Last week, my son woke up with a fever and didn’t feel well. I put him in my bed, rubbed a drop each of peppermint essential oil and an essential oil immune protective blend on the bottoms of his feet. He slept for 45 minutes, got up and was fine after that.
Some fevers aren’t this easily resolved.
When a child has a fever, their body is fighting something. We don’t want to stop this natural process, but help it along. A fever gets dangerous when not enough liquids are getting into the body, which causes dehydration. This is called a “dry” fever.
There are 3 things we can do to prevent this and help the body stay hydrated.
1. Give lots of liquids orally. Try not to give liquids containing white sugar, as this can temporarily paralyze parts of the immune system. Use unsweetened juices, herbal tea (peppermint is especially good for fevers), purified water or Emergen-C mixture (a fizzy drink with natural electrolytes).
2. Give baths. The skin will absorb moisture this way. Dr Christopher (an old time herbalist) taught that hot (not burning) baths help the body fight and sweat out the infection as it’s already trying to do with the fever. This works really well if the child will take fluids orally. If the child won’t drink, just make the bath extra warm. I usually add 1/2 TB ginger powder (or yarrow herb) to the bath water. The skin will absorb some medicinal properties from these warming herbs. Or you can add a 1/2 cup epsom salt and 2 drops ginger, frankincense and/or yarrow essential oil.
3. If the body’s main channel of elimination is moving slowly or clogged at all, this will hinder the body from effectively fighting illness. So many old-time herbalists recommended enemas for treating fevers. The enema gets needed moisture into the body, which is especially important if the child refuses to drink. It also helps move out waste, so the body can concentrate on fighting the illness and healing. I don’t use the liquid that comes in an enema bottle. I replace it with pure water or catnip tea. Catnip tea is relaxing and helpful to the body. You can also use colon herbs to help move things through the digestive system faster. For kids you can use Dr. Christopher’s Kid-E-Reg, and for adults use Dr. Christophers Quick Colon1 formula.
In addition to these steps I sometimes give my kids Dr Christopher’s Kid-E-Well formula, especially when they’re in the bath. It contains echinacea, elderberry, peppermint and yarrow, so any of these would be good if you don’t have the formula. I also rub infection fighting garlic oil or essential oils on the bottoms of their feet, such as DILUTED oregano (it’s a hot oil).
Usually if you do several of these things aggressively, the body will be supported and able to fight on it’s own. If the fever persists and continues to recur, you need to see a doctor.
We’ve avoided seeing professionals MANY times by using these simple treatments. You can too!
*These remedies may not work for everyone. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.
