Recovering from the flu can sometimes be as easy as nursing a few mugs of tea and keeping your heating pad close by for any aches and pains.
When that doesn’t work though, there are a few other recovery methods that can help you get out of bed and back to your life with a clean bill of health!
1. Stay Home
Staying home and resting is standard procedure when you’re sick, but it’s also crucial to keeping others safe and healthy. So, grab a good book or stream your favorite movie; just make sure to stay inside.
2. Drink lots of fluids
Replenishing your body is important when you’re sick. The aforementioned mugs of tea are a great remedy. Juice can be added to your beverage rotation because it doesn’t have to be all water; soup or broth is even a good liquid to consume while getting over the flu.
3. Grab an Extra Pillow
The pressure on your sinuses differs when you’re lying down versus when you’re sitting up. This can make it harder to breathe when sleeping. Propping your head up with an extra pillow at night can help you rest better which will lead to a speedier recovery.
4. Crank Up the Moisture in the Air
Turn on your humidifier or take a long hot shower. Adding moisture to the air can help break up any mucus you have built up in your lungs and make breathing easier.
5. Try a Spoonful of Honey
Honey is not only a great addition to one of your many mugs of tea. The natural sweetener can also have the added benefits of suppressing a cough and easing the pain of a sore throat.
6. Pick Up an Over the Counter Medicine
Trying an over the counter cold medicine can target aches and pains, decongestion, cough, fever, and more. These can be very beneficial to the recovery process, but make sure to check with your doctor before taking a drug you are unfamiliar with.
7. Grab a Lozenge
Keeping some cough drops on hand while getting over the flu is another tool to help silence your cough and ease any soreness in your throat.
8. Beat the Heat
Your body temperature heats up to fight off diseases giving you a fever. This is a common symptom of the flu. Staying cool when you have a fever can ease any discomfort and help you get over the virus as long as you don’t have any shivers. Stay comfortable by shedding any extra layers that may be making you sweat, keeping a cool cloth on your forehead, or soaking in a tepid bath. Taking the correct dosage of acetaminophen or ibuprofen is another way to bring a fever down by a few degrees.
9. Get All the Sleep You Can
Allowing your body the rest it needs to reset and heal itself is one of the best things you can do when you’re fighting off the flu. Get to bed early, wake up late, and take a mid-day nap if you feel like, you need to.
10. Ask About Taking an Antiviral
Antiviral should only be taken under the advisement and the supervision of a doctor and the need for them varies case by case when you’re dealing with the flu.
When Should I See a Doctor?
If you have difficulty breathing, continued chest pain, your symptoms worsen over time, you are 65 or older, or have a preexisting condition, seek medical attention.
