What a way to spend the reading days.
As I lay here under multiple layers of blankets and pillows, surrounded by Tylenol, used tea-cups and tissues (think sickly human lasagna) it came to mind to list a few remedies, tips and tricks which help me make cold-and-flu season be a tad bit more bearable.
DISCLAIMER – I do not have a medical degree NOR am I a professional, anything listed here helps ME personally and I would certainly do research or consult a doctor before trying out anything that you haven’t done before.
1. Warm showers! – When I am sick, my sinuses became very inflamed and it caused me a lot of agony and distress. One thing that I learned over the years was that hot showers really help calm down any inflammation as the steam is very comforting! But make sure that you actively are trying to breathe in very deeply so that you can really feel the steam getting to action. Another thing I do is ALWAYS use menthol-infused shower gel (check the men’s section… for some reason society thinks that we women don’t need/want menthol scented things * eyeroll *) which keeps my sinus inflammation right down on a regular basis. Usually, I take a hot shower and then have a Tylenol to relieve any aches and pains RIGHT before bed, so that I’m not tossing and turning in discomfort all night and I can have somewhat of a decent night’s sleep.
2. Tea-rrific!– I cannot emphasize how lovely a hot cup of peppermint-ginger tea tastes! Especially when you use real mint leaves and real, fresh slices of ginger. I learned this trick from my grandmother back in India – she would always keep a ginger root, a bag of mint leaves and also sliced lemon in ziplocks in her freezer. Why? Because when anyone had a cold, she would take those out and just put small amounts of each item in a hot cup of water with honey. IT TASTES SO GOOD! It really comforts throat pain hence this week I have sipped my way through half a ginger root. (caution – ginger can be very spicy, use sparingly!)
3. Buckley’s Cough Syrup – MY SAVIOUR, MY LIFE, MY LOVE. Man oh man, I have SO many good things to say about this bad boy. Okaaay, it tastes like gasoline and acetone mixed together in a vat of molasses, yesss, alright. BUT, it really helps to relieve that tickly, dry throat feeling and alleviates symptoms of cough so quickly! Also, did you know it was made by a Torontonian chemist William Knapp Buckley in 1919. Funnily enough, their slogan is “It Tastes Awful. And It Works”. How can you not trust such brutal honesty?
4. Rest it up, buttercup – This was one of the hardest things for me, because I (and many of you) have so many deadlines and whatnot and I was going to use these days off to really kill the assignments that I have due. But oh well! I slept a lot and most of the time I was in fever-induced delirium anyway.
To end this list, I just want to say take care of yourselves in this crazy weather and don’t worry so much, your professors WILL understand. Your health > anything else.
YU ARE LOVED.
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