What is “Wet Warming Socks”?
In August, the Saskatchewan Association of Naturopathic Practitioners hosted the first ever Healing Skies Conference at little lake Manitou providing continuing education for naturopathic doctors. It was a conference like no other I had ever experienced. We started every morning with a session in the cold mineral rich waters of lake Manitou before an in-depth talk with one of the elders in our profession sharing the insights and wisdom from their decades of experience. One of my favourite takeaways from the weekend was the reminder of the power of the simple back-to-nature therapies of naturopathic medicine that simply stimulate the patient’s own vital force in the direction of healing.
The typical modern naturopathic treatment plan often includes some dietary advice, supportive supplements, and maybe something fancy like IV therapy to achieve quick results, but our elders had a simpler style that achieved amazing results with what a modern ND graduate may consider less powerful remedies. If you saw a naturopathic doctor three of more decades ago your treatment plan would likely include custom dietary recommendations to reduce stress on your body, a constitutional homeopathic remedy to break the current disease pattern and initiate healing, a hydrotherapy regime to boost the body’s vital force, and perhaps a custom herbal tincture to relieve some particular troublesome symptoms. This type of approach was used to treat (and cure!) anything from an acute cold, to chronic digestive concerns, to cancer! I think the most critical piece of this kind of treatment plan (stimulating the vital force) is one that we modern naturopaths may not focus on enough with our patients. I suppose it has fallen out of favour since it’s difficult to make an evidence-based claim about, sometimes difficult to convince a patient that all their capacity to heal is already within them, and difficult to motivate a patient to take as much time and care for themselves as hydrotherapy often requires. But frankly, it’s worth all those efforts and more!
So, I want to share with you one of my favourite (because it’s easy, gentle and oh so effective) hydrotherapy techniques: wet warming socks. This technique makes use of cold Wet Socks to draw congestion from the head while you sleep. It should be your first line go to for a head cold or sinus congestion due to allergies, ear ache, fever, headaches and migraines, a busy mind that won’t let you settle down to sleep, or simply for the circulation enhancing effects throughout the body and because it helps you to sleep so soundly! All you need is a pair of Thin Cotton Socks plus a pair of big wool socks to go overtop.
Here’s how you do it:
- Once you’re all ready for bed, thoroughly wet your thin cotton socks in cold water (yes, as cold as you can get them) then wring them out until they do not drip. For a more stimulating treatment you can then pop these wet socks in the freezer for a few minutes!
- Hop into bed and have all your socks with you. Put on those cold/frozen socks and cover them up with the dry wool ones on top.
- Now cozy into bed and reap the benefits!
Your feet will only feel the cold for a very short time as your body instantly responds by increasing the blood flow to your feet in order to warm them up. As the cold wet socks warm up, water evaporates through the wool socks creating a slight cooling effect which provides continued stimulation for the body to enhance blood flow to the feet (and away from the head). This continues through the night until the socks are dry. I’ve used this technique nearly every night throughout my pregnancy to strengthen my circulation to prevent swollen ankles and to help me sleep more deeply. So far, I’m the only pregnant lady I know who doesn’t need to get up in the night to pee and I’ve been able to quickly nip two instances of swollen ankles in the bud. Plus, these socks got me through my super snotty pregnancy head cold when I couldn’t reach for my go-to herbs that are too potent for developing babe.
Try it! Even just for fun before you really need it! You can thank me later.
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