Fevers and Acute Cold Viral Infections. SOME HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES

Viral fevers in babies: how to bring down a fever naturally. homeopathic remedies for fever.

​According to the NHS website, fevers although worrisome to parents are something common in childhood and will come and go on their own

"As a parent, it can be extremely worrying if your child has a high temperature. However, it's very common and often clears up by itself without treatment" .

However, this is not the general feeling of the parents, who often try to bring down fevers as quickly as they can as there is a general panic feeling as soon as the temperature raises above 37.5.

Some parents think that their child has a very high fever when the thermometer reaches 38.5 even though the child is playing or resting without any distress or pain. 

Again, the NHS website states that if the child is well otherwise, there is no need to use fever reducing medication: "Antipyretics aren't always necessary. If your child isn't distressed by the fever or underlying illness, there's no need to use antipyretics to reduce a fever."

Nevertheless, many parents will give children paracetamol automatically at the first sign of raising temperature. Often I find, that parents do not understand the importance of fevers and do not see it as the body working to their advantage, they have exchanged their parental intuition by a fear driven reaction.

Some parents do not know what to expect when children are running a fever and confuse the symptoms of the body trying to recover with worrisome symptoms of an illness. 
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WHAT IS A FEVER?
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Fevers are a rise of the normal temperature of your body in response to infections of illness and research suggest that this is a body response to fighting germs to make the body a less comfortable place to be.

Fever is an important part of the body's defence mechanism against viruses and bacteria. The body creates extra heat so the virus or bacteria can not survive, so having a temperature is a healthy response to fighting invading foreign organisms.

Therefore it is not advisable to bring down the temperature if the body is fighting an infection.

A child with a fever needs to rest and sleep, that is normal and it is expected, the body is using all energy to fight the infection. The child does not need to be in bed but they will probably have naps during the day and want to rest and cuddle more than usual, that is normal if the child has a fever. 

Fevers do naturally go up in the evening and at night and may go down in the morning and during the day. They may rise and fall over a period of a few days before returning to normal.

The general advice is that in babies under 3 months old, it is recommended to consult a GP as babies have underdeveloped immune systems and it is necessary to understand where the fever is coming from regardless if they are acting well or not.

Many parents and adult patients ask me if I can recommend a remedy for the beginning of an infection as they feel they are coming down with something such a cold, sore throat, earache or any other viral infections.

I tend to recommend a few remedies that may help to nip it in the bud.

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES THAT ARE MOST HELPFUL AT THE BEGINNING OF FEVERS
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FIRST STAGE FEVERS AND MILD VIRAL INFECTIONS

ACONITE 200

Symptoms may start after the exposure to cold wind, dry cold weather or exposure to drafts while in a perspiration.

Sudden onset of high fever and feeling very restless and anxious. You are worse after midnight, you have probably gone to bed ok and awaken at night with a fever.

Although face may be red and flashed, on rising up from the bed the face becomes pale. Face alternating red and pale. You may be very thirsty for cold water.
 
FERRUM PHOS 200 

Feeling of tiredness and can hardly move about and pains in the joints which are worst by any movement. 

Sore bruised pain in the body. Wrists ache and loss the power to grasp. You may have a fever but not as hot as Belladonna or Aconite. The face may be flushed.

This is a good remedy if the symptoms or aconite or Belladonna are not very clear, this remedy lies somewhere in between both.

Symptoms are not very marked in this remedy and if there is fever is quite mild.
 
BELLADONNA 200 

Symptoms are sudden and very violent, developing a very high fever[39.9C]where you may feel very hot to touch and look very red on the face and may be delirious with the fever.

Although you may feel burning hot, you can have cold hands and feet.

You may have red glassy eyes and dilated pupils. Pains are throbbing and burning and you do not feel very thirsty. You feel worse in the afternoon.

Sometimes, these remedies given right at the start manage to abort the whole process and other times, they help with the initial symptoms.

However if more than 24-48 hours have passed since the first symptoms it is unlikely that the above remedies will help.

At this point, second stage remedies for acute viral infections may be better indicated.

BANERJI PROTOCOL TIP

For very high temperatures the Banerjies use

• Arnica Montana 3c+ Cuprum Metallicum 6c  to stop temperature from rising and prevent convulsions.

Give every 15 minutes for 3 doses and wait one hour.
Continue with normal medicines for fever.

​DOSING THE REMEDY

​Match the dosing of the remedy according to your child symptoms. 

• a 200c potency can be repeated every 3 hours but a 30c potency can be repeated hourly if needed.
• give according to the intensity of the symptoms for instance every 30 minutes or so  when symptoms are severe. Otherwise give every 3 hours.
• as the child starts to improve, reduce the frequency of administration
• you can repeat the remedy if the remedy helps but does not last long, for instance the remedy helps for two hours but then the fever goes up again, then repeat the remedy according to how fast the body is using the remedy.     
• change remedy if after 5 doses the remedy has not helped.

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​BANERJI PROTOCOL TIP

I can understand that it is not always easy to recognise remedy pictures and be able to choose one remedy on the basis of symptoms as sometimes, they are not clear cut. So in this cases, the Banerji Protocol for an acute cold infection can be useful:

Bryonia 30 and Aconite 200 both remedies taken together at the same time as a dose every 3 hours.

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if you are struggling with an acute viral infection make an appointment to heal faster