Sweat it out baby...

For the last week or so, my kids have had these weird come-and-go fevers. They'll be fine one day, then the next - here it comes again. The fevers were high, generally around 102 - 103, but there were no other symptoms. I couldn't figure it out, and it kept coming back, so I went into research mode and used some of that good 'ole fashioned mommy intuition, and I think we've got it beat!

I recently blogged about our attempts to get back to nature, and how sometimes the old fashioned way of doing things just might be the best. Well, I applied that same logic to the fevers and after discussing this with a good friend who studies Ayurvedic medicine and our pal "Unca Marc" (who just so happens to be the offspring of a peditirican, making him an expert, of course), I decided to let the kids sweat it out, just like the olden days*.

And, you know what... the fevers are gone! Whatever nasty bug that was that was trying to get out of my kids' systems needed to work it's own way out naturally, and all of the modern medicines I was shoving down their throats to help remedy the symptoms were actually causing the problem to keep reappearing.

If natural remedies seem a bit "out there" for you, consider this info from WebMD:

"There can be many causes for a fever (such as dehydration, over-bundling an infant, a very hot day). But, usually, fever = infection.

The immune system of the body senses a 'foreign invader' (such as a bacteria or a virus) and sends chemical messages to the temperature center to crank up the heat inside the body. This is a good and smart thing to do because:

- Some bacteria and viruses don't like the higher temperature and so are more easily destroyed by the immune system.

- The faster metabolism provides more blood and infection-fighting white blood cells and other chemicals to ward off the infection.

- The higher temperature may make the immune system elements more effective killers of the germs.

So repeat after me: fever is our friend, fever is our friend... It lets us know that an infection may be brewing, and, at the same time, it helps to fight off that infection. And that infection-induced fever doesn't go high enough (typically >106.5) to carry a risk of causing damage to the brain and body."

It really doesn't get much more mainstream than WebMD, now does it?

Keep your mind open, you never know what you just might learn...

*This disclaimer is more for my mom than anyone else (I had febrile seizures as a child and she is deathly afraid of fevers in general): I took the kids temperatures constantly to make sure they stayed below 104 and we gave them plenty of fluids to flush their bodies. As common sense implies, make sure you discuss any treatment plan with your personal physician to do what is best for your child.