Child Fever Remedies Portland OR

Tame Your Child's Fever

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By Dana Ullman, MPH

Fevers can be scary, particularly for parents with a sick child. If your daughter is running a fever, your likely first reaction is to reach for an over-the-counter pain reliever to lower her temperature to make her more comfortable. However, in most cases, fever is simply one symptom of an illness—a signal that your body is fighting off an infection. During an infection, the body responds by heating up. This helps to increase production of white blood cells and signal the release of additional interferons to help boost your ability to ward off invaders and accelerate the healing process. If you immediately give your daughter an over-the-counter pain reliever, she may feel more comfortable (less warm) but you are also suppressing the action of the fever—it can no longer accelerate the healing process.

Adults can tolerate higher temperatures than children can without lasting consequences, but if an infant has any fever, or if your child‘‘s temperature rises above 102 degrees for longer than six hours, contact your physician for instructions. The same holds true for any fever that lasts longer than three days.

When a fever strikes older children and adults, however, homeopathy can provide a gentle way to stimulate their inner healing resources while supporting the body through the fever and encouraging the body‘‘s natural defenses to resolve the root cause of the illness.

When using homeopathy, it is important to remember that homeopaths look at all diseases as syndromes, which express themselves as a number of common patterns of symptoms that vary with each person and each illness. Homeopathy doesn‘‘t treat the fever, per se; instead it focuses on the cluster of symptoms a person is experiencing as a result of his illness or condition, called the "syndrome of symptoms."

To use homeopathy effectively, you first need to define your specific symptoms. Below are four of the most common remedies that include fever in the syndrome of symptoms. To choose the best remedy, match the symptoms as closely as possible.

•• Aconitum (monkshood)
This remedy works best during the first 24 hours of a fever. When your fever begins rapidly, usually starting at night or sometimes after exposure to the cold or cold, dry winds, reach for Aconitum. You may also feel chilled or experience cold sweats. Other possible symptoms include a sore throat with burning pain that worsens when swallowing and/or a short dry cough.

•• Belladonna (deadly nightshade)
When you have a similarly rapid onset of a high fever but also experience a flushed face, reddened mucous membranes, glassy eyes, and cold limbs, consider Belladonna. Additional symptoms may include a throbbing headache and dilated pupils.

•• Ferrum phos (iron phosphate)
A fever that begins gradually without any significant intense symptoms calls for Ferrum phos as the appropriate remedy. Often your skin color may alternate between paleness and redness. You may also experience a mil...

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