What's Your Problem?
- Acne
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- Fever
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Please read our Golden Rules of self help before considering the information on this page.
Fever
Your messenger and ally
Fever in adults comes up slowly; you may become aware of aches and pains before its onset. With children fever tends to come on very fast as they tend to naturally have greater temperature fluctuations than adults. So one moment your child will be playing in the backyard, the next he will suddenly seem very quiet and very hot.
Fever is a normal expression of a healthy body fighting a disease. It is not a disease in itself but the result of complex reactions triggered by an infection. Therefore, fever is a very important weapon in response to infection. To get rid of it is tantamount to shooting your own soldiers!
Since fever will accompany most of the ailments that will distress
your children and yourself it is important to learn how to manage it.
Let fever be your ally, rather than automatically reach for drugs, use its beneficial features.
How dangerous is a fever?
I can feel you uneasily moving about your seat, thinking "this woman is mad, how about convulsions?" We are not trying to endanger anyone, we are trying to help the immune system, we don't want the fever to run rife, we want to use it.
Cool it!
Sponge cold water on the patient, not ice water , just cold water from the tap.
Dress the patient lightly; too many clothes or bed clothes will cause the temperature to rocket up again.
Keep cold compresses on the head but keep the feet warm, this will encourage blood circulation away from the head.
Drink
Keep up the fluids to avoid dehydration. Plain water is best but anything that makes drinking more palatable is good, so you can add a little juice. The best herbal teas for fever are: Lime Flowers (Linden), Catnip, Ginger, and Vervain. Have these with a teaspoon of honey or sugar.
Starve a fever
Most people never remember the old dictum: is it starve a cold and feed a fever? or feed a cold and starve a fever? A fever is the sign that your body is at war. Something (a virus or bacteria) has entered your body and your immune system is battling it away. When you are on the battlefield you can't afford to stop and have a meal because the enemy would sneak up on you before you got to the soup. So, starve a fever . This way you don't overburden your system with digestion and it can fight a good battle. Of course provide lots of fluids and consult your friendly doctor and naturopath if the battle persists. Now you will always remember.
Be quiet!
It always amazes me how some people rush to the gym or go for a jog at the first sign of fever; they think they will “sweat it out”! As a result they get really sick. Adult and children alike should keep quiet to allow the body to do its thing.
Of course, if your child's temperature fails to go down do use a little patent medicine and if you really are worried take her to the hospital. Home remedies are great for prevention when they are applied early.
A lot of people have asked me: "You said that when the body fights an infection there is fever to kill the bugs. We get that, but then how do you explain the COLD feelings, the shivering, the being hot one moment frozen to the bone the next?"
Excellent question! The body uses so much energy to create a fever that it slows its metabolism down in order to do so. It's a little like you need all your money to pay one outstanding bill and you are left with none to even buy food. See, you shiver just at the thought of it! So you get very hot because the immune system is having a war and you are very cold because you are weakened by the energy expense.
A bit like what the government does with the budget, isn't it?
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