Fever

Human body is a working machinery and any machinery that is working is bound to generate heat. God has created a number of cooling mechanisms in our body that we let out our heat continuously by various means. But when you suffer fever, it is an indication that your body is generating heat faster than losing it and that your body is struggling to get rid of the heat. So the best thing you can do is to lie down and give the body adequate rest to do its work towards getting rid of the excess heat.

Thus mild fever is simply body’s natural response to fighting virus. Taking test or even sleeping is the best thing to do. If the patient is already sleeping, never wake him up even to give medication.

Don’t assume fever means you are seriously ill. Drink water frequently to clear urine every two hours [ except for heart and kidney patients]. Avoid heavy meals but eat when feeling hungry; stick to bland foods. Give sponge bath with lukewarm water [wait for an hour, if patient given paracetamol].

When to worry about the fever?

There is no cause for alarm so long the temperature is up to 103 degrees
But in the case of new born babies and those with heart or arthritis problems, consult the doctor just to reduce the discomfort to the patient

Also consult the doctor if

More than 100.2 degrees if the child is upto 3 months
More than 101 degrees for a child up to six months age
More than 103 degrees for a child above six months age including adults
More than 101 degrees for three days continuously in case of any one

If fever is accompanied by severe head ache, stiff neck, sore throat, aches and pains, coughing that brings sputum or blood, irritability, excessive sleepiness, rash, vomiting, difficulty in breathing, bloody diarrhoea or blood in stools or other infections



Home Medicines

You can facilitate your body lose its heat by taking any of the following measures:

In feverishness:

Take one cup of lemon juice, add it to tender coconut water and drink

In fever

To bring down the temperature, as an external application, apply leaf juice of agathikeerai all over the body or soak a handful of vettiver in a jug of water and apply the infusion over forehead.

1 Make tea by boiling fenugreek seeds
Take thrice a day, if necessary adding little honey or lemon juice for taste

2 Make a cup of fenugreek decoction
Add 1 tsp fresh juice of ginger and 1 tsp honey
Drink

3 Make decoction of neem leaves
Add pepper powder and take

4 Add in warm water ½ tsp ground pepper and palm candy
Take at bed time

5 Take Anar fruit juice frequently

6 Clean handful of mint leaves and crush
Make a paste of
½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp long pepper and 1 tsp dry ginger powder
Put all of them in 2 cups of water and boil till reduced to one cup
Filter and divide in 3 doses; take one dose - for three times the day

7 Take a pinch of saffron two times a day

8 Apply chandan paste on forehead to bring temperature down

9 Mix 2 tbsp saunf in one cup of water
Boil it till reduced to half
Filter and take 1 tbsp every morning and evening

10 Take two cups of water
Add 10 tulsi leaves plus 1 tsp powdered cardamom and boil to 1 cup
Add to this decoction milk and sugar to taste and take 3 times a day

11 Drink tea made from fenugreek seeds twice a day

It is Malaria if the fever comes on alternate days with body shivering and head ache. Sometimes, the patient may also have stomach upset and too much perspiration.

For bone fever, one can take the prescription given under [1] of cancer. In chronic fever, mix ¼ leaf juice of pavazhamalli with 1 tsp honey and take with warm water

Fever, followed by head ache, vomiting, fits and unconsciousness means it could be brain fever. Instead of waiting till unconsciousness, better consult a doctor