what to do if you catch a cold! Do you have a sore throat and feel overwhelmed? Don’t give up without a fight. Even if you have to be sick for 7 – 10 days, you can reduce the negative consequences caused by viruses.
1. Do not carry the disease on your legs
Take a day off. The results of the survey, published on the international job search site CareerBuilder, showed that 72 percent of people do not take sick leave and go to work because they feel pressure from the work team or guilt for staying at home.
“Nothing replaces rest,” doctors say, “The one who allows himself to sleep during the period of illness recovers much faster than those who suffer illness on their feet.”
Rest during the day and make it a rule to sleep 8 to 10 hours at night when you are sick. According to Woodson Merrell (naturopathic doctor and chair of the integrative medicine department at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, and author of the book Get Stronger: Unleash Your Natural Energy, Improve Your Health, and Feel 10 Years Younger) regime is the best way to help your body fight the virus.
“Even if you think you can work in a flu-like condition, the illness in your legs will last longer,” he notes. Cancel all your appointments, turn off your phone, and go to bed.
2. Drink hot juice
A common glass of heated fruit juice can relieve cold symptoms such as a runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, chills, and fatigue, according to a study by the Department of Colds Research at Cardiff University in the UK.
The study, published in the journal Rhinology, compared the effects of drinking apple-currant juice at room temperature and the same heated juice in 30 volunteers with similar symptoms of a cold. The warmed juice brought quick and steady relief from the symptoms of a cold.
Try our recipe: Dissolve 2 teaspoons of blackcurrant syrup in 1 cup of hot apple juice.
3. See a doctor
If cold symptoms last longer than 7-10 days, call your doctor. Complications may arise that require treatment.
After recovering, think about what mistakes were made in treatment and how to avoid them in the future. If your healthcare professional is not competent in alternative medicine and complementary measures, please consult a naturopathic healthcare professional or integrative medicine specialist. They can help you choose the additional drugs that are right for you and advise you on where to get them.
4. Try “cold sock therapy”
Many naturopaths are fans of the old cold sock technique. Soak a pair of thin cotton socks in water and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Quickly put on dry woolen socks over these socks and go straight to bed.
The body directs its efforts to warm the legs and as a result, microcirculation increases, and the immune system is stimulated. This method will not immediately get rid of a cold, but it will help your body to cope with the disease faster.
5. Get Rid of Cold Symptoms with Natural Remedies
Remove phlegm from your chest: Mix 3-4 drops of essential oil (pine, menthol, or eucalyptus) with a few drops of soothing lavender in olive oil. Massage the mixture of oils into your chest, then apply hot and cold compresses to relieve symptoms. Due to the heat from the herbs, their oils are released into the air.
Immediately after inhaling the oil vapor, blood flow through the lungs is stimulated. Expectorants containing coughs containing guaifenesin can also help relieve chest tightness by thinning the phlegm so that it can drain better.
Breathe easily: Try breathing over the steam. Cover your head with a towel and bend over a bowl of hot water (not scalding), into which you first drop 2-3 drops of essential oil. Close your eyes and keep your face 15 cm away from the water, breathe deeply for 5 minutes.
Soothe a sore throat: Use zinc drops every 2 hours. Zinc lozenges will soften an irritated throat, relieve pain, while the mineral itself enters the body, and possibly shortens the lifespan of the virus. Data from a study by Wayne State University in Detroit showed that people who took zinc lozenges every few hours had a few days less duration of colds.
Gargling your throat several times a day helps kill bacteria in your throat.
