What is a fever?
A fever symptom is when your body temperature goes above what it should normally be. A fever temperature is when your body's temperature is above 37.5 Celsius or 99.5 Fahrenheit. A fever is an immune mechanism for your body to kill an infection, so someone could have a viral fever or one caused by a bacterial infection. Usually you have a high fever when the infection is viral.
Are fevers bad?
No, fevers are not bad. A fever is a good thing. It is your body's built-in function to kill off an infection. Fever causes can include a cold, flu or food poisoning. This is because your body tries to kill off whatever micro-organism is affecting it. Human cells can survive at a higher temperature than can a virus or bacteria, so a fever kills off the bacteria because it is too hot an environment for the bacteria to live in.
Sometimes your body goes overboard, and your fever goes too high, which can be dangerous.
Keep hydrated when you have a fever. Some people have ended up in the emergency room because they have become dehydrated when they had a fever.
What natural fever treatments are recommended?
There is a two-way approach to fevers. You want to support your immune system, which in the end will help to reduce the fever.
Immune Stimulating Herbs include:
echinacea
astragalus
golden seal
barberry
oregon grape
You also want to manage the fever. You want it to be high enough to kill off the infection, but not too high that it will cause problems.
Natural fever remedies include:
* Hydrotherapy, which is the application of water. One of the best things you can do to manage a fever (even for a child fever, toddler fever, a baby fever or infant fever) is to give the patient a sponge bath. If you just sponge the bath water (should be at room temperature) over the patient's body, you will notice the body's temperature will naturally drop a couple of degrees. So a fever of 104 F may decrease to 102 F. This should help the fever for about 4 or 5 hours. Then if the temperature begins to rise again, you simply have another sponge bath. It's a great remedy for a fever in children. It's a good way of allowing the heat to escape. Wet socks is another hydrotherapy remedy, where you take a pair of cotton socks, wet them in room temperature water and wring them out, then put a pair of wool socks on top and go to bed (wrap your feet in a towel so the bed doesn't get wet). The combination of the cold and damp on your feet will increase the circulation between your head and your feet, and helps your lymphatic drainage. Jennifer's kids ask for this remedy when they are really sick, particularly when they are congested because they know it helps them feel better.
* High doses of Vitamin C
* Homeopathy, like Belladonna, camomile for a fever associated with teething
What's Dr. JJ taking today?
Dr. JJ is taking an immune combo, which is a botanical tincture that includes rose hips, elderflowers and echinacea. Botanical tinctures don't often taste very good. This combination can be given to adults or kids.
You can find a naturopath in your community through the Find a Practitioner link on our website www.vitaminjunkeys.com