Bathing: Now You’re Not So Hot!

Moms and herbalists alike use two good home remedies to break fevers:

1. A sweat bath: The sweat bath is the typical way an herbalist would handle a fever, knowing that the fever is doing the body a favor by killing infection. A sweat bath will assist your body and speed up the process.
2. A tepid sponge bath: It is a way to bring down a fever, but not necessarily to help the body rid itself of the cause of the fever. If you are worried about a child with a raging fever and cannot get medical care, this would be your safest home treatment.

The sweat bath will help break a fever in a similar way that the yarrow works, by opening the pores and sweat glands and pushing out wastes through the skin. For use and description of a sweat bath. The other remedy, a tepid sponge bath, involves putting yourself or a child in tepid water to eliminate a fever by conduction.
Traditionally, many moms have used rubbing alcohol in the tub to help break a fever. This is because of the quick evaporating action of alcohol. However, the alcohol’s fumes can be toxic. A better way to go for a tepid sponge bath is to add peppermint oil to the water. Peppermint oil also brings blood to the surface of the skin and has a cooling effect on the body. What’s more, the fumes are not dangerous, and the oil leaves you feeling more refreshed. Also the bath water does not need to be cold! A more pleasing temperature (approximately 70F) will still do the trick and can be tolerated for a longer time than colder water. A sponge bath would be a better choice than a sweat bath for very high fevers.
Either way you go, take your yarrow to help push out the inner heat and toxins through the skin.