A Fever - Perhaps The Most Overtreated Symptom of All

Having a fever is horrible - and we hate to suffer, so, (especially as parents) we do whatever we can to alleviate the suffering.

However, fevers show that our body's are working hard to fix a problem and a fever is the back up system when our body's immune system has failed. Not only do they stimulate our immune system into being little stronger, they help us to create more white blood cells to fight the infection, they create more antibodies, they wall off our iron reserves which is what the attacking organism feeds from, and they create a hostile environment for the organisms that are causing the infection and work hard to heal us. We really ought to change our mindset and think of a fever as a great healing response rather than a symptom of disease.

A temperature of between 102-103 degrees F is the ideal range of a fever because this is the temperature range in which microbes will be killed. Should it become higher, this is a sign there is a more serious infection and we may need to seek medical help or give a homeopathic remedy which will help us feel better, whilst assisting our body to heal and not hindering it - which is what mainstream medicines such as Paracetamol or Ibuprofen do. (Yes, I know they make us feel better very quickly, but various studies have shown they do actually lengthen the time needed to get better and that is a separate issue from any other long term damage they may cause).

The best thing to support our body during a fever is good old fashioned rest along with drinking plenty of water and having some nourishing food such as broths if you feel up to it.

Homeopathically there are remedies that can assist you in regaining your health. We tend to think of Belladonna in a child who is likely to throw a high fever, maybe to delirium. A dose or two of Belladonna will calm things down and assist the healing process. Aconite is a remedy we could turn to if the fever came on suddenly, especially straight after being out in the cold and if the patient is fearful. Ferrum-phos is useful at the beginning of milder fevers with head-colds or chest infections before other symptoms arise.