Once you understand the importance of a healthy cellular environment and the power of fever in burning away toxins, you cannot help but admire the wisdom of nature in creating fever to help us recover our health. Invading germs as well as ingested poisons that have accumulated over time from unhealthy lifestyle choices can all be eliminated in a relatively short time by one simple, but intense process: fever.

But is it possible to create an artificial fever?

There are two simple, natural methods that are particularly effective in creating fever: hyperthermal baths and sustained physical exercise. The main distinction is that they are best suited for people whose physical capabilities are different.

In both methods, the heat intensifies blood circulation, oxygenation of tissues, combustion of wastes, cellular exchanges, elimination of toxins, and the body’s defenses, in the same way a fever does.

While these techniques make it possible to produce a strong fever, it will only be a temporary condition, lasting for one or two hours rather than the several days that a natural fever can continue. A complete, definitive result will therefore not occur with just one treatment. The chosen method should be repeated several times a week.

Let’s take a look at how to receive the maximum benefits from these techniques while respecting our physiological boundaries. There are very logical and precise boundaries that should govern the application of these treatments.

Hyperthermal Baths

Hyperthermal baths are very hot baths. But the sensation of heat is a subjective matter, which is why there is no precise temperature that the water must reach. Everyone needs to discover their own ideal temperature.

This works in the following way: Get into a bathtub with several inches of water heated to body temperature, 98.6°F. Next, continue adding hotter water until you reach your tolerance threshold. The goal is to find the temperature that will allow you to spend half an hour in the bath comfortably. Depending on your personal threshold, the temperature should be in the neighborhood of 102°F to 108°F. Fill the bathtub with enough water to cover your entire body, except your head, of course. Add more hot water as needed.

The purpose of the hyperthermal bath is to bring a large amount of heat to the body. If you have a low heat threshold, this objective can still be attained by spending a longer time in water that is not quite so hot.

On the other end of the spectrum, it is important to stress that you should not suddenly immerse yourself in extremely hot water, even if it is at a temperature you can tolerate. In fact, the body’s initial defensive reaction to this sudden assault will be to close the pores of the skin, which would partially negate the desired effect.

As a precautionary measure, and to avoid head congestion, you can keep a cold washcloth on your forehead during the bath.

Depending on your personal constitution and vitality, a hyperthermal bath may be taken every two or three days for a period of several months, or every day for one or two weeks.

Once finished bathing, gently climb out of the tub and lie down for a half hour or more wrapped in a terrycloth towel and a blanket. This extended period of rest allows the body to complete sweating and restore its balance.

Hyperthermal baths have a much more powerful effect than most people imagine. In fact, if you neglect to follow the gradual progression recommended earlier, you can trigger a massive elimination of deeply embedded toxins, or what is known as a cleansing crisis, which can completely overwhelm the eliminatory capacities of the excretory organs. Unpleasant side effects such as headaches and nausea can result. These disagreeable reactions can be avoided by gradually building up to the highest tolerable heat threshold.

You will see the purifying effects of these baths in the urine, which should be darker and more charged with wastes, and in the tear ducts, which will secrete more “sand” and so forth.

Sustained Physical Exercise

Sustained physical exercise is the second practice capable of creating an artificial fever. During a protracted, intense physical effort, the body temperature can climb as high as 104°F, which is at the line between a high and very high fever.

The additional cellular oxygenation and increased energy needs caused by sustained physical exercise burn away the body’s wastes all the way down to the cellular level. The toxins that are more or less embedded in the tissues will be broken down on the spot.

To obtain these results, the physical exercise should be comparable to the effort required for cycling, long distance running, cross country skiing, and so on. For those who have the strength necessary to perform activities like these, pursuing them for a period of one or two hours makes it possible to create an artificial fever. Repeated on a regular basis, this will contribute greatly to restoring the integrity of the internal cellular environment.

The length of the exercise session should obviously be in accord with the physiological capacities of the individual. Overexerting yourself is a bad gamble. The high production of toxins and exhaustion of the body this will cause wipes out the benefits that the artificial fever could otherwise have provided.

One way to reduce the muscular effort required while maintaining the strong heating effect of the body is to perform gentler forms of exercise such as walking, gardening, a short bike ride, gymnastics, and so forth on a hot summer day. During other seasons performing these milder activities while wearing warm clothing allows the exercise to be much milder while still attaining the heat required to createa fever.

The regular practice of artificially produced fevers will bring about health and vitality and prevent the return of illness.

Summary

Creating an artificial fever, through hyperthermal baths or sustained physical exercise, provides a means for forestalling illnesses by ridding the biological terrain of toxins, just as a natural fever would.

©2012 (English translation). All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher, Healing Arts Press,
an imprint of Inner Traditions Intl. www.InnerTraditions.com

This article has been adapted with permission from the book:

The Healing Power of Fever
by Christopher Vasey, N.D.

Contrary to popular belief, a fever is not a symptom to be treated but a sign of a healthy, functioning immune system naturally working to heal the body. Helping us understand what a fever really is and how it can benefit the body, Dr. Vasey asks us to stop considering fever as an enemy to be conquered and start seeing it as the healing ally that it truly is.

Click here for more info and/or to order this book on Amazon.

About the Author

Christopher Vasey, N.D., is a naturopath specializing in detoxification and rejuvenation. He is the author of The Acid-Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health, The Naturopathic Way, The Water Prescription, The Whey Prescription, and The Detox Mono Diet. Visit his website (French language) at www.christophervasey.ch