Working, living, and traveling a lot under the sun can easily cause dehydration due to sweating and electrolyte loss. Patients are susceptible to heatstroke and heat shock, with common symptoms being thirst, dry lips, hot skin, fever, dizziness, headache, muscle weakness, nausea and vomiting, fainting, and coma.
A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or ruptured. Typical symptoms involve language, movement, sensation, smell, hearing, etc. The most common symptoms include facial paralysis, mouth distortion, weakness in the limbs, slurred speech, difficulty speaking, severe headache, nausea, vomiting, etc. The signs of a stroke often occur suddenly.
As you described, your symptoms often occur after being in the sun, so it is possible that they are due to heatstroke or heat shock. However, you should not be subjective because heat shock is a factor that can increase the risk of stroke, especially in people with existing health problems such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, high blood cholesterol…
When going outdoors, you should drink enough water, cover yourself with a hat, jacket, sunglasses, and get enough rest. When you come home, you should sit in a room with normal temperature for 10-15 minutes, then use the air conditioner to avoid heat shock. If you suspect a stroke, you should have a health check and stroke screening to detect risks early and proactively prevent the disease.
Stroke is a medical emergency. The golden time for emergency treatment of ischemic stroke is the first 3-4.5 hours from the onset of symptoms, which can be extended to 6 hours or more with endovascular intervention to remove large blood vessel thrombus. However, the sooner the emergency treatment, the more effective it is within the first 60 minutes.
For every hour that passes, a stroke patient loses 3.7 years of life. The later emergency treatment is given, the older and more atrophied the brain becomes. Therefore, when there are signs of suspected stroke, the patient or family member should go to a hospital with stroke expertise for emergency treatment and early intervention, within the golden hour.