You know what usually accompanies the cold season? It’s the flu virus. Those who are aware of this prepare themselves in advance. But those who have no idea about this thing or just plainly ignore it just go about their normal lives and suffer the consequences.
There is Something You Can Do
But don’t worry. If you catch the virus, it is not the end of the world. There are many ways you can effectively treat your condition. You need to know these ways so that if you or any member of your family catches the flu virus, you know what to do.
Here are 8 effective ways you can treat yourself or a member of your family who catches the flu virus.
1. Get some rest.
The first step in treating the flu is to give your body enough time to rest. Take a few days off from work or school until your body has completely healed. Keeping yourself at home will also prevent you from infecting your officemates or classmates.
You can certainly engage in light exercises. In fact this will help your body kill off the flu virus faster than just completely lying down on your bed. But don’t do vigorous work because you need that extra energy to recuperate.
2. Stay hydrated.
With your body’s temperature in the higher levels, you will easily get dehydrated. Therefore you need to constantly hydrate yourself by drinking more fluids than you normally consume.
That means drinking more than 8 glasses of water a day, as long as you are sick. This will soothe your throat and move the mucus out and keep your sinuses open.
You can drink lots of hot tea or hot water flavored with lemon to make it more pleasant. Don’t drink alcohol, soda or caffeinated drinks. Consume fluids that will enhance your healing and not prolong it.
You can also drink hot soup. This is a good way to get food into your stomach, since it is hard to consume solid food while you are feeling nauseated due to the flu.
3. Use a heating pad.
Bodily pains and aches usually accompany the flu. You can relieve such aches and pains by using an electric heating pad and placing it directly on the spot where you feel the pain. Or you can also put hot water in a bottle, wrap it in a thin cloth or towel and rub the bottle wherever you feel the pain. You can speed up your healing by doing this.
4. Always clear mucus from your nose.
Don’t let mucus stay long on your nose. It will just worsen your congestion, and provide a place for the virus to multiply further. You can do this by blowing your nose while using a hankie or a small towel, or you can breathe in steam from a bowl of hot water. Taking a hot bath will also expose your nose to the steam and help loosen the mucus.
5. Take herbs for treating flu.
If you are a natural foodie, taking herbs such as ginseng and Echinacea will help in quicken your recovery. These herbs are known to act against the flu virus even during the illness. They are available in powder and capsule forms in most health stores.
6. Seek the help of your doctor.
If the flu persists, you need to seek the advice of a physician. He will be able to diagnose your real condition and prescribe the correct medicine that will prevent your flu from worsening, and facilitate your recovery.
In fact, going to the doctor to get his advice should be the first thing you need to do if you feel that you are going down with the flu. It is better to correct the problem at the outset than let it develop to an uncontrollable level.
7. Buy over-the-counter flu medication.
If you feel that you are starting to show symptoms of the flu, you can stop the virus on its tracks by buying over-the-counter flu medication. Just hope and pray that your immunity is so strong that if you combine it with the powers of the medication, you will be able to defeat the virus.
8. Let the other members of the family get their flu shots.
Although not really a part of flu treatment, getting a flu shot will prevent other family members from being infected with the virus.
If other members of your family are immune to your disease, they will be in a better position to help facilitate your recovery. That is a better situation than if most of your family members are down with flu, which oftentimes happen during the flu season.
For convenience, they can call medical service providers such as Costco Flu Shot Service for this purpose.
