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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
Interesting…I’ve never heard this.
Then maybe you should go to medical school or just leave it to the doctors.
I wish more people knew that (not to fight fevers)
Put kids in a cool bath when the fever gets too high, that’s what we got when I took my child to the emergency room with 104 fever, they put him immediately in an ICE bath. After that incident I use a lukewarm to cool bath to cool the child down or give them some relief.
You should NEVER do that! It will make the child shiver and in turn hotter. You need only put a bag of frozen peas on their cooling centers (forehead, under the arms, or between the thighs adjacent to the groin but not touching the groin).
My kids all have had a bad cough and congestion for a few weeks now! They never did run a fever with it. It’s so mysterious as to what this is. Wanderinf it it could be fall allergies or just a cold but now the congestion is going into the chest. I have gotten some ideas from others about treating it naturally but wandering what advice you would offer Sarah!
When my son was a baby, it was easier to not treat fewer. He was breast fed and would be well hydrated. His colds were short. The same I do with my daughter now. When My son stopped nursing, it got harder to keep him hydrated. He had baby missals and had high fewer for several days with brief brakes when it will go down to just above 101. He would refuse eating and drinking anything. He started getting dehydrated and we decided to see our doctor. Our doctor said that he would never recommend meds for fewer, but he was sure that my boy did not brake his fewer because he got week and dehydrated. He asked us to give him med. I did, but lower dose then recommended. His body temperature went down and he felt good, started eating and drinking. The next day he walk up with rash, but no fewer at all. I don’t like drugs, but I use them in some cases. My daughter got pain relive after surgery. I would not just let her suffer. I agree that some parents are paranoid and drug happy.
106 degrees can kill. When my son’s temp reached 106, he seized, but thanks to a quick thinking doc and oxygen…and lots of cooling remedies, including cell salts (Ferrum Phos, q15 mins), he made it through fine. But he was always prone to high fevers; I let it reach 100, then I began a fast and furious attempt to keep it down. Took off like a shot whenever it got over 100. Some kids have no immune system. I used wholistic means of keeping it down, except at night. Kiddles need rest, too, to heal. They don’t recover well if their sleep is interrupted every few minutes. Always weigh pros and cons.
Look into ibuprofen suppositories for fever spikes. Febrile seizures are terrifying to witness, and no parent should test the limits of their child’s ability to handle high fever. Furthermore, when your child seizes, the cost of the next parental decision being bad goes up dramatically. Luckily, they tend to phase out in most children by age 6.
Our daughter, Madison, was sick all last week, M-Sat, with a fever consistently of 100-102. Only one time did I give her tylenol. That was because she had body aches and asked for it. Other than than, I let the fever run it’s course to fight the virus she had. The majority of the time, despite the fever, she was up and about in the house. No secondary infections, no antibiotics, she’s back at school now.
I never used to, until my 3 yr old had a seizure…a seizure that lasted almost 15 minutes until the doc in the er gave him an enema. I still don’t in the other kids, but I do with HIM!!!! A febrile seizure comes on quickly, a fever can spike very quickly in spite of how closely you watch it. If there is a history of febrile seizures, the likelihood is GREATLY increased for more of them.
I understand the body is a marvelous thing and knows what to do in many instances, but children have also died from fevers getting too high and staying too high too long
I don’t like the blanket statement that never reduce fevers. I knew someone who let their child run a fever of 106. The child had to be rushed to the emergency room and the mother was still pissed the doctor gave the baby (about 1 years old) meds to reduce it. Maybe saying something along the lines of “you don’t need to use meds to reduce a fever of X degrees or less” rather than “I never reduced their fevers”