Chills are your body’s way of generating heat through rapid, involuntary muscle contractions. The fastest way to help them is to warm your body from the outside (blankets, layers, a warm room) while raising your internal temperature with hot fluids like tea, coffee, or hot chocolate. But because chills can stem from fever, cold exposure, low blood sugar, anxiety, or other causes, the best approach depends on what’s triggering them.
Why Your Body Produces Chills
A region deep in the brain acts as your internal thermostat. When it senses that your core temperature is too low, or when an infection tricks it into raising the target temperature, it activates a cascade that increases energy expenditure and triggers muscle activity. Those rapid, shivering contractions are essentially your muscles burning fuel to produce heat. Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences mapped this circuit and found that activating the cold-sensing neurons in this region raised core body temperature by about 1.4°C and boosted energy expenditure by roughly 47% within 100 minutes.
This is why chills feel so intense during a fever. Your brain has temporarily reset the thermostat higher, so your normal body temperature suddenly “reads” as too cold. Your muscles start contracting to close the gap. Once your temperature rises to meet the new set point, the shivering stops, and you may actually feel hot.
Immediate Ways to Ease Chills
Whether your chills come from a fever, cold weather, or something else, the core strategy is the same: help your body reach the temperature it’s aiming for.
- Layer up. Pile on blankets or add clothing in layers. Layers trap warm air close to your skin and let you remove a layer later if you start overheating.
- Drink something hot. Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, or warm broth all raise your internal temperature from the inside. They also help with hydration, which matters if a fever is involved.
- Move to a warmer space. If you’re in a cold environment, simply getting somewhere warmer can stop cold-induced chills quickly.
- Use a warm compress. A heating pad or warm water bottle on your chest or abdomen can provide targeted comfort while you wait for the shivering to pass.
Avoid the urge to take a cold bath or strip down to “cool off” a fever. Since your brain is actively trying to raise your temperature, fighting that process with cold exposure just intensifies the shivering and makes you more uncomfortable.
Managing Fever-Related Chills
When a fever is driving the chills, reducing the fever often stops the shivering. Two common over-the-counter options work well for this.
Acetaminophen can be taken in doses up to 1,000 mg at a time for adults, with at least four hours between doses and no more than 4,000 mg in a 24-hour period. Ibuprofen, another option, is typically taken in over-the-counter doses of 800 to 1,200 mg per day for adults treating fever or minor pain. Adults should not use ibuprofen for more than 10 consecutive days without medical guidance.
Both medications lower the brain’s temperature set point back toward normal. As that set point drops, the gap between your actual temperature and the target closes, and the shivering stops. Keep in mind that these medications treat the symptom, not the underlying infection. They make you more comfortable while your immune system does its work.
What Happens After the Chills Stop
Once your fever breaks or your body reaches its target temperature, you may swing in the opposite direction and start sweating. This is normal. Your body is now dumping the extra heat it worked so hard to generate. You might feel clammy, damp, and oddly cold at the same time.
During this phase, keep a light blanket nearby for comfort but avoid bundling up heavily, since your body is trying to cool down. Rehydrate with water, juice, or an electrolyte drink. Sweating during a fever break can lead to surprising fluid loss, and dehydration will make your recovery slower and your fatigue worse. Rest is the other essential piece. Your body just burned through a significant amount of energy generating all that heat.
Chills Without a Fever
Not all chills come with a fever. If you’re shivering but your temperature is normal, several other causes are worth considering. Low blood sugar can trigger chills, especially if you’ve skipped a meal or exercised without eating. A small snack or sugary drink often resolves this quickly. Anxiety and panic attacks can also cause a chill response, as stress hormones activate some of the same pathways involved in temperature regulation. An underactive thyroid slows your metabolism and makes you more sensitive to cold overall, so persistent chills without an obvious cause may be worth mentioning to your doctor.
Cold exposure is the most straightforward cause. If you’ve been outside in cold or wet conditions, your body is simply doing what it’s designed to do. Layering dry clothes and warming up gradually is the fix. Avoid jumping into a very hot shower right away if you’re extremely cold, since the rapid temperature change can cause dizziness.
Helping Children With Chills
Children get chills for the same reasons adults do, but there’s one important medication rule: never give aspirin to a child. Aspirin in children has been linked to Reye syndrome, a rare but serious condition that affects the liver and brain. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen formulated for children are safe alternatives, dosed by weight as indicated on the packaging.
For infants under two months old, any fever at or above 100.4°F (measured rectally) is considered a medical emergency. Their immune systems are too immature for a wait-and-see approach, and they need evaluation right away.
Signs That Chills Need Medical Attention
Most episodes of chills resolve on their own or with the simple measures above. But certain combinations of symptoms signal something more serious. A fever of 102°F or higher that doesn’t respond to over-the-counter medication, confusion or altered mental status, a stiff neck, difficulty breathing, or a rash that doesn’t fade when you press on it all warrant prompt medical evaluation. Chills that keep recurring over several days without an obvious cause, like a cold or flu, also deserve a closer look, since persistent rigors can sometimes point to a bacterial infection that needs targeted treatment.