Tag Archives: cold

Fight A Cold With The Right Foods

Stuffy nose? Check. Scratchy throat? Check. Tickling throat and cough? Check and check. Sounds like the formula for a few days of misery while your body fights off a cold. Running to the kitchen can help ease your symptoms and help you feel better faster. Chicken soup. An oldie but a goodie! The salt in the broth is soothing to sore throats. The warmth can help break up mucous. The veggies are full of vitamins and minerals your body needs. What’s not to like? Whole grains. The zinc in whole grains helps your immune system keep running at peak performance. … Continue reading →

Frugal Cold Treatments

Fighting a cold and don’t want to spend $20 or more on all of those over the counter remedies? Below are some frugal ways to treat a cold. Well, in spite my “germy-phobic” practices of making sure everyone washes their hands and use antibacterial glob, we all came down with a pretty nasty cold. I cringed when my husband called me from work the other day to say that his throat was getting very scratchy. Maybe he brought something home from work. Then again, it could have been that trip to Chuck E Cheese, our first in two years, that … Continue reading →

Hypothermia

Winter has finally gotten serious in my part of Michigan. The first “pretty” snow is on the ground. You know the kind- it’s fluffy and soft and looks slightly shimmery, and it’s not too cold to go out and enjoy it. It won’t last; the bitter cold always follows the not-so-cold. A little cold or a lot cold, it’s all relative to me. I seem to be consistently cold. Some days there just doesn’t seem to be anything I can do to warm up. Let’s suppose for a minute that I got brave and decided to go out with the … Continue reading →

Feed a fever, starve a cold?

Or was it starve a fever and feed a cold? Is it chicken soup, or pile on more blankets? What’s a mother to do when someone gets sick? We get all kinds of advice from well meaning sources. But sometimes it’s best to listen to our own common sense and instincts. If someone has a fever their body is showing a reaction to its battle with an infection. If the fever is just slight (below 101 degrees) you really don’t need to do anything. When it gets higher than that it’s advisable to try and gently bring it down. The … Continue reading →

How To Have A Healthy Winter

Ready for a crazy winter health statistic? Employers shell out billions of dollars worth of sick pay in the winter months. Billions! If you’d rather see more of that money go into your annual bonus check, it might be worth it to stay healthy this winter. And if your employer isn’t paying for insurance and sick days, it’s saving YOUR money to stay healthy during the winter months. Get a flu shot. It’s not too late! The best time for the vaccine is in October and November, but better late than never. The vaccine is shown to offer up to … Continue reading →

Have A Cold? Doctors Say Don’t Bring It To Their Offices

Have you had your first cold of the season? Our entire family was sick this week. No question about it—cold season is here. But, if you are like me and you call your doctor to get something stronger than over the counter meds because you “can’t afford to be sick,” (it’s the line I used) don’t be surprised if the receptionist tells you that you are better off at home. It happened to me and apparently, I’m not alone. Some physicians don’t want cold sufferers to rush into their offices with a cold that can be cured at home. In … Continue reading →

‘Tis the Season For Colds and Flu

Last night it happened: the sick but visited our house, and if my guess is correct, she won’t be leaving for a looooong time. That’s how it works in households. One person gets sick, then a sneeze meant for the hand accidentally rockets into little sister’s face. Then little sister just HAS to give mommy a big, wet kiss. Then mommy gets daddy sick and so on and so forth…you get the picture. My son started kindergarten this year, so I knew it wasn’t likely that we would go the entire season without having some strain of sickness filtering throughout … Continue reading →

Five Ways to Prepare for Cold and Flu Season

As the cool weather sets in, that means that cold and flu season are beginning to set in as well. Many people believe this happens because people are inside more, and the germs are more easily spread from person to person. You should be prepared to handle the onset of a cold or the flu in your family actually gets it. Here are five things you can do. 1) You should go ahead and purchase tissues for your family to use. You may want to buy a box to place in your car. You may also want to put a … Continue reading →

Traveling with a Cold

Traveling is supposed to be fun, a time to escape from the everyday worries of home and career. Okay, so why would anyone want to travel to a place that is cold, which means taking along extra clothing and then needing to worry about the chances of illness that come with a cold climate? If I could answer that question, I would be able to answer a lot more questions about human nature and the wide variety of likes and dislikes of individuals. Unfortunately, I do not think I can be much help here. However, I can tell you about … Continue reading →

When Should You Not Vaccinate Your Baby

When it comes to vaccination, it’s ideal if every baby gets them, but there are some babies who shouldn’t be vaccinated. The following describe some situations and conditions where you should not vaccinate your baby (be sure to always consult your pediatrician on the following): Allergies to Gelatin or to antibiotics like polymixin B, streptomycin and neomycin in your baby? Be sure to consult with your pediatrician so they can do tests to identify some alternative vaccines Illness, whether moderate or severe, including vomiting and high fever are good indicators that you should wait before getting your baby vaccinated; if … Continue reading →