The fall is about to start and I must confess – I was down with a cold already. Every season usually starts with minor sickness given my allergies and ongoing stressors but adding ongoing pressures, deadlines, and you know, global pandemic and it might be a good idea to know how to treat a cold without going to doctor every time this happens. Again, this post is for those that are getting sick or already down with a cold (NOT COVID) – I hope this helps. If you got more tips please do not hesitate to share!

So here they are – some at home remedies to treat that runny nose and light cough:

• If you got a runny nose:
  • Warm socks! It is almost miraculous how the moment you keep your feet warm your nose stops running.
  • Have a hot food bath. Put really hot water and just keep your feet in it for about 10 minutes. You can be on your phone or reading a book to make it less painful experience 🙂 And remember, put some warm socks on shortly after for best results!
  • Wash insides of your nose with salty water – it will address potential microbes
• If you got a sore throat:
  • You need to drink a lot of liquids! However avoid anything cold. Below is more detailed list of what can help:
    • Option 1: hot tea (I recommend black tea like English Breakfast or any other black tea) + raspberry jam. You can also have the jam separately (I just add few spoons in the tea but it does not matter). However you should not eat raspberries if you might have allergy to aspirine.
    • Option 2: hot tea (black or green tea) + honey. Honey really helps with sore throat
    • Option 3: hot tea from Holy Basil
    • Option 4: hot milk + honey
    • Option 5 (extreme): this is something my grandma made for me when I got sick. I must warn you that it is really disgusting but it works. My grandma survived hunger and world war 2 so I am sure she knows a thing or two about life experience. Okay here it is: it is a mix of hot milk, honey, a spoon of soda and butter. To my surprise, this is a known to internet recipe. Click on the link for more information and proportions.
    • Lots of hot/warm water: to drive all bad things out of your body. Can be mixed with any of the other options above
  • Draw a net on the upper part of the body using iodine. Iodine dissolves quickly and heats your body up – will warm up the throat.
  • Mix water with salt (2 small spoons for a glass of water) and gargle
  • This for a case where it is not only sore throat but more like bronchitis: you can set up an inhalation at home, all you need is a pot of water and an essential oil of eucalyptus. True story: once my husband who used to have a bronchitis got a flu shot and somehow it resulted in renewed bronchitis when nothing helped except for that method. We simply boiled water in a pot and added 10-20 drops of eucalyptus oil. Then we removed the pot from the heat and had him breathe the steam coming from the pot with his mouth open while covering him in a towel. This really helped to reduce coughing.
• If you are having a fever:
  • I would definitely recommend to take some kind of Advil or Tylenol for this specific symptom.
  • Avoid taking hot baths or having too many blankets- you do not want to overheat. Take a shower with lukewarm water instead to reduce fever
  • Mix 0.5L water (room temperature) with 1 spoon of apple vinegar, dip a cloth in it and put on the head. Alternatively you can dip the cloth in a cold water/ice and put it on a head. That will help to reduce the fever a little bit
• If you are feeling weak:
  • Have lots of rest and sleep as much as you can
  • Highly recommend hot soups: chicken soup is always good but spicy tomato cheese soup is even better. I think spices have anti-inflammatory effect
  • Take vitamins: Vitamin C, Zinc, Elderberry, Ginseng

And remember – if you are feeling that you are getting sick, slow down. It is your body telling you to rest. Just take it easy and spend few days looking more after your health.

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