Well, what a way to start my summer! The Friday I get out of school I am attacked by the local plague. It was gruesome and I don't suggest tangling with this thing at all!
Luckily I am married to a nurse who took superior care of me!
When I was lucid I thought, I need to get together a post about natural ways to cure yourself of a cold. It has taken four days for me to become well enough to sit down and work on it. So, without further shameless plugs for pity I present my home remedy ideas. (Nope, I am not a doctor so don't take this as "official" medical advice. It is just what works for me! : )
1. LOTS of fluids, preferably water with lemon. Here is why. The fluids keep the mucus from getting thick. It is better to drink more water than less.
2. Vitamin C......lots and lots of it!
3. Use a Neti Pot. I swear by this! It will get all the gunk out of your sinuses and keep it from draining down your throat. This will avoid that annoying and painful sore throat that most get with a cold.
NOTE: You will be grossed out the first time you use it. DON'T STOP! You will save yourself heartache and pain if you keep using it. (I even use it when I am not sick to keep my allergies under control.)
4. HOT showers. For me a hot shower is the ultimate way to relax when I don't feel well. I suggest you get in the shower and get all warm and relaxed. Take your wash rag, heat it up and inhale the steam from it. If you have a little eucalyptus essential oil put a couple of drops on the rag and use that to help clear the congestion. I found that if I stayed in a hot shower for a fair length of time when I got out and had my hubby pound on my back it made all the difference in dislodging the gunk in my lungs.
5. Rest/sleep......again lots and lots of it! Your poor body needs time to fight off the invaders and if you are running it down you are doing yourself no good.
6. Keep tabs on your temperatures and your medicine intakes. Keep a little tablet near your medicines and track your temperature as well as when to take your meds. There is nothing worse than taking meds, going to sleep and forgetting when you took them. It is a sure way to mess up the dosages.
7. Warm jammies and the furry baby of your choice. Nothing is as healing as having warm jammies that are ultimately soft and comfy and your fur baby cuddled next to you. In my case it is my cat Bermuda. He helped me sleep by purring in my ear to relax me.
Now, having typed all the natural stuff, let me add in the two pharmaceutical items I use. One is Tylenol or a generic brand. This keeps the fever down when it gets too high. I don't take Tylenol when I have a low fever because it is the body's way of burning out the infection. The other thing I use is Mucinex, or a generic bran. It is a must to get that hard to reach gunk in your lungs.
I hope none of you get a summer cold but if you do, try some or all of these ideas to help you make a quick transition from the land of sickness back to the land of the living! : )
No comments:
Post a Comment