Home Remedies for a Cold
Getting a Cold
First, I want to be very clear that I am not a doctor or trained medical professional in any way, shape or form.
I am only sharing what is working (hopefully) for me.
Even though the sun is shining and it is warm in Southern California, the flu season is upon us. Our extended family - that is all three of my kids and their families - live very close to us and we see each other often.
In case you don't know, little kids are germ factories. They love to touch everything. And put a bunch of little kids in one room, all the germs will be equally intermingled by the end of the day.
Goodie!! New immunities to gain.
Here is how it went for us. First, one kid got sick, then one of the moms. Next, the kid in the next family down, then the mom and now - me. Well, my husband beat me to it yesterday and spend a day taking his temperature every ten minutes.
First Defence
Last night, I felt a sore throat coming on and could feel some swollen lymph nodes in my neck. I immediately went to my first defense. An essential oil.
A long time ago, I fell in love with essential oils and even became a Young Living Distributor. Even though I still love the oils, I haven't pursued the business aspect of this company after there was a big structural change. My account probably doesn't exist anymore.
But it is still one of the companies I recommend if people want to use the oils for medicinal purposes. Know that you want to use a high-quality oil from a reputable source. If you pay $ 5 for a bottle, it might smell good, but don't expect the health benefits a truly pure oil can have.
Immupower is a blend of several oils and even though I am not in love with the smell, I know it does me good.
Last night, I rubbed it on the soles of my feet and also on the area where I could feel the swollen lymph nodes.
This morning, there was no swelling of the lymph, but I still was feeling a bit under the weather and was running a slight temperature. that meant to get serious about this. I don't want to spend the next few days in bed being miserable.
More Home Remedies
One important thing to remember is to take in enough liquids. A glass of water is constantly on my side today. I have a Berkey Water Filter and only drink filtered water.
But water is kind of boring to drink all day long and really doesn't give me much more than liquid to fight off this cold. Some hot ginger tea sounded so much better than that boring cup of water.
I made a tea by boiling fresh ginger in filtered water. After 10 minutes or so, I ladled a cup of the delicious smelling tea out and added a good spoonful of honey.
Honey is said to also help the body when fighting a cold and it sure cuts down on the spicy hotness of the ginger. So delicious and best drunk when hot.
For the next remedy, I have to wait a bit longer. Yes, you guessed it: Chicken soup! Even my HMO health insurance send out a notice that chicken soup has flu-fighting properties. Make sure you use an organic chicken and cook the bones. All the good stuff is there.
Can't wait for it to be done!!
Other Measures
- Take all your vitamins and I take extra Vitamin C and D when I feel that I am getting sick.
- Wash all your bedding and change at least the pillowcase every day.
- If the air is really dry, run a humidifier.
- Wash your hands frequently.
- Soak your toothbrush in vinegar to kill germs - or replace it if it is that time.
- Do some gentle Yoga stretches.
- Be good to yourself - this is not the time to start the next big project.
- Sleep as much as you can.
Remember, these are things which work for me. If you have some homeremedies which work for you, please share them with me.
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Great post! I'm all about the home remedies, specifically the homemade chicken noodle soup! That's one of my favorites!
Mine too. and we have homegrown chickens to go into the soup so I am not worried about possible hormone or antibiotic residue.
Nice to see someone else using YoungLiving products! I'm an ambassador for them and love their products! :-)
I became a distributor over 20 years ago - but life happened and I stopped ordering. Well, when I first signed up, the reward system was much better. After that changed, I didn't feel anymore that I could really offer it as a good business opportunity... Every time, I tried to retrieve my account something happened and I forgot about it again. But still love the oils.
Ah okay, that's too bad. I'm doing it since my boyfriend's family is really into it, so it's something we can do together, and I really love the oils! Pain relief is my biggest saviour whenever I have back pains :-)
I love them too. And probably will try to reopen my account. I think it is a great product and for some, it can be a good business.
Exactly! And even if you don't make a business out of it, you still get a discount on the products ;-)
Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to try the ginger tea in a few minutes. I don't know if it will help with this terrible flu that I have and that has been going around, but I am willing to try anything. I have heard that the flu is particularly bad this year.
Hope it will help. I really am hoping not to get sick all the way. My daughter was in bed for 3 days and still hasn't eaten a real meal. At least, she was up a bit today...
Thank you. I am sorry to hear that your daughter is sick. Everyone around me here also seems to have it and apparently it hangs on forever...
Let's hope the ginger tea will chase it away!! Take good care of yourself!
Great post my g/f is sick right now and this will help greatly :)
Hope she feels better soon. this cold/flu going around is not fun!!
Thanks Doc... :)
👩🔬 . 😉
Greta advice I must check the local Health food store for the Immupower
for that one, you might have to go online. It is a MLM. But virus killing oils are also Tyme, Oregano, clove oils if you can't find a good combo.
I see
And thanks for the info
Ack! Hope you're feeling better since posting, @mariannewest! All great tips, the ginger tea with honey is a swear-by for me - I do my dose of echinaccea with it..3x a day. The chicken soup. You must share your recipe! It looks devine.
x x
Mo
Thank you. I forgot about the echinacea. Good tip!! I am going to post the recipe in a bit :)