what to do if you feel like you are getting sick

sick-call-doctor

Credit: Adobe Stock

These dr.-approved tips and tricks will help you starting time feeling better sooner rather than later.

1 of 11

Consider this your get-well guide.

daughter-sick-bed

Credit: g-stockstudio/Getty Images

A tickle in your pharynx. A cloudy head. An achy body. Yep, you're coming down with something...once more. Fun fact: The average adult gets three colds per year, each lasting an boilerplate of ix days, says Jane Sadler, MD, a family practice physician at Baylor-Garland Hospital in Garland, Texas. Merely you don't have to surrender. Here's how to stop a cold before it takes concord—and experience better by ASAP.

Watch the video: six Ways to Preclude Colds & Flu

Advertising

2 of xi

Drink upward to say hydrated.

dehydrated

Credit: skynesher/Getty Images

Drinking h2o and juice to stay hydrated can aid cut down on symptoms similar a sore throat and stuffy nose, says William Schaffner, Doc, professor and chair of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt Academy School of Medicine. I thing to go along in mind: Steer clear of booze and super-sugary drinks to help forestall dehydration, co-ordinate to Johns Hopkins Medicine. And if your pharynx's a little besides scratchy to gulp anything down, try sucking on water ice chips.

RELATED: The Truth Behind the 'Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever' Saying

iii of xi

Effort gargling with salt h2o.

gargle-common salt-sick

Credit: George Marks/Getty Images

To gainsay a scratchy throat add together half a teaspoon of salt to a glass of warm h2o. "The table salt draws out excess water in your throat's tissues, reducing the inflammation, and clears mucous and irritants from the back of the throat," notes Philip Hagen, Doc, medical editor-in-chief of Mayo Dispensary Book of Habitation Remedies. The rinse too flushes out bacteria and viruses, which may assistance whether yous're getting a common cold or want to forbid 1 in the first place.

RELATED: 10 Reasons You Have a Sore Throat

four of 11

Try a nasal spray to proceed your nose clean.

pink-sweater-nose

Credit: dragana991/Getty Images

Using a saline nasal spray right after cold symptoms outset appear may reduce their impact past moisturizing dry nasal passages and loosening mucous caused by colds, says Dr. Schaffner. Another proffer: Take a hot shower. "Warm moisture helps articulate nasal passages," he adds.

5 of 11

Stock upward on some OTC medicines.

pills pill medication prescription drug medicine chemist's woman health wellbeing

Credit: Sasha Brazhnik/Getty Images

Grab a hurting reliever like acetaminophen to fight off achiness and possibly even quell a depression-form fever. Over-the-counter allergy meds, like Zyrtec and Benadryl, aid with symptoms like runny olfactory organ and watery eyes; allergy meds that contain decongestants, like Claritin D or Alavert D, volition assist clear your sinuses and keep you alarm, if yous need to exist, says Mark Moyad, MD, MPH, Jenkins/Pokempner director of preventive and alternative medicine at the Academy of Michigan Medical Center.

RELATED: 20 Over-the-Counter Cold Remedies: What Works, What Doesn't

6 of xi

Try adding some honey to your hot water.

spoon-cough-syrup

Credit: GettyImages

Good old honey works but too (and tastes better!), says Harley Rotbart, Doc, professor and vice chairman of pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Colorado Schoolhouse of Medicine. Take one to two tablespoons directly from the jar or stirred into tea. And forget zinc lozenges and sprays: In that location'south only non conclusive proof that they piece of work, Dr. Rotbart notes.

RELATED: How to Brand Your Ain All-Natural Cough Syrup

Advert

7 of 11

Become ahead and take a sick solar day.

antibacterial-soap

Credit: Getty Images

Your body can fight off the virus improve if you're well-rested, so sleep is basically your best friend when you're ill. Only if you have to go in, it'due south not the end of the globe, says Janet O'Mahony, Dr., an internal medicine physician at Mercy Medical Eye in Baltimore. Just steer clear of co-workers as best y'all can—the showtime few days of a common cold is when you're well-nigh contagious. To keep from sharing your germs, wash your hands regularly or use an alcohol-based disinfectant gel.

RELATED: 5 Signs You're Too Sick to Go to Work

8 of 11

Eat some chicken soup—seriously.

eat-chicken-soup-ill

Credit: Greg DuPree

While you're sipping on plenty of juice and water, you might as well slurp down some craven noodle soup, besides. One study in the journal Breastconstitute that the soup might actually take some anti-inflammatory benefits. Also: Information technology merely tastes so comforting when you're under the atmospheric condition.

nine of 11

Try to get some light exercise in.

yoga sex sexual vinaysa menstruation yogi

Credit: Getty Images/Alexandra Iakovleva

If you're up for a piddling action, "light exercise can actually boost the immune system," Dr. Sadler says. But we mean calorie-free: Keep your heart rate just under 100—that ways a leisurely walk or a chill yoga session.

Advert

10 of 11

Pack your diet with tons of nutrients.

superfoods-for-salmon

Credit: Elena_Danileiko/Getty Images

The concluding thing y'all want to do when y'all're sick is eat greasy, nutrient-light foods. Instead, focus on a salubrious diet to help fuel the allowed system—that means protein-packed foods like lean meat, fish, or beans, with a whole-grain side like brown rice and enough of antioxidant-rich vegetables.

11 of 11

When to finally see a doc.

sick-telephone call-doctor