia indicates that even minor physical activity throws the body "off track", leading it to complete decline. Such an uncomfortable state also affects the quality of life of such a person. After all, he has to adapt to his body, changing his plans, since "the body requires" more frequent and longer rest.

Moreover, signs of physical fatigue can also include:

• Increased heart rate.
• Increased sweating.
• Bad mood or lack of any emotions (apathy) - there is simply no strength for them.
• There are frequent cases when a person begins to feel a constant headache of varying intensity.
• Overfatigue can also affect appetite: a tired person has a decreased or completely lost desire to eat. Consequently, the body receives less energy – a vicious circle is created.
• With chronic fatigue, intestinal disorders can also be observed.
• Overfatigue can also work, on the contrary, with hyperactivity of the body. Such a situation leads to an even greater aggravation of the situation, since the body, contrary to logic, begins to spend even more energy, launching the mechanism of self-destruction. And if, in order to relax, a person begins to use alcoholic beverages, the situation worsens, and the state of health only worsens.

Signs of tired children

Nature itself, it would seem, protects a child from overfatigue, given the number of movements that a child manages to make throughout the day. If this were to be applied to an adult, he would probably drop out of the race halfway through. But with increased mobility, signs of fatigue in children are still observed, although they have their own characteristics.

Pediatricians have noted that the younger the baby, the shorter the period of time it will take for him to become tired. Thus, a newborn child, without any physical activity, gets tired after one and a half to two hours from the moment he begins to be awake.

As the child grows, physical activity and then thinking are added to the factors influencing the state of fatigue of the little person. Do not forget that the baby should diversify the loads, using various games, since monotonous activities cause the signs of fatigue in children to appear more quickly.

A distinctive feature of a child's body is that at the moment of fatigue, signs of excitation begin to prevail over the inhibition reaction. A long period of retardation quickly brings the child to a state of fatigue. One such example is a school lesson. Children do not exert themselves physically, unless it is a labor or physical education lesson, and, nevertheless, the child comes home from school tired.

Increased fatigue in a baby can also be provoked by a transition to a daily routine without a long daytime sleep or a reduction in the duration of nighttime rest, as well as irregular ventilation of the room in which the baby spends most of the time and a short duration of walks in the fresh air.

The reason for rapid fatigue in a child’s body is an incorrectly drawn up schedule by parents of alternating physical (play) or mental (study) loads with rest.

Signs of fatigue in children begin to appear:

• Weakening of differentiation in movements.
• Decreased attention and accuracy of manipulations.
• Motor restlessness appears.

If a child, tired, continues to receive a load, then a kind of toggle switch is triggered in his body, which, by the process of inhibition, affects the area of the cerebral cortex responsible for sensory analyzers: vision, hearing, skin. Affecting them, fatigue causes sleep in the child. Many have encountered a situation when a child falls asleep in the most inappropriate place or position, which often gives adults a reason to laugh. For school-age children, the mental load component increases and if parents are actively trying to create a genius and a well-rounded personality out of the child, enrolling him in several additional clubs and sections - this approach does not lead to anything good. The lack of effective rest, playing in the fresh air, lack of sleep and the child's body may not withstand such a load, after which a failure occurs.

Signs of fatigue may appear in a baby:

• Frequent respiratory or other diseases.
• Movements become sluggish and uncertain.
• Complaints of headache.
• Lack of appetite.
• Memory impairment, absent-mindedness.
• The mucous membranes and skin become pale.
• With chronic fatigue, a child may experience tremors in the upper limbs.
• Apathy appears and interest in school lessons decreases.
• The child becomes irritable and easily excitable.
• Decreased ability to concentrate leads to an increase in the number of errors.
• In some cases, increased tearfulness can be observed.
• The body's ability to think actively is reduced.

In order to prevent signs of fatigue in children, the first thing parents should learn is that the child should have a balanced regimen in which periods of stress effectively alternate with periods of rest. In this case:

• Do not allow your baby to lack sleep.
• Reduce the loads, making them moderate.
• Organize an effective alternation of periods of rest and work.
• Spend more time with your child playing outdoors.
• For preschoolers, the lesson time should not exceed 15-20 minutes.
• Eliminate monotony from activities with your baby.
• Variety should be practiced in activities, even within a single lesson.
• Create a daily routine so that physical and mental activity alternates adequately with long periods of rest.

Signs of driver fatigue

Long monotonous work is sometimes more tiring than active physical labor. Drivers of motor vehicles can be classified as such a category of professions. The constant need for increased attention, prolonged sitting in one position do their job - the person behind the wheel begins to get tired, signs of driver fatigue appear.

• Attention begins to dull.
• Memory weakens.
• The eyes become clouded and try to close, a burning or squeaking sensation appears in them. The driver's body is overwhelmed by fatigue and drowsiness.
• A slight dizziness begins.
• An increase in sweat production by the corresponding glands is observed.
• A period of drowsiness can be replaced by irritability, overexcitement, and vice versa.
• The speed of processing incoming information decreases.
• The reaction to information can be either slow or too fast, but not always correct.

The first signs of fatigue begin to appear after four hours of continuous driving after the moment when a person gets behind the wheel. After a driver has been driving for eight hours without a break, the nature of the car's movement changes significantly:

• The car's speed becomes uneven.
• The driver changes gears more abruptly.
• The car starts making unnecessary movements.
• Objectivity in assessing the situation is lost.
• A symptom of illusory optical transformation appears, when an object appears further away than it actually is.
• An experienced driver can lose all his skills in such a situation.
• Wanting to at least partially rest, the driver leans back a little or slides out of the seat, which significantly narrows his view and makes it difficult to use the steering wheel.

Knowing this, experienced drivers, after a short time behind the wheel, will definitely stop the car and take a break to rest, stretch, eat or even sleep. After all, the statistics of accidents and crashes, when the driver simply fell asleep at the wheel, are terrifying, taking away multiple human lives.

To at least partially alleviate fatigue, experienced drivers and doctors give a number of recommendations:

• If a driver is preparing for a long journey, he should sleep at least seven hours before leaving.
• You shouldn't overeat before a long journey.
• At least once every four hours it is worth stopping the car and resting.
• You can wash yourself with cold water or, if possible, take a bath. This will invigorate you well and drive away fatigue.
• It's worth doing a few warm-up movements.
• Strong tea or coffee would be a good choice.

Such advice is suitable for minor fatigue. If all the signs of moderate and severe fatigue are present, then there is only one recommendation - a good night's sleep. But if there is no opportunity to stop for a long time and a person is forced to continue moving, then:

• Minimize night-time travel.
• It is still worth moving at a lower speed, while keeping a greater distance between the cars in front than usual.
• You shouldn't look at one point all the time, but change the direction of your gaze, moving from one object to another.
• If the landscape outside the car window is monotonous, it is worth changing the speed limit every 15-20 minutes.
• It is worth opening the side window slightly or completely (depending on the situation and time of year).
• Avoid taking antidepressants and sedatives.
• If the driver is a heavy smoker, it is worth airing out the interior after each cigarette.
• Any strong emotions are dangerous for a person behind the wheel. You should first calm down and then continue on your way.

These simple tips will help you to eliminate the monotony of the road, which dulls your attention and makes you sleepy.

Signs of different phases of fatigue

Doctors divide the state of human fatigue into two phases based on certain signs. Signs of different phases of fatigue are divided depending on their belonging to these categories.

• The initial phase or latent fatigue is the level of fatigue when a person is still able to control their performance and maintain it at the level necessary for high-quality performance of work. Overcoming fatigue is achieved due to increased stimulation of areas of the cerebral cortex that seek reserves to perform the assigned task. This result is obtained despite the fact that the body's efficiency has already been reduced and significant shifts have occurred in the work of the vegetative-vascular system.
• The next phase of fatigue is irreversible, unrecoverable fatigue factors. This phase is determined by a decrease in the external efficiency of the work process. Despite all the efforts of the worker, his productivity tends to zero. The central nervous system begins to slow down, or even block the signals passing through, forcing the person to stop working.

Signs of varying degrees of fatigue

When working physically or performing a mental task, a person can feel slight fatigue or become so tired that he simply “falls off his feet.” This principle can be used to differentiate signs of varying degrees of fatigue. In this case, symptoms are manifested by a combination of internal and external factors. External manifestations of fatigue include changes in skin tone, disturbances in heartbeat and breathing rhythm, increased sweating, and failure of motor skills and motor coordination. Internal symptoms include disorders associated with deviations in the functioning of the functional and physiological sphere. This can be nausea and dizziness. A person begins to feel pain in the muscles that have received the greatest load.

A person's ability to tolerate certain loads can be controlled by the quantitative component of the heart rate. Normally, the heart rate of a healthy person falls within the range of 60 to 80 beats per minute. Based on the normal figures, the level of load and, accordingly, fatigue is determined. In a normal state of the body, the heart rate should be restored within five minutes after the load stops.

If the heart rate is between 100 and 130 beats per minute, then mild fatigue is stated, if this indicator falls within the range of 130 to 150 beats per minute - fatigue and a load of medium intensity. If the heart rate is 150 - 170 beats per minute, then we can already talk about high loads, but if the body begins to work at the limit of its strength, then the heart rate can be from 170 to 200 beats per minute.

External signs of varying degrees of fatigue are divided into:

• Mild fatigue level:
  • The skin turns slightly pink.
  • Sweat beads are released in small quantities. They are localized mainly on the face in the forehead area.
  • The breathing rhythm is slightly accelerated, but even, without interruptions. A person is able to breathe both through the mouth and through the nose.
  • Coordination and motor skills remain within normal limits.
• Average level of fatigue:
  • The skin takes on a red tint.
  • Profuse sweating, which is clearly visible in the head and body area.
  • The intensity of respiratory activity increases, a person is able to breathe only through the oral cavity, the volume of nasal breathing is no longer sufficient.
  • Coordination and motor skills remain within normal limits.
• High level of fatigue - overwork:
  • The skin becomes quite pale, and in the triangle - the corners of the upper lip and nose - a clearly differentiated blueness appears, which has its own medical term - cyanosis.
  • Profuse sweating, which is clearly visible in the head and body area. Salts coming out with sweat appear on clothing, appearing as whitish spots.
  • The intensity of respiratory activity increases. Inhalation and exhalation are duplicated by the shoulders.
  • There is a lack of coordination of movement. The person's upper and lower limbs begin to shake, the body sways slightly, and problems with movement may arise.

To support your body and not bring it to complete exhaustion, it is worth adjusting your regimen by taking some preventive measures:

• Make time for walks in the fresh air before bed.
• Review your work schedule. It should alternate work hours with relaxing breaks.
• Avoid stressful situations.
• Sleep at least eight hours a day.
• It is worth removing bad habits from your life.
• Human nutrition should be rational and rich in microelements and vitamins. Avitaminosis is one of the main reasons for weakening the body and its overfatigue.
• You should learn to switch your attention or alternate physical work with mental work, and vice versa.

Symptoms of fatigue are familiar to everyone and many believe that it is enough to just lie down for a while and strength will be restored. But this is not entirely true. Our technological age, the ever-accelerating pace of life and being in a stressful situation 24 hours a day (this applies more to residents of large cities) exhaust our body, keeping it in constant tension. Therefore, most of the population already has a history of chronic fatigue, where all the signs of fatigue are present. But there is a way out of any situation. And the main thing in this is the person himself. Only by properly organizing your life and learning to fully rest can you solve the problem of chronic fatigue, which can lead to complete exhaustion of the body. Learn to manage your life and find in it those objective and subjective factors that can bring joy and peace, and, therefore, provide the opportunity to effectively restore such necessary internal energy!