Fevers: Sweat It Out or Start Tylenol?

I was going to blog about the benefits of coconut oil, but I feel like writing about what's happening in our home tonight. We have a sick little boy. Normally, we have to convince ourselves that one of the kids are sick because they keep playing and eating like usual. Tonight was a different story. 

Our two-year-old stopped playing. And eating. And being himself. 

As a mother, it breaks my heart to see him feeling tired, fevered, and sick. Here's where the Nyberg's differ in health care choices though. Most of the families I know would start the Tylenol regime to break the fever. Some parents would take their kids to Urgent Care to get checked from a medical doctor and possibly get a prescription. I know exactly how these mothers are feeling--I need to do whatever I can RIGHT NOW to make my child feel better. 

However, we disagree with Tylenol and prescription pharmaceuticals for our children for many reasons. The main reason is that we trust our child's body to heal itself. He has a fantastically strong immune system and we trust his body to fight off the virus or bacteria that has taken temporary residence in him. "Have you more faith in a spoonful of medicine than the innate power that created the human body?" --BJ Palmer

I am also very fearful of the side effects of medications. Many parents haven't researched what effect over-the-counter drugs have on a human's body, especially a little body. For example: while the child's liver is working over time to get rid of the sickness, the last thing we want to do is to add more stress to his liver (which is what Tylenol does). Tylenol has also been linked to increased risk of asthma, and contributes to liver and kidney problems. 

If you lower the fever and you never give the body a chance to fight off infection on his own, the likelihood of him getting sick again increases significantly. 

So what do we do? We monitor the fever closely and keep the kids as comfortable as possible. Tonight that meant eating fresh fruits, drinking lots of water, getting adjusted, going to bed early, and lots of snuggle time with Mom and Dad. We also found that a cold washcloth kept him happy. Please note: We are NOT anti-medicine--it definitely has it's time and place in our society. 

The idea behind chiropractic is that through gentle adjustments, the body is able to EXPRESS the illness by itself. Under no circumstances do we ever SUPPRESS symptoms (or illness). We want to help the body get rid of the illness through whatever way it needs to--fever/sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. Preventing these elimination methods keeps the toxins in and we stay sick MUCH longer. And guess what? The illness will probably present itself again in the near future. 

All moms/parents do what we think is best at the time. I urge all families to consider natural health care for their children. We get to see amazing miracles every day in children under regular chiropractic care.  (www.icpa4kids.org) 

"The power that made the body, heals the body." --BJ Palmer