At home Remedies for the Common Cold and Flu
- Prevention and Immune Support Diet
- Steam Inhalation for Upper Respiratory Complaints
- Warming Socks Treatment to Stimulate the Immune System
- Contrast Hydrotherapy Shower
- Onion Ear Muffs for Ear Infections
- Homeopathy Remedies for Cold and Flu, Earaches, and Coughs
- Cell Salt Remedies for Cold and Flu, Earaches, and Coughs
PREVENTION AND IMMUNE SUPPORT DIETARY GUIDELINES
Remember to Wash Hands Frequently
Sneeze into your Elbow, NOT your Hands
Immune Support Dietary Guidelines
Eat Lots of Whole Foods
Drink Lots of Clear Broths
Aim for 5 Different Colors of Fruits and Vegetables Daily
Avoid Sugar, for it depresses the immune system
Avoid Citrus and Dairy, for they are very mucus forming
The Pillars of Nutritional Health
High Quality Multivitamin and Mineral
Essential Omega 3 Fatty Acids found in Fish, Fish Oil, Flax Seed Oil, and others
Potent Antioxidant Formula to decrease oxidative stress on the body
High Quality Probiotic containing Beneficial Microflora for a Healthy Digestive Tract
Healthy Vitamin D3 Levels to boost one’s immune system
Identification and Elimination of Food Allergies and Sensitivities
Inquire about means of testing for food sensitivities, ranging from the elimination of common foods allergens, including wheat, dairy, corn, soy, and eggs, to having a blood test to specifically identify your individual food challenges
STEAM INHALATION FOR UPPER RESPIRATORY COMPLAINTS
Herbal steams are used to deliver the medicinal qualities of herbs and essential oils directly to the respiratory tract. They hydrate, warm and decongest the mucus membranes of the nose, sinuses, and throat. They can be used to help fight infection in these areas and the lungs, and are helpful in calming cough.
Instructions
Boil 2-3 cups of water and remove from heat. Add 5-10 drops of essential oil (see suggested oils below) Position yourself so that your head is above the container of water, no closer than 9 inches. Drape a towel over your head and the container, forming a tent. Inhale the vapor with slow deep breaths for 5-10 minutes.
Suggested Essential Oils
Eucalyptus-general congestion, sinus infections
Thyme-coughs, infections
Lavender-calming and soothing
Hyssop-coughs, infections
Bitter orange-antibacterial, sedating
Chamomile-coughs, colds, calming
Cautions
Do not use essential oils internally without physician supervision
Do not use essential oils if you have kidney disease
Use essential oils with caution with people with epilepsy
Do not use essential oils in pregnancy
Prolonged inhalation of essential oils (several consecutive hours) of essential oils may cause headache, vertigo, nausea, lethargy, or double vision
WARMING SOCKS TREATMENT
Indications
Sore throat or any inflammation or infection of the throat, neck pain, ear infections, headaches, migraines, nasal congestion, upper respiratory infections, coughs, bronchitis, and sinus infections.
Contraindications
Use with caution in diabetes, Raynaud’s phenomenon or syndrome, arterial insufficiency or advanced intermittent claudication. The warming phase is especially important for these patients. Please consult your physician.
Supplies: 1 pair white cotton socks; 1 pair thick wool socks; Towel; Warm bath or warm foot bath
Directions
Take a pair of cotton socks and soak them completely with cold water. Be sure to wring the socks out thoroughly so they do not drip. To make extra cold, place in freezer for 10 minutes.
Warm your feet first. This is very important as the treatment will not be as effective and could be harmful if your feet are not warmed first. Soaking your feet in warm water for at least 5-10 minutes or taking a warm bath for 5-10 minutes can accomplish warming.
Dry off feet and body with a dry towel.
Place cold wet socks on feet. Cover with thick wool socks. Go directly to bed. Avoid getting chilled.
Keep the socks on overnight. You will find that the wet cotton socks will be dry in the morning.
The wet sock treatment is best if repeated for three nights in a row, or as instructed by your physician.
Effects of the WARMING SOCKS Treatment
This treatment acts to reflexively increase the circulation and decrease congestion in the upper respiratory passages, head, and throat. It has a sedating action and many patients report that they sleep much better during the treatment. This treatment is also effective for pain relief and increases the healing response during acute infections.
HYDROTHERAPY: THERAPEUTIC CONTRAST SHOWER
Indications
The contrast shower is a simple and convenient way to stimulate vitality and promote detoxification, as well as treat generalized areas of pain and soreness. The idea is simple: alternating between hot and cold water while you are showering to stimulate your body to heat itself up and cool itself down, in order to compensate. This temperature contrast helps strengthen and normalize the nervous, circulatory, endocrine (hormonal), musculoskeletal and immune systems and is excellent for helping the body cope with physiological and psychological stress.
Contraindications and Precautions
There are some medical conditions for which the contrast shower are contraindicated including Cardiovascular Disease, Asthma, Pregnancy, and/or Diabetes; Discontinue or decrease intensity of contrast shower if you feel dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous, or excessively chilled. Acute illness, menstruation, dehydration, decreased vitality, and poor nutrition can limit your tolerance for contrast treatment and in these cases it should be undertaken cautiously.
Procedure
After your normal hot shower, gradually turn down the hot water until the shower is pleasantly cool and rinse your whole body under the cooler water for about 1 minute.
If you have localized areas of pain or soreness you can focus the shower stream on those areas.
Next, switch the shower back to hot to rewarm your body for 3-5 minutes. Repeat the cycle 3-5 times and end with cool. It is important that the hot phase is longer than the cold, and that you finish with cool water.
After the final cool rinse, dry yourself off quickly, rubbing briskly with a cold towel to stimulate the rewarming process. As a sign of increased peripheral circulation, your skin may turn transiently pink afterwards.
It is also important to note that the sharper the contrast in temperature between the hot and cold phases increases the therapeutic benefit. As you get used to treatment, you can increase the intensity by varying the speed and degree of the temperature change.
ONION EAR MUFFS FOR EAR INFECTIONS
Indications: Use to soothe and promote healing of minor ear aches due to infection.
How It Works: aromatic oils from the onion decrease pain and are anti-microbial.
Directions:
Slice a fresh onion in half.
Place in a microwave for 1 minute or a conventional oven on 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Handle onions with oven mitts and place open faced onion as close to the ears as possible without them becoming too hot. Do not touch the onions to the ear as this may cause a burn. Onions can be wrapped in cheesecloth or other porous material if necessary.
Hold the onions in place for 20-30 minutes. Repeat as often as desired.
See your doctor if pain persists or increases, or if ear pain is occurring in a child.
HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES
FEVER, COUGH, AND CONGESTION
There are many homeopathic remedies that may be right for you or your child, but here are some of the first line remedies to think of at home.
Fever: Belladonna (high, fast, very red), Chamomilla (irritable, one cheek red and the other pale, with teething), Pulsatilla (weeping, clingy, changeable), Aconite (sudden onset after cold or wind exposure, restless), Bryonia (worse from motion, very thirsty)
Cough: Antimonioum tart (rattling mucus that won’t come up), Rumex crispus (tickle in the back of the throat), Drosera (severe spasmodic, worse from talking), Spongia (dry croupy cough, better from eating or drinking)
Congestion: Kali bichromicum (thick, sticky mucus)
Guidelines for use: use 6C or 30C potency, give up to every 30 minutes if symptoms are severe, stop on improvement, repeat if symptoms return, and call your Balance doctor if you have given the remedy several times with no improvement or if symptoms worsen, persist, or are severe.
CELL SALT REMEDIES
COLD AND FLU, EARACHES, AND COUGHS
Colds and Flus:
Begins with sneezing – Nat Mur
Catches colds easily – daily dose of each during cold season of Calc Phos, Ferr Phos, Nat Mur
Clear, watery, transparent mucus with sneezing – Nat Mur
Yellow, slimy mucus discharge – Kali Sulph
Discharge that looks like raw egg whites – Calc Phos
At the first feelings of a cold onset – Ferr Phos
Head cold with greenish mucus and stuffy sensation – Silica, Kali Sulph
Ear Infections:
Ear aches in general – Calc Phos, Calc Sulph
Children’s earache with yellow discharge – Kali Sulph
Swollen ear with fever and inflammation – Ferr Phos, Kali Mur, Calc Phos
Sharp, stitching, throbbing pain – Ferr Phos
First stages of inflammation, pain, and fever – Ferr Phos, Mag Phos
Coughs:
Chief remedy for Asthma – Kali Phos
Barking, croupy cough – Kali Mur
Hard, dry cough with or without fever – Ferr Phos, Kali Sulph
Cough with hoarseness – Kali Sulph
Loose, rattling cough – Kali Sulph, Nat Mur, Silica, Ferr Phos
Spasmotic cough – Mag Phos
Tickling cough – Silica, Ferr Phos, Calc Fluor, Mag Phos
Whooping cough chief remedy – Mag Phos