First Line Treatment
When you are starting to get sick, this home remedy is one of the first things to think of doing when you want to decrease congestion in the head, throat, ears, and lungs.
By morning, there can be a significant reduction in
- sore throat
- ear infection
- sinus infection
- headache
- migraine
- nasal congestion
- cough
- bronchitis
- upper respiratory infection
Whew!
In addition, people report that they sleep much better during the treatment, which is much appreciated with head congestion.
The warming socks treatment also may be helpful when you have swelling in a sprained ankle. Doing this treatments keeps up the circulation while sleeping to help move excess fluid away from the sprain.
Even individuals with no complaints can benefit from wet socks at bedtime – the treatment effectively induces deeper and more restful sleep while enhancing overall body circulation and tissue waste elimination!
Warming socks are best done before going to bed, leaving them on while sleeping. It’s an especially effective and easy treatment for children during nap time too.
Supplies
- 1 pair thin white cotton socks
- 1 pair thick wool socks
- towel
- warm bath or warm foot bath
Directions
1) Take the pair of cotton socks and soak the foot parts completely with cold water.
Wring them out thoroughly so that they do not drip.
You may put them in the refrigerator or freezer while you are getting ready.
2) Warm your feet.
This is very important as the treatment will not be as effective and could be chilling if your feet are not warm first.
If your feet are not already warm, soak them in warm water for at least 5 to 10 minutes. This may be in a foot bath or a whole body tub bath.
3) Dry off and get ready for bed.
4) Place the cold wet socks on your feet. Immediately cover with the thick wool socks. Go directly to bed and bundle up to stay warm.
5) Keep the socks on overnight. You will find that they will be dry in the morning. You can kick them off if they are dry when you wake up at night.
6) Repeat this nightly, or in sequences of three nights in a row.
How the Warming Socks Works
When putting cold wet socks on warm feet, the body responds by increasing circulation to the feet to keep them warm, and in the process dries out the socks.
The wool socks are put over the cotton socks to slow down the cooling so that the feet do not get cold. If you are allergic to wool, do not let it touch your skin by having the cotton socks ankle portion extend above the wool socks, as this part is kept dry. Alternately, choose some heavier natural fiber socks so that the feet can breathe yet the evaporation is slowed down. Acrylic or polyester socks do not work for this purpose.
With increased circulation, healing elements of the immune system are brought to all areas of the body at a rate much more than usual while sleeping. In this way, it helps colds and upper respiratory infections to heal.
An interesting note:
If treatment cannot be done directly on area of concern, if there is bandaging or a cast, you can use its corresponding reflex area to elicit an effect! For paired body parts such as feet or hands, one side serves as a reflex area for the other. For example, if the left ankle is in a cast, treatment can be applied to the right ankle to elicit a healing effect for the injured ankle.
