Wet Socks (Hydrotherapy) Treatment

Wet Sock (Hydrotherapy) Treatment Instructions:

"Wet Sock Therapy" can be used for any cold and flu symptoms, no matter how minor or severe, on children or adults. It is typically advised to be done overnight, but I’ve done this treatment on myself during the day while I worked from home, and I've done it on my kids during the day while they are napping or resting when they are sick. You can repeat treatment 2-3x per day, night or nap, when necessary. 

1. Gather your supplies: a pair of thin cotton socks, a pair of thick wool socks, and a bowl or sink of ice cold water.
2. Warm up: Soak your feet in as warm of water as you can tolerate for 5-10 minutes, or take a really warm bath or shower if your whole body is cold. This helps improve circulation and prep your body for treatment.
   Optional: add 1 cup epsom salts or baking soda to your bath and sip on my Immuni-Tea (adults or children old enough to drink a diluted version of this herbal tea)
3. Wet the cotton socks with ice cold water and wring them out. The colder and wetter the socks, the more intense the treatment will be. 
4. Put on the cold, wet socks as soon as you get out of the bath and dry off. Kids may need some help ;)
5. Put the thick wool socks on over the wet/cold cotton socks. It is important that the wool socks cover the cotton socks completely. 
6. Go to bed (or kick your feet up and keep them warm if you're doing this during the day). It is best to do this treatment right before bed. Once you have put on the wet socks and covered them with the wool socks, go straight to bed and keep your feet covered with blankets. 
7. Remove the socks in the morning. The socks will be dry, and hopefully your symptoms will have improved. If not, repeat as needed. 

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Basically it's:  Warm.  Cold.  Warm. 

While it may seem odd, heating your feet/body and then wearing cold wet socks covered in wool socks to bed increases your circulation and helps regulate your body temperature. The effects of increased blood circulation are similar to taking a walk. Anything that improves oxygen levels in our bodies can promote healing and reduce pain in the simplest of explanations. Circulation and oxygenation, in turn, stimulate your immune system, which can help with more than you'd ever imagine:

• digestion
• pain and inflammation
• sleep
• breathing
• fever regulation
• lymphatic flow
• nasal congestion
• cold and flu
• ear aches
• sore throats
• sinus infections
• headaches
• and even detox or die off symptoms!

Similar therapies were used by the Romans, as well as nurses in days of old, when nurses were trained in more genuine "health care" techniques. Check out this forgotten therapy they used to teach in nursing school that my dear friend Jacque of DeepRootsAtHome.com wrote about: ‘Fomentation’: The Lost Treatment for Pneumonia, Bronchitis, Spider Bites. Jacque also writes about “water cure” spas in Europe where one of the main treatments involves immersing both feet into separate buckets, alternately, of hot and cold water.

This is exactly what we are "reproducing" with wet socks therapy! And it feels surprisingly good.

I've even alternated castor oil (foot) packs with wet socks, as well. Get creative & get your family well. God has given us so much wisdom & so many resources to help our families at home, you guys. 

Read Jacque's blog about Wet Socks here for a few more resources. 

Luke 9:2  "and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick"

NOTE: Wet Sock Therapy is extremely safe, but should be avoided in pregnancy, those with the inability to regulate temperature properly, and those with severe circulation disorders. It is also wise to keep a close eye when using this on young children who cannot communicate if they are feeling too hot or too cold. Keep a close eye on children, of course, and stop any therapy if they seem too uncomfortable. Use blankets or warm baths to warm them up, or cool wash cloths over the forehead or even tepid baths for unusually high temperatures. 

This is not intended as medical advice or in place of medical care. This is for educational purposes only.