Amazing “Cures”
A few days ago I started getting sick with a respiratory viral infection that’s been, as they say, “going around.” Though I uusally can nip these things in the bud with the Salt Cleanse (see Better Health Update #56 on “Celtic Sea Salt”), that didn’t work this time, as symptoms worsened into the worst cold/bronchitis/sinustis I’ve experienced in many years. Eventually my head was feeling like it was going to explode and my teeth were hurting from sinus pressure. Most of all, I just felt like the viral infection was winning and my body was losing. At one point it was so bad that I thought I might have to be hospitalized, which, if you know me, is really, really, really bad.
Last night, in desperation to turn this around, I went back to two old “cures” that I have used on myself in the past: (1) Artificially-induced fever, and (2) raw garlic. If I remember right, I first heard of artificially-induced fever from the late German physician, Dr. Josef Issels, who used it with his cancer patients. The mechanics of this are pretty simple — you lie in a very hot bath and get your body temperature up to 103 to 104 degrees for 15 or 20 minutes and thus “fry” the viruses. The body uses fever to kill off pathogens, but we don’t typically get a fever every time we’re sick. Understand that doing this requires considerable care. First, you must monitor your body temperature throughout this process. Do not let your body temperature exceed 104 degrees. It’s also a good idea (and feels good) throughout this process to cool your head with a wash cloth dipped in cool water. Do not do this alone! There must be someone else in the bathroom that can make sure you’re OK throughout this process. You will tend to get lightheaded, and you sure don’t want to pass out in the bathtub! Fever has an amazing ability to rid the body bacterial and viral toxins, even this relatively short artificially-induced fever. You’ll be a little woozy for awhile, after you get out of the bathtub, but you’ll feel OK in a few minutes.
After doing this last night, I turned to another somewhat uncomfortable, but very effective approach — raw garlic. After 25 years in practice and using a lot of garlic supplements with clients for its powerful infection fighting properties, I have to tell you that nothing is as powerful as raw garlic, right from the clove. Take a garlic clove and peel it (this is done by striking the garlic clove on your cutting board with the flat side of a big kitchen knife). Then pop it in your mouth an hour before going to bed and suck on it. Resist the temptation to bite into the garlic clove very much because the juice is very potent and will sting your tongue. The idea is to just gradually get the garlic sucked out over an hour’s time and then go to bed (needless to say, sleeping by yourself is probably necessary). Garlic will come out every pore in your body, so a soapy shower, including washing your hair, is necessary in the morning.
Last night I slept better than I had in weeks and woke feeling pretty functional for the first time in days. I felt like the viral infection was on the way out — my immune system was winning. It’s hard to explain how much different this can make you feel in the midst of an infection. Would love to hear your experience with either of these methods.
Monte Kline
Tags: artificially induced fever, cold remedies, garlic, infection remedies
March 28th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
The last two winters I seem to have caught every thing that came along and had bad chest congestion with a lot of mucous and constant coughing. This last summer I heard about a water therpy treatment that I’ve used with great results. I haven’t been sick one day this winter and have been exposed to plenty colds and the flu not to mention having four young grand children that we see quit often. It involves a hot and cold water treatment that I do when I take my shower every morning. This is how it works. I take my normal shower with very hot water, then I turn on the cold water for one minute, then back to the hot water for two minutes, then back to the cold water for one minute, then back to the hot water for one minute and finish with cold water for one minute.
I dry off and wrap up to get warm. Surprising you aren’t chilled on the inside, your skin is cold but your internal temperature seems to increase and the blood flushes to your skin very quickly.
When you turn on the cold water for the first time you can increase it slowly if it is to uncomfortable. (I live in the Nortwest and the water can be pretty cold)
I’m 62 years old and I feel really invigorated after my shower.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:27 am
Good approach, Bill. I have done a modified version of this for decades by finishing my hot shower with a cold shower for immune stimulation. It also makes you feel warm instead of the usual chill experienced when you turn off the hot shower and start drying off.