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In medical school, one of the first at home treatment options we learned about in hydrotherapy was the cold wet socks or as some like to call it, the warming socks treatment (which sounds a lot more pleasant). This is a staple treatment in my house for conditions ranging from congestion to high fevers. This therapy works by increasing the bodies circulation while you are trying to warm up your feet from the cold socks. The increased circulation can stimulate the immune system which will help fight off infection and it can help draw all of the congestion out of your head and into your feet which can make you feel significantly better by morning.
Some conditions that warming socks can be used to treat are…
- Flu
- Common Cold
- Sinus Congestion
- Fever
- Cough
- Upper Respiratory Infection
- Ear Infections
- Sore Throat
- Bronchitis
The warming socks treatment is very simple and can be used on the whole family as long as they are greater than 6 months of age. Before 6 months, babies tend to shunt blood away from their hands and feet to keep the more vital organs warm. This makes the warming socks pretty useless and can actually make their feet pretty cold.
Procedure:
- Gather a pair of thin cotton socks and a pair of thicker wool socks (or whatever thicker socks you have available if wool is not an option).
- Saturate the thin cotton socks with water (the colder the better) and place them on your feet or your child’s feet.
- Next cover the wet socks with the thicker wool socks and crawl into your nice warm bed to go to sleep.
- By morning your body should have warmed up your feet and the socks will be completely dry, and I bet you will have had one of the best nights of sleep you have had in a while.
- This therapy works best if started at the first onset of a cold and repeated for three nights.
*All views expressed on this blog are my own and should not replace the advice of your doctor.
