Photo by miggslives.
If things have been a little quiet around here lately… it’s because I’ve been immensely under the weather.
Like nose running, throat sore/itching, sinuses/lips/face swollen, body-congesting, cough-inciting, stomach-cramping, hives-causing, asthma inducing, can-somebody-please-put-me-out-of-my-misery sick.
All because of a stupid orange.
Picture this:
The sun is streaming down through the trees as a light breeze caresses your skin. You tote your suitcase down the back stairs of your friend’s lovely southern California home, secretly cursing the cold wind and bipolar weather conditions that you know await you back home…
…When it hits you. The sweet scent of sun-ripened oranges… beckoning you from a nearby tree. Ah, you don’t have to leave all of this beauty behind. No, you can pick a fresh orange from those branches and tuck it away for a stolen California moment in the chilly depths of an Oklahoma February. Sweet satisfaction.
Except the moment you sit down at your desk to savor that sweet evidence of sunshine, your throat begins to itch and swell. And then your nose starts to run. And then you notice when you run to the bathroom for tissue that your face looks like Alvin the Chipmunk’s.
Seriously. I tell no lies.
Apparently, I’ve developed a latent allergy to oranges. It might even be all citrus… but I’ve been too sick and chicken to try any of it since.
That was last Tuesday. Today is Monday, and after 5 days of battling the symptoms of a severe allergic reaction – I finally feel like myself again (though the nasal congestion is still there to remind me of my near-anaphylactic experience).
True to my natural health tendencies – I treated my symptoms over the last week with a variety of tried and true methods, including steam showers, hot herbal tea and honey, essential oils, and even a homemade Vicks-esque humidifying concoction on my stove.
However, the most surprising natural remedy came when I developed a 101 degree fever one evening (high for me whose “normal” temp is somewhere in the upper 97s).
Wanting to avoid taking any sort of typical “fever” reducer, I immediately did some online research on natural fever reducers and I came across this crazy combo:
Photos by flavorrelish, Brett Jordan, and bark.
What do an onion, some cellophane, and cozy socks have in common? Fast fever relief that’s what! 
Indeed, after reading what I thought might just be wives’ tales about connections between onions and fever relief… I decided it was worth an experiment.
So out came my trust chef’s knife to slice one of our onions, some Valentine’s cellophane bags (you know, because I like to be festive), and a pair of my husband’s coziest socks (love that man).
I simply places 4-5 onion slices on the bottom of my foot (so the onions can draw the fever out through your feet), slid on a cellophane bag over each tootsie (to seal in any onion smell – you can also use plastic wrap), and pulled on a pair of socks to keep things cozy.
Thus began my experiment.
And exactly one hour and thirty minutes later – I felt like my fever had broken. In my mouth went the thermometer until I heard the familiar beep-beep-beep and BOOM. It was down to 99.1.
Thirty minutes after that it was down to a perfect 98.6.
That’s right. In two measly hours, my fever had hit the road like Michael Scofield after one of his many prison breaks.
Sure, every time I had to get up to use the restroom during my experiment my feet made soft crunching noises from the plastic that made me feel like a complete “weirdo”… and afterwards my feet smelled like onions (not the best perfume)… but it worked.
Besides, my follow-up steamy bath with asthma conquering essential oils made that onion smell pull a Michael Scofield right along with the fever.
Win-Win.
Do you have an unconventional natural health trick that you love?
Have you ever been hesitant to share because you dreaded the “you’re-a-weirdo” looks? Please share in the comments!
Wow! Are you serious? Never, never would I have thought. I need to remember this trick.
Sending warm, sunny thoughts your way today.
Also, as someone who lives in SoCal, I hope your interaction from the orange doesn’t keep you from coming back.