By the Bel: What the HEY-Choo!

(Gross out alert!!)

I’m sitting here with a bin full of snotty tissues and a body smeared with Vicks. But with allergies that prevent the use of any flu fighting medications, what do I normally do to knock a cold on the head?

Love the liquids!

Thyme tea; I grow lemon thyme in my garden. (Actually I just planted it and it just didn’t die… what, that’s growing it isn’t it?) I grab a small sprig of the thyme and pour boiling water over it, leave it steep for a minute and let it cool a little then drink it. Not too much of this though. Try a whole bunch of teas, chamomile sounds good too.

A steam facial with a sprig of lavender. To do this, pour boiled water over the lavender in a largish bowl and carefully cover your head with a towel over the bowel. Remember you are working with steam and boiling water. Be careful not to burn yourself.  I usually do this on my lounge room floor so I can hang my head a little to drain the sinuses.  You can use lavender oil in lieu of the actual plant.

Chicken for dinner. If anyone in my family is feeling under the weather, I pull out the chicken for dinner. Whether it be tinned chicken soup, homemade chicken soup, a chicken curry or sweet and sour, it seems to  work… that or people stop acting sick just so they can have something else for dinner.

Hot showers. Lather up the areas just under your collar bones, and add a little pressure. Also massage along the cheeks (on your face). Don’t forget to get rid of as much nose muck as you can.

Use Vicks on your feet. After your hot shower put Vicks on your feet and put socks on (rumoured to help with coughs!).

Pressure points. There are a couple of pressure points I push on to help ease sinus pressure. One is on the webby bit between your thumb and first finger and the other is on the top of the foot between the big toe and the second toe.

One thing I haven’t tried that I think would help, but looks weird, is a Neti Pot. Basically you’re washing your nasal cavity.

REST! Get as much sleep as you can.

Stock up on tissues and movies that bore you to tears.

Feel better soon!