Introduction
Remember when you were little, your mother would put her hand on your forehead and say, yes, you feel feverish – that’s because your forehead felt clammy and very hot – it was a good way to measure fever.
Sometimes, when the temperature goes higher, and it becomes urgent to bring it down, you might notice the person has trouble breathing, they have a rash, and their fever has gone over 104°F. Then it would require a doctor to check you out.
So, we are going to show you the ways on how to break a fever naturally should you ever find yourself in such a situation.
What Causes The Temperature To Increase?
Fever happens when your immune system responds to a foreign invader. It can be from bacteria, viruses, toxins, fungi, and drugs. These foreign invaders are called pyrogens[1].
They signal the hypothalamus in the brain to increase the body temperature so as to get ready to fight the infection. A typical infection that is known to cause fever can be in the ears, throat, headaches, lung, bladder, and kidneys.
The vaccine shots for babies can even cause low-grade fever for a while. If your fever is caused by a bacterial or viral infection, it could be contagious.
What Is Considered A Normal Temperature?
Usually, 98.6 °F[2] is considered a normal temperature, but it can be flexible. Temperatures fluctuate during the day, depending on what you wear, what you eat, the places you visit, your moods, exercise, and more. When it hits the 100 °F mark, you probably have a mild fever.
Home Remedies For Fever
But let’s not waste time – your temperature needs to come down. We have some home remedies for fever that can help while your body tries to get balance again.
1. Hydrate all the time
A fever causes the body to become hot, so you need to be cooled down. Experts suggest that you can add some watered-down juice to the water. Concentrated juice might be too much to ingest with a fever and cause diarrhea, which you don’t want.
Try and remember to keep in stock Linden tea[3]. It is a good way on how to break a fever naturally. All you do is use 1 Tablespoon of the flowers in a cup of boiled water for 5 minutes and sip it regularly.
Another good one is willow bark tea[4]. It is considered as “nature’s fever medication.” You also just brew this tea and drink it in small doses. It makes sweating out a fever much easier.
2. Ice pack
Maybe you are just feeling too nauseous to think of drinking anything, but if there is ice nearby, and better, some diluted fruit juice made into thirst-quenching ice cubes that can bring down the fever. Ice is always available in your fridge, so use it as a fever treatment at home.
3. Keep it cool
There is an old folk fever treatment at home – it entails soaking a sheet in cold water and wrapping yourself in this. Doctors today often advise against letting the body temperature drop too fast. If you try this remedy, perhaps it’s better to use tap water and not ice water! When the wet sheets start getting too warm again from your fever, re-soak the sheets.
4. Use an OTC pain reliever
If you’re feeling uncomfortable and ill, take an over-the-counter pain reliever. Something like aspirin or ibuprofen can be given according to the instructions – they are good at reducing inflammation and pain, though, these meds are not a way on how to break a fever naturally.
5. Soak your socks
This is one of the most popular home remedies for fever – do it before you go to bed. First, warm the feet in hot water. Then take a thin pair of cotton socks and soak them in cold water, wringing the water out.
Then, take a pair of dry wool socks and put these over the wet socks. This method helps bring the fever down because it draws blood to the feet and helps to increase blood circulation.
A mustard foot bath[5] does this as well. Fill a foot basin with hot water, then add two teaspoons of mustard powder for every four cups of hot water, then soak your feet. It’s an age-old fever treatment at home. It also works for fatigued and aching muscles.
6. Take your time with eating
A person with a fever often doesn’t want to eat. But in any case, the most important thing here is fluids. A hot soup could be a way for sweating out a fever.
If your appetite does start to improve, then light things like toast, scrambled eggs, chicken soup, and vanilla pudding all go down well and are part of your recuperation. Check out the best foods to eat[6] when you are not well.
7. Dress for whatever the fever is producing
Use your common sense here – which means if the fever is making you consumed with heat, take off the extra clothing so the heat can disappear into thin air.
But if you have the chills, wrap up so that you are comfortable and warm. A hot or cold shower for fever may prepare your body for comfy clothes to wear.
Bonus Point: Take Supplements
Your body may become weak when your temperature rises. Supplements may serve as fever treatment at home. Choose those with high amounts of Vitamin C and antioxidants to help support your immunity and scavenge free radicals in the body.
Hot Or Cold Shower To Reduce The Body Temperature
A temperature that is high may require you to take a cold shower to bring it close to normal temperature. Hyperpyrexia occurs when the temperature reaches 106.7° F or higher. It is a life-threatening condition.
To prevent this from happening, make sure to immerse your body in water to help cool it down. A hot or cold shower for fever may be useful in many instances.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no doubt that you probably have some infection. The body reacts to this with you having a temperature. It does this by moving the blood near the surface of your skin to the interior.
In doing this, “Remember the body does not lose its ability to regulate your temperature during a fever. It simply regulates body temperature at a higher set point,” says Raj Dasgupta of KeckMedicine of USC. It is the body's response on how to break a fever. “When a fever develops, body temperature rises toward the new higher set point,” he explains.
Watch out for symptoms, such as:
- A headache with a stiff neck
- Bad coughing and vomiting
- Experiencing pain when taking deep breaths or just having difficulty breathing
- Skin rashes
- Facial pain
- Bruising or bleeding unexplainably
- Persistent diarrhea
- Thick green or yellow discharge or blood are coming from the nose
Children that are under 3months of age with higher-than-normal temperatures should be seen by a health care professional.
They could be quite ill and yet show no signs of anything but a fever. Remember that fever is a routine symptom in infants and children. It is their normal immune response when they get an infection.
But this does not mean that you should ignore the fever. If the child seems to be doing well, and you are treating the baby with OTC-meds such as Tylenol, ibuprofen, and others, that might be all that is needed for fever treatment at home.
When Is It Time To See A Doctor About Your Fever?
Temperatures that go above 102° F or higher can be considered serious, particularly if you are also feeling sick and have other symptoms.
And if you are an adult person with chronic illnesses such as respiratory disease or heart disease, you might not be able to tolerate such high temperatures and fever.
This will usually require you to speak with a doctor to know how to break a fever completely.
Conclusion
We know now that fever occurs when your body temperature rises above the norm. Generally speaking, it can be harmless, but even in that state, it can cause discomfort.
A fever requires watching, too, because if the temperature climbs higher and higher, it needs quick thinking and medication.
Most fevers, however, can and will recover with some good home remedies like hot or cold shower for fever and others. They are fantastic, safe ways to treat a fever at home, making a feverish child or adult comfortable in the meantime.
One study in the journal Pediatrics shows that 91% of parents thought that a fever can cause harmful effects. 56% of them worry about the potential harm of fevers for their children.
89% reached for fever reducers so that temperatures did not go beyond 102 degrees. Another study from 2004 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology found that kids who had fevers during their first year were less likely to develop allergies later on in their childhood compared to kids who did not have a fever.
When you let a fever run its course, it can reduce the severity and length of some illnesses like colds and flu.
But, even if you decide not to treat a fever, just always keep track of it!
