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Lifestyle and home remedies
By Mayo Clinic staffYou can try a number of things to make yourself or your child more comfortable during a fever:
- Drink plenty of fluids. Fever can cause fluid loss and dehydration, so drink water, juices or broth. For a child under age 1, use an oral rehydration solution such as Pedialyte. These solutions contain water and salts proportioned to replenish fluids and electrolytes. Pedialyte ice pops also are available.
- Rest. It's necessary for recovery, and activity can raise your body temperature.
- Stay cool. Dress in light clothing, keep the room temperature cool and sleep with only a sheet or light blanket.
- Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Use according to the label instructions or as recommended by your doctor, and be careful to avoid taking too much. High doses or long-term use of acetaminophen may cause liver or kidney damage, and acute overdoses can be fatal. If you're not able to get your child's fever down, don't give more medication; call your doctor instead. For temperatures below 102 F (38.9 C), don't use fever-lowering drugs unless advised by your doctor.
- Soak in lukewarm water. Especially for high temperatures, a lukewarm five- to 10-minute soak or giving your child a sponge bath can be cooling. Do not use alcohol. And if the bath causes shivering, stop the bath and dry your child. Shivering raises the body's internal temperature — shaking muscles generate heat.
Taking a temperature
To check your or your child's temperature, you can choose from several types of thermometers, including electronic thermometers and ear (tympanic) thermometers. Thermometers with digital readouts and those that take temperature quickly from the ear canal are especially useful for young children and older adults. Because glass mercury thermometers harm both humans and the environment, they have been phased out and are no longer recommended.
Although it's not the most accurate way to take a temperature, you can also use an oral thermometer for an armpit (axillary) reading:
- Place the thermometer in the armpit with arms crossed over the chest.
- Wait four to five minutes. The axillary temperature is slightly lower than an oral temperature.
- If you call your doctor, report the actual number on the thermometer and where on the body you took the temperature.
Use a rectal thermometer for infants:
- Place a dab of petroleum jelly on the bulb.
- Lay your baby on his or her tummy.
- Carefully insert the bulb one-half inch to one inch into your baby's rectum.
- Hold the bulb and your baby still for three minutes.
- Don't let go of the thermometer while it's inside your baby. If your baby squirms, the thermometer could go deeper and cause an injury.
- Manifestations of infection. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec14/ch167/ch167d.html. Accessed April 13, 2009.
- Fever. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec19/ch266/ch266i.html. Accessed April 13, 2009.
- Torpy J. Fever in infants. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2004;291:1284.
- Fever. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/supportivecare/fever/healthprofessional. Accessed April 13, 2009.
- Febrile seizures fact sheet. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/febrile_seizures/detail_febrile_seizures.htm. Accessed April 13, 2009.
- Richardson M, et al. Assessment and initial management of feverish illness in children younger than 5 years: Summary of NICE guidance. British Medical Journal. 2007;334:1163.
- O'Grady N, et al. Guidelines for evaluation of new fever in critically ill adult patients: 2008 update from the American College of Critical Care Medicine and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Critical Care Medicine, 2008;36:1330.
- El-Radhi A. Why is the evidence not affecting the practice of fever management? Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2009;93:918.
- Leggett J. Approach to fever or suspected infection in the normal host. Cecil Textbook of Medicine. 23nd ed. W. B. Saunders Company, 2007.
