As this pandemic is upon us, you might some day, despite your best self- containment and other efforts, find yourself having been exposed, too close to someone who coughed or a positive test on a friend. In this covid-19 infection, there can be high levels of virus in the upper airway, in the nose and throat, without much symptoms but high contagiousness. So the risk is there.
One thing I have not seen much about is the hot steam inhalation to help weaken the virus and potentially eliminate it. It is a preventive measure in the sense of: don’t wait till there are symptoms.
Even if you don’t have any of the recommended supplements, it is something you can do.
I am sharing some of my experience with respiratory and flu like illnesses while growing up in Germany, then as a medical student and in practice, only because it might help – someone.
It is not clear if mainly a weaker immune system, comorbidity or inhaled doses of viral load directly into the lungs is the main mode of the severe infection, or if the virus does in fact linger along the respiratory tract and, infecting more and more cells there, works itself down into the lungs over 2-14 days? The very early stage is the stage where these measures might be of benefit.
First of all, in case you were exposed, don’t panic. Panic does not help your immune system. Inform yourself. Isolate yourself. Don’t expose others.
Number two, there is something you can do, especially if you don’t have any symptoms yet, even if you don’t have Vitamin C , or D, or chagas mushrooms, or quercitin or licorice root or whatever you would believe will help.
What follows is explicitly NOT medical advice but a sharing of things of my life. One of the reasons for me to stop working in the medical system in this country was the constant underlying fear to get sued, even if I did my best and even if I did nothing “wrong”. So there is that disclaimer.
I am sharing because I have experienced these methods working in various ways with seasonal upper respiratory infections and these are unusual times. I don’t see why the heat sensitive corona virus hanging out in the nose and throat should not be made weaker, or even be destroyed, through heat. Just remember, you, and ONLY you are responsible for either considering this as reasonable enough (makes sense) and putting it into your tool box, or not.
1 – hot steam inhalation chamber
Needed:
table
chair
pot with water that you brought to a boil
large enough towel to put over your head and pot
sit and breathe the steam air for 10-20 minutes.
Do it several times a day
No unruly kids or animals around (chance of spilling hot water and causing burns)
In Germany, herbal and folk medicines were part of life as I was growing up. In fact, there was a stark difference regarding this when I started working in the USA. (I was surprised with a touch of horrified, sorry folks).
One of the practices used for colds, bad colds and sinus infections is hot steam inhalation with camomile flowers. Later on, we added Kamillosan Konzentrat, an extract from the camomile flower. There are other additives or one can use, also normal saline, or just the hot steam.
With inflammatory skin diseases, eye problems, very low blood pressure and other circulatory disorders, you probably don’t want to do this, but you have to weigh the risk.
I remember my dad using hot steam inhalation, sitting at a table in front of a steaming hot water bowl and a towel over his head. That is how he treated himself. I have done so myself. In the USA, I recommended it in patients, those who were open to it and who I trusted to not mess it up and cause burn injuries to themselves or others. Good results, even without camomile flowers available here.
The burn injury risk is a reason I didn’t usually bring it up in medical practice. All I can say now is: don’t be an idiot and hold your face 2 inches from steaming hot water and get burned. Start off further away at first and gradually, as the water cools, move down closer. You should not have to refill with boiling water.
Remember, steam inhalation is a PREVENTION measure, Optimally, in usual circumstances, steam inhalation temperature is up to about 60 degree C, or about 122 F but it is likely hotter when you first start and cooler by the end. Covid-19 virus gets killed at slightly higher temperature in minutes.
SARS-CoV-2, or the corona virus, seems to affect both upper and lower airways. You cannot really reach (heat up) the lower airways with this and neither should you try!!! Also since it is the heat I am after, I don’t see doing that with dry heat, so steam it is.
You inhale normally through your nose and mouth. You do not want to take a deep breath through your mouth with this kind of hot steam. In fact, deep breaths are not recommended, just breathe normally. This is supposed to work on the upper respiratory tract, nose and throat, not into the lungs.
All this was never an issue way back growing up. It was just done in a common sense kind of way. If it is too hot for you, back off. Don’t have kids running around the table while you do this, or your dogs. Be free to do this and don’t do it while babysitting. And now you might understand why I only ever talked about this to a few patients.
Here is what I think.
We know many viruses and bacteria are heat sensitive. If not all killed downright, they get weakened when exposed to heat, giving your own immune system a leg up.
Heat increases circulation
Heat (at non-burning temperatures) dilates blood vessels and increases circulation to the area and therefore brings more white blood/immune cells into the area.
In fact, when infected, your body is wise enough and often produces its own heat, aka fever. For this reason I am not a fan of taking modern medication to reduce body temperature during such acute illnesses, unless it is extreme. It helps to be well hydrated.
Because viral material gets replicated in cells and then spreads again from there as those infected cells die, you need to do this more than once if you think you might have been exposed.
IMO, one would need to do this while the virus is still in the upper respiratory tract, and not causing any symptoms, before it gets into the lungs and the cytokine response has occurred.
Don’t do this when you already have a fever or shortness of breath!!!
Do I think a warm wet towel over your face helps too? It is good for some things, but for this one, probably not. In either case, no matter what your arsenal of home remedies looks like, pretty much anyone can boil water in a pot and has a big enough bath towel/cloth to put over their head and the pot to create a hot steam chamber.
Sauna, sure, do you have one in your home? Either dry or wet, it generally helps the immune system.
2 – Hot, full body bath and a beer
The title alone will make it obvious why I never commended this to anyone in the USA.
So we reduce it down to:
Hot bath
Needed:
bathtub
hot water
take a bath and sweat.
That alone has worked for me.
If you have pulmonary or cardiovascular disease, or blood pressure problems, just stick with the steam inhalation chamber as described above
This method was told to me back in 1983 in Germany by one of the research fellows in the lab where I was working for my dissertation.
So what he used for colds an flu was: at the onset, take a hot bath and have a beer (yes, in the bath). He said: it works every time, you won’t get sick.
So there.
If you think you were exposed or are at an early cold/flu symptom stage, take a hot bath if you can, to the point were you sweat, not a nice new age “self care” foam bath with candle, I have done that too 🙂
Don’t be stupid and make it so hot that you get burned. Don’t sit in the water without testing it!!!!!!!!!!
If your foot can’t stay in, the rest of you can’t either.
The beer is optional, but I never researched if the more ancient beer brew recipes in Germany, or the hops per se, added anything to the heat effect, or if it was just the alcohol.
The rationale is similar to that of the hot steam inhalation chamber, get hot enough to weaken the virus.
I tried it, once, during residency. I didn’t get sick. Later times, I didn’t do the beer, just the totally immersed hot bath, and in my mind causing artificial body-wide “fever”. My body in fact said: take those legs out of this water NOW, we are getting to hot 🙂 So this does come with the advice of using common sense. I also put a towel over my head.
In 20 years in clinical medicine, I have never missed a day of work due to any respiratory illness of any kind.
Would sauna help? Imho, it makes sense to me so yes, I think sauna will help, but I never lived anywhere where that was an option.
Wanting the option of having medicinal hot baths is one of the reasons why, decades ago, I told the realtor to not even show me houses without a bathtub.
Just fyi, have you ever has the side of your toenail get all swollen and red and infected? From multiple personal experience I can tell you a that hot salt-water toe or foot soak was beginning of the end of that problem.
Bonus: Belief
Do not ever underestimate your belief in something working, also called placebo effect. Not only is it real, it is powerful. If you know of something that has always worked for you, use it.
But in the industry, it might not happen that someone is gonna do a proper study to test antiviral medication against hot baths or hot steam inhalation chambers. In case the hot water wins, there would be no money to be made. Such a study would only ever be considered in a place where prevention of early stage progression is important.
For me, I was willing to try the methods as I had either seen them work, trusted my source and, with the increased heat, they also make sense in terms of what we know about certain viruses and their heat sensitivity. So for me, my body-mind is primed to already believe it will help with this new virus, at least in the beginning stages. And so it does, because my immune system is stronger because of that alone.
Meanwhile, do the things recommended,
hand-washing,
gloves,
take a shower when you come home after shopping,
wash (at least at 60C) your clothes before you sit anywhere with them.
Don’t get coughed on, keep your distance.
Get some sunshine and fresh air.
What I would do if I knew I was exposed?
After having been exposed, here are some things I would do, if available
zinc lozenges or zinc supplement, elderberry syrup (only till symptoms start, then no more elderberry syrup), Vit C 500 mg several times a day for 3 g/day, Vitamin D (only until symptoms start) Quercitin supplement, Licorice extract
Some people use chagas mushrooms, skullcap
Steam inhalation.
Stay hydrated, sleep/rest
Do self healing meditations.
Be happy (the best you can) – that helps with the immune system too!
Eat well. (fruits and vegetables, certain spices)
If there are symptoms, stop the elderberry and Vitamin D, treat with antiviral (like Tamiflu), Zithromax, Hydroxycloroquine, this would require involvement of an MD. Possibly higher does of Vitamin C –
If you know a Chinese Medicine Integrative MD, there are combinations of Chinese herbs that could possibly be of use.
Take care out there.
Some links: copy and paste.
Viral inactivation through heat: https://europepmc.org/article/med/15350737
Food as medicine: https://gailfaithedwards.com/2020/03/06/the-pesky-enigmatic-coronavirus-preventive-care/?fbclid=IwAR2ntNRX9sLiIRsiFHlKIoRhAiQ2gjY61qo7aPaRkkCQuceAruJX_2i7VYg
medical records from a chines MD: https://www.elotus.org/article/medical-records-young-and-brave-female-traditional-chinese-medicine-tcm-doctor-fighting-covi?fbclid=IwAR2YyK6YlTBc0MsecHbX8DR8jnrnMCo_9cycDCEhTzvZQR-p2JguJLKNYtA