(2/5) Keep A Cold Short & Sweet – Fever

Fever Basics and When It Becomes Dangerous 0:00

So this will be the second piece on the handout that we'll talk about. Diving into the fever here. I grew up thinking that fevers were very scary and they certainly can be. There are levels of fever that are considered dangerous, especially over 104 degrees. they can cause more dehydration, more risk for dehydation. Even above those levels, 106 to 107, you're at a risk of organ failure. So high fevers are certainly something to be concerned about. However, a low fever or a fever within the 102 to 103 degrees are actually protective Yes, fever to 102 and 103 degrees are protective.

That's the body temperature that our body actively fights viruses and bacteria more rigorously. So, this is very specific to flus. Colds, you're not usually going to get a fever. You might have everything else, might feel tired, You may feel congested, may have a cough.

Why Fever Helps Fight Infection 1:10

but flus are pretty specific to having the fever. Along with fever, usually comes achiness. Typically for me, my thighs, like my quads are the most achy. Sometimes even the back can get achey when we have a fever the reason this happens is because the thighs and the backs are biggest muscle areas in the body, the biggest muscles groups. So to have fever This is where it gets so exciting. To have a fever, the body uses resources from other areas to get the temperature higher. When the bodily temperature rises like this, it's using all of its resources to make more white blood cells, more antibodies, and actively fight viruses and bacteria even stronger.

So, we want those things. We want more white blood cells, more antibodies, bacteria and viruses gone as fast as possible. So the fever is incredibly helpful for that. It does come at a cost though. So to get the body temperature that high and to utilize all of those tools, it takes nutrients from our muscles. We think about our thighs and our back as these huge muscle groups. And our fever is taking some resources from these muscles to give us more white blood cells, to help us get healthier faster.

but that's where the achiness comes in. A lot of nutrients and resources are being taken from our thighs and our back especially.

Managing Chills and Body Aches 2:50

So a little bit of achyness is often a side effect. Now, there are some tips that I'd like to share with you to get rid of the acheiness, but also keep the fever. If you are starting to feel chills, that's usually the body's trying to mount a fever. We're trying get the temperature up. Usually the chills come with shaking. That literal shaking is your body warming up and getting the bod temperature higher. So, if you feel the onset of a fevers, If you have a thermometer at home, take your temperature.

If it's in that 102 to 103 degrees, great. Your body is vital and healthy and it is working to heal itself. If it's lower than that, if it between 100 and 102, that means your body needs a little support to get to that optimal fever range. So one of the tips that you can do is to take a hot bath. It seems so simple, but this can also help with the side effects of achy legs and the aching back. If you drop a hot bath, as hot as your feet will tolerate, you dip a toe in, dip the bottom of your foot in.

See that your body can tolerate that temperature, so you'll be sitting in it for a good 15 to 20 minutes. So drop the hot back, put some Epsom salts in there. Epsilon salts are very high in magnesium, and magnesium is a muscle relaxer. I would usually recommend two cups of magnesium salts, of epsom salts in your bath. That's a lot more than what the package will say. The reason why we want it so high is because it's incredibly nutritive to the muscles. So two cup of Epsoms salts and a hot bath, get in the hotbath, relax 15 to 20 minutes, maybe light some candles, a little music.

And if you can, have the entire body from the collarbones, even into the neck, the legs, back, feet, everything in the hot bath.

Using Hot Baths and Warm Clothing 5:00

This will help to increase the core body temperature. Then after you're done with your bath, wrap yourself in your warmest sweater, nice thick socks, thick leggings or pants, maybe even a hat or scarf, and go to bed. This will help keep the body temperature high. You're wrapping yourself in your warm, warm clothes, keep your body's temperature locked in. If you want, you can take your temperature again. See that you get to about 102, 103. The piece with the 102-103 is you don't have to have that amount of temperature for the duration of your sickness.

It really only needs at most, or at least rather, about a half an hour. If you can have a half an hour of that high a temperature, your body is really working for you to get rid of the bacteria and viruses. So Epsom salt bath is one of my favorite tricks. It keeps the fever at a healthy level. it gets rid off side effects, especially the achiness. And I will warn you, you will be tired with a fever. You're pulling all of those nutrients from your muscles. Your body's going into hyperdrive to keep you healthy.

That takes a lot of energy. You might feel tired and that's a great time to go to sleep. Take a nap, rest on the couch. Listen to those cues. I have the philosophy that I would rather be completely useless for an entire day than be half-heartedly useless, for a week or longer. So give yourself that day. Just let yourself be a vegetable for 24 hours and your body will thank you. So the next piece on this fever bit, it will kind of connect to the end here when we're talking about foods and what foods are good for when you're sick.

But something I want to note specifically about a fever is fever also suppresses appetite.

Rest, Appetite Loss, and Staying Hydrated 7:10

So if you are not hungry, don't eat. When the body temperature goes over 100.4 degrees, the digestive system literally turns off. So our stomach does not function when we're over a hundred and point four degrees Fahrenheit. Fever suppresses appetite. There's that phrase, that old phrase that you fast a fever, starve a cold. It's absolutely true. Or maybe it's starve a fever, fast a cold, something along those lines. The idea is you don't need to feed a feaver. If you're not hungry, don' eat. Your digestive system is likely turned off if you have a fiever anyways.

So the idea that we need constantly feed our bodies to have enough energy to get through this sickness, it is not true you won't lose weight, you will become depleted. Rather, your body will use the nutrients that it has and utilize the resources that has without adding extra stress on the digestive system. When our digestive systems isn't working already, the more food that we place onto it is more stress. So just a note, if you have a fever at all over 100.4 degrees, no need to eat. Please drink, drink as much as you can.

Drink fluids, water, broth, teas. Even the teas and soups and warm, you know, warm broths can increase the core body temperature too. So you're kind of feeding two birds with one seed. You increase your core temperature with things that you are putting in the throat and that will help warm the chest and the heart too So that's kind of a nice segue to our third icon here, and that is a sore throat.