Treating a fever.

Alison has been burning up with a fever that hovers around the 39.4 Celsius mark. At one point, the thermometer read 39.7, which put me in a small state of panic because as everyone knows, children’s little noggins fry easily.

When I was little, my grandparents would make me sweat out a fever. This involved putting on long-sleeved pyjamas and pants, and lying in bed with the fan on low and no air-conditioning. After about two hours, the fever would usually subside and I’d be back to my normal, albeit-sweaty self. Even my husband remembers “treating” fevers when he was younger by getting on his mountain bike and going for a hard spin.

I think the concept of sweating out a fever has its roots in the Chinese “treat poison with poison” philosophy. While it seems to be fairly effective (as far as I can tell, neither the hub-unit nor I are brain-damaged from sweating our fevers out), it’s not condoned by doctors trained in the Western school. Those who subscribe to natural health, however, will find this article on fever management useful with recommendations for herbal remedies.

So what did I do? I decided that it made most sense to cool a fever rather than risk it rising by making her sweat it out, so I filled a basin with cold water and started sponging her. Shortly after that, she took a dose of Panadol and then hopped into a cool bath. Her temperature stabilised at around 38.4 and seems to be holding steady as she sleeps.