These articles describe some of the approaches taken by Naturopath doctors.
They are not meant to be medical advice.
Please discuss topics with your personal physician before making health-related decisions.

Fever: A Naturopathic View of Fever
by John Ruhland, ND

What is fever? Is it an infection? Should it be lowered?

Fever can appear in numerous ways. A low fever lasting for many days, a recurrent fever that returns every day, every other day, or on some other regular cycle, and a spiking high fever are all of concern.

Fever is not an infection, nor is it typically harmful itself. It is the body’s response to an infection, and can also be present in a chronic illness. It is one of the primary mechanisms the body has of fighting infections.

Many microorganisms infecting humans cannot tolerate temperature much above 98.6 degrees. Long-term low-grade fevers tend to be a sign that the body cannot mount a strong defense, possibly due to the condition being present for a long time, possibly due to immune-suppression being present, and often in elderly people.

A spiking, high fever is actually the sign of a robust immune system. In an acute illness, one lasting less than a few days, if the fever is fairly high, but not quite allowing the body to overcome an infection, your Naturopathic Physician may prescribe therapies that help boost the body’s ability to overcome the infection.

Usually, I do not recommend lowering the temperature with medications. If the fever is very high, rather than give a medication that lowers temperature, I recommend using a cool, dampened washcloth to cool the head in order to keep the brain from getting too warm. Most of the time, fever is to be encouraged.

The main concern in a spiking fever is that if the temperature gets too high, it is possible that the brain gets hot enough to cause a seizure. The cool washcloth on the forehead prevents this from happening quite effectively.

The biggest concern that a Naturopath has with the conventional drug treatments to lower the fever is that it is like tying a boxer’s arm behind their back. By artificially lowering the temperature, you take away one of the main tools the body has to fight the infection.

When I was a child, a fever meant spending the day in bed keeping bundled up in order to allow the body to have a good fever to enable it to fight the infection. Most of the time, the fever was gone within a day. In those days, some kids were given aspirin to lower their temperature. Invariably, they felt somewhat better but were sick longer. Doctors now know that aspirin should be avoided in viral infections such as influenza because it can cause Reye Syndrome, a potentially fatal condition.

Your Naturopath is trained to help the body’s own ability to heal so that you can heal faster.