Runny nose? Sore throat? Chills? Fever? Sneez­ing? Con­ges­tion? Headache? Any or all of the above? Use the warm­ing socks treatment.

Warm­ing socks works by stim­u­lat­ing the body’s nat­ural heal­ing responses dur­ing acute infec­tions. In hydrother­apy terms, the tech­nique is a kind of “warm­ing com­press”, which encour­ages the body to increase over­all blood cir­cu­la­tion in order to warm up the cold socks. In doing so, it draws pref­er­en­tially from areas of con­ges­tion in the upper res­pi­ra­tory pas­sages, head, and throat. It is also effec­tive for pain relief.

A safe treat­ment for the whole fam­ily, includ­ing the youngest of kids, warm­ing socks is per­fect at bed­time, or nap time, as it has a sooth­ing and sedat­ing effect, help­ing you to sleep through the night even when you’re feel­ing less than par.

Lov­ingly referred to in my hydrother­apy class as “cold wet socks”, this treat­ment isn’t nearly as bad as it sounds. In fact, many peo­ple find it relax­ing once both pairs of socks are on and you’re lying in bed under the covers.

Besides, it’s a pow­er­ful, cheap, and easy way to treat the com­mon cold, influenza, sore throats, sinus infec­tions, upper res­pi­ra­tory tract infec­tions, con­ges­tion, sinusi­tis, coughs, and headaches. Any­time there’s heat and con­ges­tion in the head and chest, it’s your go-to treat­ment, espe­cially along­side indi­vid­u­al­ized and inte­grated care that includes rest, hydra­tion, breath­ing tech­niques, nutri­tional strate­gies, and the use of spe­cific botan­i­cals and/or homeopathics.

What you need

1 pair of medium weight 100% cot­ton socks
1 pair of thick 100% wool socks
access to cold water, maybe warm water and a towel

How to do it

1. If your feet are cool or cold, warm them by run­ning under warm water for a few min­utes and dry off with a towel.
2. Soak cot­ton socks in cold water. Wring out excess water until wet but not dripping.
3. Put on wet cot­ton socks.
4. Put dry wool socks on top.
5. Cover well with blan­kets and go to bed. Stay warm in bed with feet cov­ered overnight.  When you wake in the morn­ing, your feet will be warm and the socks will be dry.
6. Repeat for 3 nights in a row or as directed by your natur­o­pathic doctor.

*Cau­tion: Peo­ple with chronic health con­cerns or con­di­tions, or those with com­pro­mised immune sys­tems, should con­sult with a health pro­fes­sional before start­ing this treat­ment.  Con­sul­ta­tion with a natur­o­pathic doc­tor or other pri­mary care provider is rec­om­mended for any­one inter­ested in the state of their health.