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The American Academy of Pediatrics has “pulled an Al Gore”.
In similar amusing fashion to the former Vice President’s claim that he invented the Internet, researchers in the journal Pediatrics have recommended the “novel approach” of letting a fever run its course in otherwise healthy children. (1)
Evidently these doctors are suffering from an extreme case of memory loss or egomania as was the case for Mr. Gore. Either that or they made a practice of napping during their Medical History classes in Med School. More likely, these types of classes weren’t even offered at the request of the pharmaceutical companies donating copious amounts of cash to the particular institution they attended.
After all, we wouldn’t want newly minted doctors knowing anything about the history of effective, non-drug based remedies and treatments, would we?
While it may be claimed that this research is somehow “new” and goes against conventional wisdom, this is simply not so.
Au contraire. Prior to the advent of the American obsession with all things pharmaceutically produced which began to gather momentum in the 1970s, doctors routinely recommended against treating the fevers of healthy children. My own father, a retired MD who specialized in Family Practice, never brought down fevers in his own children nor did he suggest doing so to his patients even in cases where the fevers were rather high at 105F.
Why? Because doing so would prolong the illness, of course! Simple common sense medicine for normal, healthy children.
A fever is the primary mechanism for the immune system to fight off viruses and bacteria. Bringing it down handicaps this natural immune response prolongs the illness and more than likely induces a secondary infection that may require – you guessed it: a visit to the Doc to get a prescription for antibiotics.
Unfortunately, it seems that common sense is something that Pediatricians need a research study to finally embrace.
How to Keep a 24 Hour Bug From Turning into a 2 Week Ordeal
The wisdom of the “leave the fever alone” strategy was driven home to me once again just last week. One of my kids came home from school on Thursday afternoon with a bad headache. Since he rarely complains of anything like this, I figured he was trying to fight off some sort of virus.
Sure enough, within a couple of hours, he spiked a fever to 102-103F. This fever basically held (with a few brief dips to 99-100F after sipping a cup of homemade broth) for 24 hours. Did I treat it with Tylenol or ibuprofen?
No way! He had a big soccer tournament that very weekend and his best chance to still compete was to do nothing!
The fever and headache were the only symptoms he ended up having. They were both gone within 24 hours and he competed in the weekend tournament as planned. He played hard too and in the 88F heat. The kid bounced back fast because his natural immunity was left to operate as Nature intended with no meddling from vitality zapping over the counter meds.
I have no doubt that if I had panicked and brought that fever down justifying my actions in order “to help him get a good night’s sleep for the soccer tournament” that he would still be sick and probably have some sort of secondary infection in his lungs with a lot of mucus and coughing.
Letting the fever run its course is more important than a good night’s sleep for getting well, in my experience! If you absolutely must do something, use homeopathic cell salts or a fever bath to speed the process along.
I am so glad the value of fevers was impressed upon me at a young age. Don’t wait for your Pediatrician to wake up to common sense strategies before adopting them yourself.
References
(1) Fever and Antipyretic Use in Children
(2) Traditional Remedies for Childhood Illnesses
(3) Treating Fevers in Children
I’m just learning about this myself. But wish I would have known sooner. I’m actually the one sick with a fever for 3 days now and intense sinus pain and congestion. I’ve already taken pain medication once it was too painful to bear. Is it too late for my body to fight this off? This sickness has run its course through my house, with me being the last to contract. Thank you for any advise
Pantry Paratus via Facebook posted that her 3 yr old was given an enema, or enemas, at the ER for his fever. I agree. That is a very good natural remedy.
I have given many home enemas for fever reduction. They work!
Of course check with your doctor, or naturopathic doctor, first before giving any home remedies.
I agre to let most fevers ride. As long as not over 104F, no other symptoms are there, and the fever breaks in a reasonable time. Fevers serve a purpose. But monitor the one who has a fever to make sure there is no other condition going on. Call the doctor or go to the ER when needed.
I keep comfortable. Most important keep hydrated.
Never give a cold bath to reduce the fever.
Common sense rules.
There are many good comments on here. I learned much.
Sarah mentions (on her “how to naturally reduce a fever” — think that was the title — page) about giving the child a cool water enema. Given with the enema bag. She also mentions giving a cool fruit juice enema with a 4 oz enema bulb syringe.
I have given both of these to my children and grand children. Each time a enema was given the fever went down a few degrees with in a few minutes. It helps to reduce the fever.
Every home should have a enema bag and a enema bulb syringe.
Sarah mentions to give the bag enema in the tub. You can do that. I give the bag enema on the bed or across my lap. Put a towel on the bed or my lap. Same thing with the bulb syringe enema.
The enema has always been soothing and calming. It always brought the fever down
Again, consult your doctor first.
I am a very paranoid mommy who is petrified of fevers as I can vividly recal myself convulsing at the age of 6. It was petrifying for myself and my parents. I have always medicated a fever if it goes over 38. I am trying the homeopathic route but really struggle with the ‘let the fever burn thing’. My eldest child (7) has just had a really nasty bug- which I treated with pelargonium- and eventually wild oregano oil- and let his fever burn (as it was only 38.6). It took a week- but he is much better. Now my 14 month old seems to have the same thing- except his fever spike to 40 and he gets so miserable he just cries the whole time and will not even take the homeopathic remedies for his other symptoms ( sore throat- with white spots, sneezing, coughing, chills). He is obviously in some pain/ lots of discomfort. So I have dosed him with ponstan and then 3 hours later calpol- which hasn’t lowered the temp much at all (which concerns me). I have done the tepid baths, and sponging. We saw gp yesterday who gave an antibiotic. Was not keen to start it, and continued homeopathically until tonight- I can’t handle him suffering like this and so scared I make the werong choice and he gets much worse. Have I made a mistake starting antibiotic? And giving fever meds? He really is so miseralbe. Worst I’ve seen him. And he hasn’t slept since yesterday. (Besides very brief 5 minute cat naps here and there) one tired mommy! Help! What are good homeopathic treatments for flu/ tonsillitis/pharyngitis- don’t actually know what he has. Oldest son was told he has pharyngtitis. My 1 year old gp said not sure, but probably same bug (could be viral or bacterial-she doesn’t know but take anti biotic in case) what kind of answer is that!
I found this post while searching “fever only symptom toddler” because my four -year -old had a fever of 102.7 and I was a little concerned by the fact that she often develops fevers but shows no other sign of being sick. Well as you can imagine, I never treat her fever. Or rather, I don’t reduce them. I do however usually put some Lugol’s iodine in her water. This seems to assist her immune system in killing off bad bacteria. (Iodine is the key ingredient in water purification tablets because it kills bad bacteria.) I use it, and sometimes collodial silver, in her water rather than other things like vitamin C because they are both virtually tasteless (iodine has a bit of a taste, especially when it isn’t diluted much, but even my daughter who will ONLY drink water accepts the taste of iodine water). She gets fevers fairly often (every few months or so) but rarely gets sick…and when she does get sick, the fever didn’t occur. Not surprising! She is a pretty healthy kid. She doesn’t get vaccines or antibiotics anymore (we stopped at 18 months and I sure wish we never had!). Because we didn’t have insurance growing up, my brother and I rarely went to the doctor or took any meds. We were pretty darn healthy kids too. But as soon as I got older and started goin to the doc, taking meds, getting flu shots, going on birth control, etc, my health quickly deteriorated. By 25 I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (along with IBS and several other syndromes and symptoms). A year and half ago I started switching over to a natural lifestyle and have gotten my health and my life back. Please don’t put pharmaceutical poison into yourselves and especially your children unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. Educate yourselves as much as possible. Our number one job as parents is to know everything we can to care for these precious gifts in the best ways possible.
It’s fun how people criticize meds while at the same time talk seamlessly of using belladona, tea and “herbs” in general, as if just randomly mixing something “natural” in some beverage and wishing it to actually have a positive effect was enough to make it true.
I’d be careful before applying this new religion to children. They are the ones who may pay for the mistake. Nature be as good as you wish, there’s a reason children mortality used to be (much) higher.
What temperature is considered too high or that is dangerous?
Research seems to indicate that fevers below 107°F rarely cause permanent brain damage, presuming there are no other symptoms. However, it seems like concern should start to arise when you hit around 103°-105°. The temperatures are much lower for children and infants, around 104° and 100° respectively, iirc. Also, if the fever lasts a few days or is accompanied by other symptoms, it may be cause for concern.
I ran a fever of 103.5-105F for several days a few years ago when I had a bad knee infection. This is insanely high for an adult, but while I was drowsy from the experience, I was fine and completely lucid .. enough to drink my broth and keep nourishment flowing so I could handle the stampeding metabolism. When it finally broke, I felt like I was 20 years old again! Amazing how detoxifying a good fever can be.