Fever clinics in Beijing, Wuhan, Hebei, and elsewhere have already seen medical crunches, with people queuing for hours to see a doctor. Hospitals and clinics everywhere are packed with people getting IV drips to break fever, so that fever-reducing drugs there are nearly exhausted, and pharmacies cannot sell them either.Many people have a fever, but we are not yet at the peak. My relatives in the country number in the dozens, spread across more than ten cities; as of today (December 11, 2022), none has had a fever, which shows we are still some way from the Omicron peak. When the peak arrives, the medical crunch will be far worse.Omicron causes a self-limited disease, and most people need no drug treatment, let alone a hospital or clinic. This is especially true for otherwise healthy adults aged 18–70 and older children who have not recently been overexerted. These people can basically break their fever at home with a few simple methods; the mildly affected endure a few hours, the more severe three or four days, and then improve on their own.Infants and toddlers, pregnant women, those with relatively serious underlying diseases, and the very elderly are the groups to watch. But if such people show no signs of respiratory distress, they can usually first try self-rescue measures at home; only those with more serious symptoms need go to the hospital, because queuing for care in the depths of winter is itself risky for the frail, the ill, the disabled, and pregnant women.Let me teach you some simple, easy ways to bring down a fever.The first is to drink more water. Drinking plenty of water when you have a cold and fever is a platitude, but it really works. Water is a very special substance, indispensable to our cells; some of its molecular properties let it play an important role in buffering changes in temperature.Moreover, water has none of the serious side effects of medicine. In the past two days the news has reported case after case of people misusing drugs after a fever and suffering liver or kidney injury requiring emergency treatment. During the pandemic, hospitals in Europe and America saw a surge in deaths from bacterial (especially drug-resistant) infection due to drug misuse combined with hospital-acquired infection; this problem will appear here before long. Using water avoids that.Hydrogen bonds form between water molecules. The negative pole (O) of each water molecule can form two hydrogen bonds with the hydrogen atoms (H) of two other water molecules, while its positive pole (H) can form hydrogen bonds with the oxygen atoms (O) of yet two more water molecules. So each water molecule can form four hydrogen bonds with four others, linking itself to the whole network through these bonds.The hydrogen bonds between water molecules are the key factor that lets water buffer temperature changes. When heated, water warms slowly, because the heat must first break the hydrogen bonds before the water molecules can move faster; only then does the temperature rise. A mere few degrees of warming causes water to absorb and store a great deal of energy. Conversely, as water cools, more hydrogen bonds re-form and heat is released, slowing the cooling process. This is precisely why coastal climates are milder than inland ones, with smaller swings between hot and cold.So when we feel chilled, hot water can warm us up; when we have a fever, cool water can bring our temperature down. Water comes as hot water, cold water, and solid water (ice); we must learn to use the right form at each stage of illness to cool our bodies more effectively.If we develop fatigue, chills, sneezing, sore throat, or cough but have not yet begun to fever, we should promptly drink more hot water—as hot as we can tolerate without scalding ourselves—and put on more clothes or get into bed to help induce sweating.Some people are not constitutionally robust and do not sweat easily; simply drinking hot water may not induce sweat. They can boil scallion whites and ginger in water to drink, which works better for inducing sweat. Those not allergic to chili can also use chili or chili products to help. If that is still not enough, while drinking hot water, use a hairdryer on its hot setting from the cervical spine slowly down along the spine to the coccyx, repeating the cycle. Generally 5–15 minutes of this will bring a light sweat over the whole body.How much hot water should we drink? Until our body breaks into a light sweat, but not a drenching sweat. This is the best way to head off a fever, and it depends on seizing the moment. Drinking hot water at the first sign of discomfort gives twice the result for half the effort. If we stop the fever early, we avoid more serious symptoms; miss the chance, and more serious symptoms are easy to develop.During this period, I have my whole family drink 2–3 cups of very hot water or hot soup a day to promote sweating; this is my method of preventing colds and Omicron. Based on years of experience, it is very effective at preventing colds; over the past two decades, our family has rarely caught cold.Once a fever begins and the body feels hot with a dry throat, switch to drinking warm or cooled boiled water; when the fever is severe, you can also use ice packs. If you have no ice pack at home, make one. It is simple: fill a mineral-water bottle or any sealable non-insulating glass or plastic cup with an appropriate amount of water (do not fill it to the top, because water expands by 10% when it freezes), put it in the freezer, and it will freeze in a day or two. These days you should keep several ice packs or homemade ice packs on hand; as you use them, rotate them back into the freezer.Apply the ice pack to the forehead, neck, and armpits. For a more severe fever, apply to more sites—also the chest, abdomen, and groin. To avoid irritating the skin, wrap the ice pack in a thin cloth or towel before applying.Ice-pack cooling is a fast-acting physical cooling method. While applying it, do not cover the patient with too many clothes or blankets; let the body release heat promptly. But once the temperature drops, promptly keep the patient warm. As long as the body is not feverish, the fatigue and muscle aches will also disappear, with no need for other medication.After the fever breaks, rest and sleep more; do not force yourself to keep working or playing. Rest helps the body recover faster.The above methods may help you get through a time when medical care is hard to access and medicine is scarce. This article waives copyright; anyone may repost it freely, and please cite the source when doing so.