In honor of this head cold I’ve got, here’s 7 things I do to help feel better!
1) As soon as I feel a sore throat coming on, I gargle with raw apple cider vinegar. It tastes horrible, I won’t deny it, but it always works to keep from getting a throat infection. Two brands I have used are Bragg’s and Eden Organics. It has to be raw to get the antimicrobial effects of the live cultures.
2) I love Throat Coat tea when I get a cold or a cough. There is something in it that isn’t safe in large quantities for pregnant women, so do your research if you’re pregnant. Another great tea for coughs is fennel. You can chew on the seeds or simmer some in a cup or two of water for a while. I have kept a cup of the tea by my bed for sipping during the night. It calms that dry tickle cough that can keep you awake.
3) Garlic is amazing for your immune system and I try to get it in me any way I can when I’m sick. I will crush a couple cloves and steep them in broth, cook with it, and make this concoction my friend Sandee uses:
4) Another great use for garlic is for ear infections. The contraindication for garlic oil is a ruptured ear drum. If you have a child prone to ear infections, make this and start applying it at the first sign of a cold. I’ve used this for myself and Wallace and it is amazing pain relief as well as shortened the duration of the infection. Yes, it smells strongly of garlic but it is so worth it! To apply it, put a couple drops in one ear, lay with that ear up for a while, and massage just below the ear to help the oil go in. Switch and do the other ear. Another way to ease ear pain is with a warmed rice sock. I have a small sock with about 1/4 cup of rice in it just for ear aches.
5) At the first sign of congestion, I reach for my trusty Neti Pot. I was introduced to it 7 years ago when I was on month three of a cough and cold that I couldn’t kick. I was skeptical at first and my roommate had me using idodized salt (ouch!), but it works and I was converted. It has a learning curve and you have to relax and breath calmly through your mouth. I used to buy the salt marketed for it but a 1/4tsp of sea salt works just as well.
6) I recently looked up lymphatic drainage massage for a friend with a sinus infection. I had been doing it a while, but not quite properly. Now that I likely have her cold, I looked up the video again and started doing it. It helps so much to get things moving! I throw in some sinus acupressure for good measure.
7) I learned about oil pulling two years ago. I often forget about it, but this time I remembered. I use organic coconut oil and usually can only make it 5 minutes. It helps pull toxins from your body, is good for dental health, and starts the mucous flowing from your sinuses. The one downside is that I can’t talk while doing it, which is one reason I can’t get past 5 minutes!
Hopefully something in here will work for you the next time you’re getting sick. Let me know what remedies and things you do when you start to get sick.
Good Families Do... 
this was well timed for me, because i’ve got a terrible cold, too!
apple cider vinegar makes me puke – even if i just gargle it. i have no idea why. gonna try the lymphatic massage now!
Good that it might help! Not good that you are sick too. I had to start taking an OTC to help. I am going to do the lymphaticsl massage again while I wait for that to kick in.
I have done all of these things except the “Goo” which sounds really good – I’ll have to file that away for next time and the ACV. I’ve always gargled with warm salt water, but I’m willing to try the ACV next time, because I am so tired of being sick. We’ve been sick at least a solid week out of each of the past three months with sinus / chest / ear gunk.
A variation I do of your rice sock is a huge rice sock, lol, over my ear and down my neck to my lymph nodes – the heat is really soothing and then it seems to help significantly with the lymphatic massage – I assume due to the heat opening things up. I also tend to sleep with the rice sock around my neck – it seems to help keep the drainage going in the right direction. (I usually have to sleep propped up on pillows when I feel that way, and the heat on my neck seems to keep my head from filling up with quite as much crap at night.)
Love the recommendation for Throat Coat by your bed at night. I can’t believe I didn’t try that before!
One of my “first sign of illness” things to do is take a “detox” bath a friend told me about. It really does seem to help ward off about 75% of our issues, if I just think to get it done right away. You get your bath as hot as you can stand it, put in one cup each (give or take) of baking soda and epsom salts, and soak for twenty minutes. Doing it without the salt does not seem worth it to me, having ran out and tried that recently. After the twenty minutes, you can either keep soaking or cool off your water a bit or get out, but I find it best to get out before I get too cooled off – then I end up feeling a bit chilled. I usually keep a big 32 oz or more glass of water or tea or vitamin C mix… something there to drink because you sweat profusely. Not easy to do when you’re on your own with a little person though.
That’s just what feels good – no idea if the bath is the best thing but when I can get in there and get my head, neck, and ears under the water, it really does feel so much better for quite awhile.
My former ND also told us to wrap up like a burrito, preferably in wool blankets, and alternate a cold wet towel (covered by a dry one) with a hot wet towel (also covered by a dry towel) on our chests while staying as bundled up as possible for chest congestion. It’s always amazing to me how much that helps. It’s also a bit difficult to do when you’re on your own with a little one, but it’s worth the aggravation when sickness is not wanting to leave your body.
I miss my neti pot so very much – I really should’ve just bought a new one this year and I still haven’t. They are truly amazing!
Hope you’re feeling better soon!
Rice sock to help with lymphatic drainage makes a lot of sense! I like the bath idea, but 20 minutes alone to do it would be highly unlikely. I used to do salt water gargle but it never worked like ACV does. Also, I have a homeopathic remedy I’ve used for that first start of a cold.
Lie on the bed and moan… does that count? I actually don’t really do anything when I get sick. I just keep going as much as possible, and I don’t take medications. I just let everything run its course and hope to feel better soon. Which is what I’m hoping for you.
I wish I could lie on the bed and moan. I’m miserable and I now feel it in my ears and chest.