I *love* *lovelove* free things that work and this is one of the best – it’s called wet socks or wet sock treatment and it is just as odd as it sounds, but it’s an awesome lifehack immune boost. First I’ll tell you how to do it, and then I’ll tell you why you might want to, because god knows anything to do with wet socks doesn’t really sound like something you’d want to do. I promise, it is.
How To Do Wet Socks
That sounds like the punchline to a joke. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Plain cotton socks – any height but try to at least cover your ankles.
- Wool socks that are as tall (high?) or taller (higher?) than the cotton socks. Really try to get wool because it stays cozy even when wet.
- Water
- A cozy bed
Here’s the Simple Method:
- Find some plain cotton socks and run them under the faucet so that they’re fully wet.
- Wring them out so that they are damp but not dripping
- Put them on your feet and put the (dry) wool socks on over top of them
- Go to bed and get a great night’s sleep.
What to Expect With Wet Socks:
- Your feet will feel cold when you go to bed – that’s totally normal and they’re supposed to.
- If you wake up int he night you will either be far too cold or far too hot, and far too hot is probably more common. That’s okay – just roll over and go back to sleep.
- This will be an uncommonly good night of sleep – seriously.
- You will wake up with toasty warm, mysteriously dry feet.
Why Do Wet Socks?
This is THE BEST FREE IMMUNE BOOST EVER. No joke. Essentially by making one part of your body cold while the rest of you is a normal temperature you are tricking your body into freaking out. Essentially your body can’t figure out what is wrong, so it starts to heat up your core temperature hoping to save your feet. At the same time, you boost your white blood cells in order to go out there and figure out what’s wrong. If they happen to stumble across other things that have nothing to do with your cold feet, like say the flu virus or a cold or that sinus infection you just can’t shake, well then all the better.
Essentially you are telling your body to go on high alert and so it does, which is perfect if you feel like you’re coming down with something or the guy who sits next to you has done nothing but cough for days. Your sleep during the wet sock treatment will be abnormally deep and satisfying and you will wake up toasty warm. The best time to use this lifehack immune boost is:
- When you feel like you’re coming down with something
- When everyone else in the house is sick and you’re the last man standing
- When the guy next to you at work coughs on you constantly
- When your kiddo comes home from preschool covered in snot
- When you feel done with it all and just need an awesome sleep
- When you know you’ve been pushing too hard and you can feel your body wearing down
- When your lungs or sinuses have been congested and you can’t seem to break it up
Times not to do this:
- If you can’t make time for a full night’s sleep – you’ve got to give your body enough time to work on this.
- If you are taking prednisone, other steroids, or immune suppressing drugs because they will suppress your body’s response.
- If you try wet socks and wake up in the morning with the socks still wet – this means your body just isn’t generating enough heat right now to do this thing properly.
Easy wet socks for you to try at home. This really is the best free immune boost ever.
The Benefits of Wet Socks:
- You get an awesome night’s sleep
- Your body spikes an artificial fever which helps your body to kill any unwanted bugs like viruses or bacteria
- Helps break up chest and sinus congestion
- Elevated white blood cells which helps stop infections from taking hold
- Quicker recovery from illnesses
- All of this is free and you don’t have to take any pills
Working with your body and with your immune system in this way means that you increase your bug-resistance and can stop the early phases of viruses or bacteria in their tracks because your body goes on high alert quickly. It’s so simple and it’s so brilliant. Wet socks or “wet sock therapy” is a great, easy, free lifehack immune boost.