Treatment of the Flu - tips

Video: How to Treat the Flu (Influenza) | Flu Treatment

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Influenza is a contagious viral disease that affects the respiratory system, but usually resolves on its own in about a week and requires no special intervention. Flu symptoms include: fever of 37.8 ° C or higher, cold, cough, sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, headache, body aches, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and / or diarrhea. Although there is no cure for the flu, you can manage your symptoms with home remedies, taking over-the-counter medications, and taking steps to avoid the flu in the future.

Steps

Method 1 of 5: Home Treatment

Steam. Nasal congestion and sinus congestion are common symptoms of the flu. A steam bath can make you feel better if you have a stuffy nose. The heat of the steam loosens mucus while creating moisture to help soothe dry nasal passages.
- Try a hot shower or bath to help clear your nose faster. Turn the water as hot as you can stand it, fill the tub with steam, and close the door. If the heat makes you tired or dizzy, stop immediately and don't continue.
- When you step out of the shower, dry your hair and body thoroughly. Wet hair can cause you to lose body temperature; This is not good when sick.
- You can also do a steam bath by filling the tub with hot water and covering it with your face. Cover your head with a towel to let the steam in your face. You can also add a few drops of a sinus-clearing essential oil like eucalyptus or peppermint for maximum effect.
Try a nasal wash. Nasal cleaners help clear nasal passages by thinning and rinsing your sinuses with a saline solution. A nasal bath is an oblong ceramic pot or clay teapot that can be found online, in health food stores, and some pharmacies. However, you can use any container with a small spout.
- Buy a salt solution at a health food store or pharmacy.But you can also make your own salt solution by mixing half a teaspoon of clean salt in a cup of sterile (240ml) water.
- Fill the nasal wash with salt solution, tilt your head to one side of the sink, and the tip of the bottle into the side of your nose. Slowly pour the solution into the nostril on one side and out through the other nostril. When the water stops dripping, gently dry your nose, then repeat with the other side.
Gargle salt water. A dry, sticky, and sore throat is a common symptom of the flu. A natural and easy way to handle this is to gargle salt water. The water helps to moisten the throat and the salt's antiseptic agent fights infections.
- Make a mouthwash by dissolving a teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm or hot water. If you don't like the taste of the salt, you can add in a pinch of baking soda to reduce the taste.
- Gargle salt water up to 4 times per day.
Let a mild fever run on naturally. Fever is one way the body fights infection, so it's best not to try to bring it down unless the temperature is too high. The fever heats the body and blood, making it easier for the body to fight off the infection.
- An adult with a mild fever at 38.3 ° C can let the fever run its course. You should not try to lower your body temperature with fever-reducing methods.
- Get medical attention if the fever is higher than 38.3 ° C.
- Seek treatment for a newborn with a fever of any kind.
Blow your nose as much as possible. Frequent blowing is the best way to get rid of mucus from your sinuses and nasal passages during the flu. Do not re-inhale mucus in your nose as this can lead to sinus pressure and ear pain.
- When you blow your nose, cover your nose with a tissue with both hands. The tissue should cover your nose so that it can catch all the mucus when you blow your nose. Then gently press on one side of the nose and spread out to the other side.
- Throw away used tissues immediately and wash your hands to limit the spread of the virus.
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Method 2 of 5: Take care of yourself

Rest as much as possible. When you're sick, your body works hard to help you feel better. This drains all of the energy in your body, so you will feel more tired than usual. This also means that you need to rest more, as your body is working hard. If you try to work more than necessary, you can make the flu last longer and worsen your symptoms.
- Eight hours of sleep a night is ideal, but you may need more than eight hours of sleep when you're sick. Take a deep sleep and take occasional naps throughout the day. Take time off from school or work to get enough rest.
Keep the body warm. Keeping a high body temperature can help speed recovery. Be careful to turn on the heater in the house to get enough warmth. You can also keep warm by wearing a jacket, blanket or using a portable heater.
- The dry heater can irritate the nose and throat, making the nose and throat drier and the symptoms worse. Try using a humidifier when you are usually in the room. This will restore moisture to the air, helping to soothe coughs and stuffy nose.
Stay at home. When you are sick, you need to rest. This is the only way for you to regain your strength and restore your health. If you go to school or work when you are sick, you can spread germs to those around you. Also, when you get sick with the flu, your immune system gets weaker. This means that you are at risk of catching other diseases from those around you and possibly getting sick for longer.
- Ask your doctor to give you a note for a few days sick leave.
Drink plenty of fluids. Blowing your nose constantly, sweating due to fever and increased ambient temperature makes you dehydrated. This worsens symptoms and adds to other symptoms, such as headache, dry, itchy throat. When you are sick, try to drink more fluids than usual. You can drink caffeinated hot tea, eat soups or watery fruits like watermelon, tomatoes, cucumbers and pineapple, or drink more water and juices.
- Avoid sugary sodas, as soda has a diuretic effect that causes you to urinate more often and cause dehydration. Drink ginger beer if you have a stomach upset, but remember to drink more water.
- To assess dehydration, test your urine. Light yellow or almost transparent urine means you are not dehydrated. If your urine is dark yellow, you may be dehydrated and need more drinking.
Seek medical help if needed. There is no cure after the flu, so you have to endure it and get through it. Once you have the flu, symptoms will last 7 to 10 days. If symptoms persist for more than two weeks, it is imperative that you contact your doctor. You should also see your doctor if you notice the following:
- Shortness of breath
- Sudden dizziness or loss of consciousness
- Severe or persistent vomiting
- Seizure attack
- Flu symptoms improved but then fever and cough increased
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Method 3 of 5: Taking Over-the-Counter and Prescription Drugs

Take a decongestant. Decongestants help constrict the tension in the nasal membranes, allowing the nasal passages to stop suffocating. The two over-the-counter decongestants that come in pill form are phenylephrine, such as Sudafed PE, and pseudoephedrine and Sudafed.
- The side effects of this decongestant include insomnia, dizziness, increased heart rate, and increased blood pressure.
- Do not take decongestants if you have heart problems or high blood pressure. Use the medicine under the supervision of your doctor if you have diabetes, thyroid disease, glaucoma or prostate problems.
Use a decongestant spray. You can also buy over-the-counter medications as a nasal spray. Nasal sprays can help clear the nose quickly and effectively in just one or two sprays.
- The nasal spray may contain oxymetazoline, phenylephrine, xylometazoline, or naphazoline, which acts as a decongestant.
- Be careful to use decongestants according to the recommended dose. Taking this medicine more than three to five days may cause a stuffy nose after stopping use.
Try pain relievers and fever reducers. If you have a fever and soreness, you can take over-the-counter medications to ease the pain. The main active ingredients for pain relief and fever reduction are acetaminophen like Tylenol, or NSAIDs - nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen.
- Avoid taking NSAIDs if you have acid reflux or gastrointestinal ulcers. These drugs can upset the stomach. If you are taking an NSAID for other medical conditions such as blood clots or arthritis, talk to your doctor before taking any medications.
- Many multi-symptom medicines contain acetaminophen. You should be sure to take the correct dose as overdose can cause liver toxicity.
Take cough medicine. If your cough is severe, try a cough medicine. There are dextromethorphan and codeine in the cough suppressants, although codiene appears to be the active ingredient in prescription. Dextromethorphan comes in tablet or syrup form and can come in combination with an expectorant.
- Side effects of these medications may include drowsiness and constipation.
- The dosage of cough medicine varies depending on the medicine and its strength, so always follow the instructions of your doctor or manufacturer.
Try an expectorant. Chest congestion is a common flu symptom. To help treat this symptom, take an expectorant. This is a medicine that loosens and reduces mucus in the chest. Reduced mucus will make it easier for you to breathe and make coughs more effective. Many over-the-counter cold medicines contain an expectorant, which comes in liquid, gel, or tablet form.
- If you are unsure which medication to take, ask your doctor or pharmacist. You should also ask about side effects of expectorants, which may include drowsiness, vomiting, and nausea.
Consider taking an over-the-counter multi-symptom medicine. There are a multitude of combination over-the-counter drugs that contain many different active ingredients. These medications are very helpful if you have several symptoms at the same time, most of which contain pain relievers and fever reducers such as acetaminophen, decongestants, cough suppressants, and sometimes an antihistamine that helps to sleep. .
- If you take a combination drug, be careful not to take other drugs that can double the active ingredient in the multi-symptom medicine.This can lead to an overdose.
- Tylenol Cold Multi-Symptom, Robitussin Severe Multi-Symptom Cough Cold & Flu Nighttime, DayQuil Cold & Flu, etc.
Ask your doctor about antiviral prescription medications. If you see your doctor within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms, your doctor may prescribe an antiviral medication. Your doctor may also prescribe antivirals to members who live in your home, especially for those at high risk such as those with a chronic illness or over 65 years of age. Antiviral cold medicine works to reduce the severity of illness and the duration of illness within a few days, control outbreaks in close people or other family members, and can also reduce complications. of the flu. These drugs include:
- Oseltamivir (Tamiflu)
- Zanamivir
- Amantadine
- Rimantadine
Know the side effects of antivirals. To be effective, antivirals need to be taken within 48 hours of the onset of illness, and must be taken for 5 days. However, some influenza viruses are resistant to some antiviral drugs. Taking antiviral medication may also contribute to other strains of the virus becoming resistant. While not as common, some of the side effects of antivirals can include:
- Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
- Dizziness
- A stuffy or runny nose
- Headache
- Cough
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Method 4 of 5: Flu vaccine

Get a flu shot. The best way to treat any disease is to prevent it. Everyone over six months of age should get a flu shot. This is especially important for people at risk of complications from the flu. These include people over 65 years of age, pregnant women or people with chronic illnesses such as asthma or diabetes. The flu season starts from October lasting through May and peaks from December to February. During this time vaccines were available in most pharmacies. Most insurance companies pay for a flu shot.
- Get the vaccine several weeks before the flu season starts. It takes about two weeks for the vaccine to work to cause the body to produce antibodies against the flu, helping you to fight off the illness. But getting vaccinated early will keep you from becoming infected during the two weeks you are susceptible.
- Each shot is good for only one flu season, so you must get it every year. One dose of vaccine protects some strains of the flu.
Try the nasal spray vaccine. Unlike a flu shot, you can get the vaccine in the form of a nasal spray, although it is not as common. This may be easier for some people, but for others it should be avoided. You should not get the nasal spray vaccine when:
- Be younger than 2 years old or older than 49 years
- Heart disease
- Have lung disease or asthma
- Have kidney disease or diabetes
- Have had a problem with the immune system
- Pregnant
Know the complications. There are a number of complications that can arise from taking the two vaccines above. Before taking either of the above vaccines, you need to ask your doctor if:
- You are allergic to, or have ever had, an allergy to, a flu vaccine or an allergy to eggs. There is another vaccine available for those with an egg allergy.
- If you have a moderate or severe illness with a fever. You should wait until you recover before taking the vaccine.
- You have a rare neurological disorder, Guillain-Barré syndrome, in which the immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system.
- You have multiple sclerosis.
Know the potential side effects of the vaccine. While it helps, the vaccine also has a number of side effects, including:
- The injection site is painful and swollen
- Headache
- Fever
- Nausea
- There are mild flu-like symptoms
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Method 5 of 5: Prevent Flu

Avoid contact with sick people. To prevent the flu, you must avoid contact with someone who has the flu. Close contact includes bringing your mouth close, so don't kiss or hug someone with the flu. You should also avoid an infected person if you notice them coughing or sneezing. Any body fluids can transmit flu viruses.
- Also avoid touching surfaces that the infected person has touched as they may be contaminated.
Wash your hands often. Proper hand washing is the best way to prevent infectious diseases. When in crowded or around sick people, wash your hands often. Take hand sanitizer with you in case you can't find a sink. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), right hand washing techniques are as follows:
- Wet your hands under clean, running water at cold or warm temperatures. Then turn off the water and rub the soap.
- Make soap lather in your hands by rubbing your hands together. Don't forget the backs of your hands, between your fingers and under your fingernails.
- Rub your hands together for at least 20 seconds, roughly the time it takes to sing twice the original of the song "Happy Birthday".
- Then, turn on the tap and rinse the soap with warm water.
- Use a clean towel to dry. You can dry your hands with a hand dryer.
Eat a healthy diet. A healthy lifestyle can help you maintain a healthy immune system to fight off infections. You should eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, reduce fat, especially saturated fat, and sugar.
- Vitamin C is a vitamin that boosts the immune system. While there is conflicting evidence for effectiveness in reducing symptoms, a diet rich in vitamin C and other vitamins is not harmful. Eat a variety of citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit and other fruits such as cantaloupe, mango, papaya, watermelon, green pepper broccoli, red pepper and leafy vegetables.
Relieve stress. Practicing yoga, tai chi, or meditation can help you relax every day. If you feel stressed, it's important to make time for yourself, even just 10 minutes a day. This will help you boost your immune system.
- Stress also disrupts hormones and can impair your ability to fight off infections.
Get enough sleep. Chronic sleep deprivation can have many consequences, including a weakened immune system. To stay healthy, it is important that you get enough sleep each night. Adults should sleep about 7.5 to 9 hours.
Exercise most days of the week. There is research that has shown that exercise can reduce the risk of getting the flu and make it more effective to get a flu shot. Every day you should spend at least 30 minutes to exercise with moderate exercises, or exercises that increase heart rate. This will help the body function perfectly and fight various infections.
- Researchers don't know exactly how and why, but some theories suggest that exercise may help fight bacterial or viral infections. It is thought that exercising clears bacteria out of the lungs through urine and sweat. Exercise also helps send antibodies and white blood cells around the body at a faster rate, detect disease earlier, and increase body temperature to halt the growth of bacteria.
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