Care During Fevers, Chills & Soreness

Blog Post, Care During Illness, Herbalism, Self Care, Sleep

Calming blue background. Text reads, Care During Fevers, Chills & Soreness. Images from left to right: catnip herb, ginger, icon of person shivering, tea cup, graphic of person with thermometer, garlic cloves, person laying in bed with thermometer, carton of epsom salt, bath tub, lemon, elder flower.

Why a post about fever on a site that focuses on sleep?

 

I wrote this post and others about illness clients and my community to help where it’s feasible and reasonable to do DIY support for yourself when you have a fever. This post is for when people feel comfortable that a fever is manageable at home. If you’re not sure or need further support, reach out to your PCP person.

My primary focus an herbalist (and psychotherapist) is supporting people with sleep and we dig into trauma, grief, calming the nervous system, and addressing stress and anxiety and their impacts on our body, mind, and spirit. (If you want similar content related to coughs, check my post on that topic here, and for chest congestion, check out my post on that topic here.)

I teach people how to develop ways to care for themselves, and sometimes we get sick!

Fevers are Part of the Immune Response.

Fevers can accomplish the following:

  • Help to quicken recovery.
  • Increase the body’s temperature outside of the window that pathogens can live in
  • Create a cleansing process through your body sweating
  • Increase circulation of blood and lymph, cells that help immune response and other infection-mitigating agents

For those reasons, you may not want to immediately rid your system of a fever and rather support your immune system.

If they’ve been around for more than a day or two, are very high (above 104ºF,) or they spike it’s best to check in with your nurse practitioner, doctor or PCP.

 

 

Supporting Your Immune Response When You Have a Fever

Calm blue background. Text reads, Supporting a Productive Fever. Center icon of person in bed with thermometer/ Bottom pictured from left to right: catnip, teacup, ginger, elder flower, linden, lemon and garlic.

In addition to basic care, herbal remedies can support your body in resting and in the fever process.

When you have a fever, there are some simple ways to assist your recovery.

  • Rest. Your body is at work and needs its resources to focus on immune reactions.
  • Drink copious water throughout the day.
      • Bodies with fevers dehydrate more easily.
  • Monitor your fever to ensure it’s not going beyond a day or two, or if it spikes, seek medical care.
      • Seek guidance from your nurse practitioner, doctor or PCP. Many advise that very high fevers, 104ºF or higher, or that have been around for more than one to two days is cause for concern.

Some general factors of productive fevers are the following:

  • There is copious sweating.
  • If it’s been a day or less.
  • It’s below 104ºF.
    • If above this, it’s best to check in with a healthcare provider

If there is little or no sweating, you can work with herbs or warm baths to increase sweating. If the body feels fitful, irritable, and tense, relaxing herbs that also promote sweat may be helpful.

 

Herbal Remedies to Support the Immune System with Fever

 

Calm blue background. Text reads, Herbal supports for fevers, chills & soreness. Person shivering in center, icons of people with thermometers on either side. Graphic on bottom: garlic, ginger, elder flower, catnip, tea cup and lemon.

 

If you’ve considered why fevers are helpful and you want to support one, below are several herbal remedies to consider. These herbs will help promote perspiration, a process that releases heat from the body, and are best taken as hot tea or by placing an extract (such as a tincture, glycerite, elixir, or oxymel) into warm water.

Catnip tea can be helpful for chills and fever.

 

Learn more about catnip tea for fevers here.

• It helps produce perspiration without increasing body heat, and sweats can bring down a fever. • It’s relaxing. • Safe for infants, children, and elders. • Avoid during pregnancy.

 

If you have a fever and soreness, you may want to consider ginger tea with lemon.

Learn more about ginger for fevers here.

• Ginger can be supportive to your immune system with viral inflections. • Low to moderate doses of fresh Ginger are ok to use during pregnancy, but dry ginger during pregnancy is less advised. • If you have hot flashes or night sweats, Ginger may not be the best remedy.

 

  • You can try Lemon tea and/or a tea with dried Elder berry (or elderberry syrup) if you don’t like Ginger or it’s contraindicated for you.
    • Sour herbs, like Lemon, can help your body with fever and inflammation.

Learn more about elder berry here.

• You’d want to use dried Elder berry or an elder berry syrup because fresh, unprocessed elder berry can cause gastrointestinal irritation. • High doses of raw berries can cause nausea, diarrhea, or induce vomiting. • Seek a high quality source from a trusted herb company or herbal remedy maker. Message me if you’re looking for trusted suppliers.

 

If the fever is associated with bacterial or respiratory infections, Garlic may be one of the more useful herbal remedies.

Read more about Garlic here.

• If you’re about to have surgery or are recovering from surgery, or if you’re taking blood thinners, you may want to look for other remedies. Garlic can thin the blood. This is not usually a concern for cullinary use, but more than that may mean you want to check in with a your PCP, nutritionist or herbal practitioner. • If you’re someone who tends to get overheated easily, you may find Garlic to warming for you.

If you’re stomach isn’t sensitive to Garlic and you’re not experiencing GI upset, raw would be best and you can have that in a fire cider, which is a simple recipe of apple cider vinegar and herbs.

Read more about Fire Cider & Garlic use here.

• There are many places to find fire cider recipes. (I’m not affiliated with any of these sites.)

Here’s one that includes a video

This site isn’t as cluttered as some others may be

This one also has a video and is where you can source some herbs.

Or you can go all out and check out this book. (I’m not affiliated with the book.)

  • For fire cider, mince garlic and add it to apple cider vinegar.
  • You can add honey to it if you want to also soothe the throat (honey not recommended for children under 2)
  • You can work with this several times a day to help your immune system.

If you have acid reflux, vinegar or spicy herbs may not sit well with you. An alternative would be to not use raw garlic. Slightly cook the garlic and perhaps add it to some broth and sip it.

You can also use Garlic Honey, which needs to be made in advance.

Learn more about Garlic Honey here

Mince several Garlic cloves. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Add the minced Garlic to a small glass jar (about 4 ounces) and fill it about 3/4 the way with the garlic. Fill the jar with honey and stir. Add more honey if necessary. Taste in 2 to 3 days. You want the honey to taste like Garlic. Once it does, you can either strain the garlic or keep it in the honey. This will keep indefinitely. If crystals form, it’s still okay to consume. You can re-liquify by placing the jar in a warm water bath, ideally with tongues to avoid burning yourself!

 

Elder flower tea or infusion can be helpful in the earlier part of a viral infection and for fever.

Learn more about elder flower here.

• Elder flower has a cooling mechanism to help bring on sweat and regulate body temperature • Most people find it pleasant tasting. • It’s safe for children.

 

How to Warm and Comfort Your Sore Body

Aw, if your body aches from being sick, that’s miserable, but here are some remedies to comfort you!

Hydrotherapy: Baths or Foot Soaks to Warm and Sooth Sore Bodies

Water moves things. Water carries therapeutic agents to our system.

A bath or foot soak may surprise you with how it can deliver enough comfort to tip the scales from achy to soothed and rest-ready.

Read more about Epsom salt soaks here.

Epsom salt baths offer the following:

  • Ease muscle tension and soreness
  • Aid relaxation
  • Reduce stress

If you don’t have a tub or are too fatigued to get a bath ready, alternatively, you can soak your feet in a warm basin of Epsom salt water.

How much Epsom salt to use? 1 to 2 cups for a full bath and about 1/3 cup for a foot bath.

You can consider adding diluted essential oils (see link for safety notes,) to further comfort your body, assist with congestion, and bring down stress.

  • Never put undiluted essential oils into a bath because they do not disperse in water alone.
  • You can dilute in an unscented castile soap (or other natural, unscented soap).
  • Use 3 to 9 drops (less or none for children, see safety notes here on essential oils)
    • Eucalyptus to ease congestion
    • Lavender to help reduce soreness
      • Not everyone likes lavender! If it’s not relaxing to you, skip it.

 

Tea to Warm and Sooth Sore Bodies

 

Sipping on a cup of herbal tea with select herbs can help relax a sore body and bring warmth. Below are some herbs to try.

Ginger

Learn more about ginger here.

• Ginger can bring ease to a sore body while supporting your immune system. • It helps circulation. • You can mix ginger with other relaxing herbs if the taste is too strong or it feels too warming for you. • Low to moderate doses of fresh Ginger are ok to use during pregnancy, but dry ginger during pregnancy is less advised. • If you have hot flashes or night sweats, Ginger may not be the best remedy.

Chamomile

Learn more about chamomile here.

• Can be useful to ease the body. • Safe for children • Great option to also settle a stomach and calm stress.

Cinnamon Bark– the herb, not cinnamon oil

Learn more about cinnamon bark here.

• Cinnamon may help bring ease when you’re feeling sore. • It helps circulation. • You can mix cinnamon with other relaxing herbs if it feels too warming for you. • Not recommended to use during pregnancy (unless used as a seasoning in cooking). • Not recommended when nursing • Consume less than 2 grams daily is to avoid gastrointestinal upset, or discontinue use if GI upset occurs..

 

 

Want More Help from an Herbal Practitioner with Immune System Support?

The above information really scratches the surface. Working with more customized formulas and in tandem to all the other things you may do to bolster your immune system can go much further! Immune system support is not my focus, but is of many herbalists. If you’re not sure how to find an herbalism practitioner, check out my post here.

If you want support developing ways to regularly care for yourself, address anxiety and stress and improve sleep, see my services here.

 

Once You’re Recovered…

…let me know if this post was helpful and sign up for my newsletter to learn about new posts!

Thank you for reading, and rest well!

-Quai