PeriLTD Nature Company

Home Therapies

Alternative therapies may help strengthen your body’s ability to fight the virus and can help ease temporary flu symptoms.

Aromatherapy Relief

In flu season, when those around you are coming down with the virus, protect yourself by gargling daily with 1 drop each of the essential oils of tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) and lemon in a glass of warm water; stir well before each mouthful.

Do not swallow. If you come down with the flu despite your best preventive efforts, 10 to 20 drops of tea tree in a hot bath may help your immune system fight the viral infection and ease your symptoms. Be sure to use a pure, unadulterated form of tea tree oil; adulterated forms can be irritating to the skin.

If you have a congested nose or chest, add a few drops of essential oils of eucalyptus globulus (E. globulus) or peppermint (Mentha piperita) to a steam vaporizer. If you are asthmatic, be cautious the first time you try this; if you have not been exposed to essential oils before, inhaling the vapor may actually precipitate an attack.

Home Made Herbal Tea

For an herbal approach to stimulating your immune system, try taking Y2 tsp each of tincture of goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) and echinacea (Echinacea spp.) twice a day. If flu symptoms appear, chew a clove of raw garlic (AIlium sativum) for its antiviral properties, but do not eat raw garlic on an empty stomach.

An infusion of boneset (Eupatorium perfoliaturn) may relieve aches and fever and clear congestion: Simmer 1 cup boiling water with 2 tsp of the herb for 10 to 15 minutes; drink a cupful every hour, as hot as you can stand it. To combat chills, try taking 30 drops of yarrow (Achillea millefolium) or elder (Sambucus nigra) flower tincture every four hours until your chills are gone.

Homeopathy Sometime Works

For homeopathic self-care, try one of the following remedies in 6c or 30c dosages every six to eight hours for a day or two. If you don’t notice an improvement in your condition after 24 hours, try another homeopathic remedy.

If you feel tired, weak, and chilled, with a dull headache and stuffy nose, try Gelsemium.

If you feel general achiness with irritability and have a headache that is worse when you move around, and if you are thirsty for cold fluids and have a dry hacking cough, try Bryonia.

If you are restless, chilled, and thirsty, with a dry mouth, hoarse voice, and aching joints, try Rhus toxicodendron.

Necessary Nutrition and Diet Care

Eat vitamin C-rich fresh fruits and vegetables like citrus fruits, Brussels sprouts, and strawberries, or take 1,000 mg of vitamin C every two to three hours when awake. Increase zinc intake with lean meats, fish, and whole-grain breads and cereals.

Try some Reflexology

To support your respiratory system, press your thumb into the solar plexus/diaphragm area on your foot for a few seconds, or massage the area with your thumb.

Easy Home Remedies

If you have a sore or scratchy throat, try a salt-water gargle. Dissolve 1 tsp salt in 1 pt warm water. Gargle whenever your throat is uncomfortable, but don’t swallow the mixture.

Use a heating pad on body aches.

When you feel like eating, try bland, starchy foods like dry toast, bananas, applesauce, cottage cheese, boiled rice, rice pudding, cooked cereal, and baked potatoes. These foods provide a gentle transition for your digestive system when you have not been eating regularly.

Don’t drink alcoholic beverages; they leave you dehydrated and can lower your body’s ability to fight illness and secondary infection.

Flu Prevention

The most effective preventive measure against influenza is to be inoculated every fall against strains that have developed since the previous outbreak. If you are vaccinated against one or more type A and B strains, you may still come down with flu, but your symptoms are likely to be milder than they would have been had you not had a vaccination.

• Give up smoking and alcohol; both lower your resistance to infection.
• Avoid sleeping in a room with someone who has the flu; the virus is easily spread in the air.

Wash your hands often to kill viruses you may have picked up by touching contaminated objects like doorknobs or phone receivers.