Are you feeling under the weather? Here are all the things you need to feel better when you are sick!
Basically everyone I know has been sick over the last few weeks. Between the flu, common cold viruses, tummy issues, and weird winter allergies, people are feeling the ick this time of year.
If you are in this group of people feeling ill, you know that you can’t think all that straight when you’re sick. You forget your responsibilities, your kids’ schedules, and even how to feel better when you are sick. I can’t help you remember when your bills are due or what time soccer practice is, but I can remind you how to feel better when you are sick. Consider this list a companion to my list of cold and flu essentials. That list tells you what you need, this list tells you how to use it.
Disclaimer
Before I get into my list of things that make me feel better when I am sick, I want to give a bit of a disclaimer. I am not a medical professional. I’m simply a mom whose kids get sick and who gets sick herself with sometimes alarming regularity. The things I think make you feel better when you are sick are just what work for me. If you or your kid gets sick, please consult your doctor. Don’t rely on this list as medical advice.
How to Feel Better When You Are Sick
Food & drink
I am a live to eat rather than an eat to live person, so I always think about food and drink first. Luckily, food and drink can really help you feel better when you are sick, so it’s a good place to start!
Water
My #1 strategy to feel better when I’m sick is to drink a ton of water. This holds when I have a cold or the flu, a stomachache, allergies – you name it. Drinking a ton of water especially helps when you are congested. It helps to loosen the gunk and flush the sickness away. It also helps you avoid dehydration, which can be dangerous and land you in the hospital for a fluid bolus if you aren’t careful.
I mostly stick to plain water when I’m sick, but I do tend to mix in some electrolytes occasionally too. Adding in these electrolytes is especially important if you’ve been vomiting or had diarrhea. Our go-to electrolyte options are Pedialyte (especially in the popsicle format) and Liquid I.V. if you’re unsure what to get.
Tea
There is something so comforting about tea when you feel sick. It’s like drinking a warm hug. And there is a tea for everything. If you’re struggling with stomach upset, try a tea with ginger. Need help falling asleep? Try a chamomile tea. Just try to stay away from tea with caffeine, as that could be counterproductive to your hydration.
If your sickness comes with a cough, add a few squirts of honey to your tea. I have found that a little honey in my tea works way better to suppress my cough than a pharmaceutical cough suppressant.
When tea alone isn’t cutting it to make you feel better when you are sick and you want to try an over the counter medication to help manage your symptoms, I highly recommend TheraFlu instead of pills. TheraFlu puts the medicine in a tea, and I think the delivery mechanism matters here.
Soup
There is a reason every mom’s medicine is chicken noodle soup. It’s warming, which helps break up congestion, the broth helps to hydrate you, and the protein and veggies in the soup nourish your run-down body. It might just be the miracle your mom said it was.
Of course, a can of chicken noodle soup will work in a pinch when you’re sick and can’t fathom cooking anything. I always keep a can handy for just this reason. I also try to make a chicken noodle soup base (minus the noodles) to keep in the freezer. The homemade soup just hits different and it’s easy enough to cook some egg noodles to add to your defrosted soup.
Rest
In addition to food and drink, you need rest to make you feel better when you are sick. Easier said than done, I know, but it’s important!
Sleep
Do not skimp on sleep when you’re feeling sick! Your body needs sleep to heal and fight off those yucky germs that are attacking you from the inside. If you do nothing else, getting more sleep will make you feel better when you are sick.
Take it easy
Rest doesn’t just stop at sleep, though. When you’re not sleeping, you really need to try to take it easy to feel better when you are sick. Taking it easy means limiting your physical exertion, moving more slowly than you usually do, and staying home. In addition to making you feel better, taking it easy when you’re sick also limits your opportunities to spread your sickness to other if you’re dealing with something that is contagious. Your friends, family, and community members thank you.
Comfort items
When you’re feeling sick, it’s helpful to have something handy that can offer you a bit of comfort. As an adult, my preferred comfort item is a big old cozy hoodie from my alma mater. My kids like to snuggle with their favorite stuffed animals and curl up with a blanket to make them feel better. Don’t underestimate the power of these comfort items to make you feel better when you are sick!
Relief
The rest of my suggestions for how to feel better when you are sick are all things that offer relief that don’t fit into the food and drink or rest categories. Consider this your miscellaneous category.
Hot shower
It is amazing how much a hot shower can make you feel better when you are sick! I can enter a hot shower feeling like death warmed over and exit the shower 10 minutes later with a whole new lease on life. The steam breaks up the gunk that’s causing discomfort and the warm water relaxes your body and regulates your body temperature. Don’t sleep on a hot shower when you’re sick!
Humidifier
As a kid who grew up with asthma and allergies, I run a humidifier in my bedroom almost year-round. I also run humidifiers in my kids’ rooms when it’s cold and dry. The moisture that a humidifier adds to your room, especially as you sleep, can really help to ease the stuffiness you might feel when you’re sick.
If you do use a humidifier to feel better when you are sick, don’t forget to change the water often and clean the unit regularly. It’s a pain, but you really don’t want your humidifier to make you feel worse.
Saline spray
There is nothing worse than a nose that feels as dry as the Sahara. Except possibly a nose so dry it’s bleeding. Avoid both of these horrible results by squirting a little saline spray up your nose when you’re feeling congested. It’s amazing how a little moisture in your nasal passages can help you feel better when you are sick!
Warm compress
If saline spray just isn’t your jam (looking at my husband here), consider instead a warm compress that can be applied over your nose and sinuses. A compress adds some moisture, relieves some pain, and lets you turn off for a minute. Bonus: if your eyes hurt, a compress over your closed eyes can do wonders for pressure in that area!
Gargle with salt water
When I was a kid, I used to think my mom was nuts when she made me gargle with warm salt water if I had a sore throat. Now that I’m the mom, I no longer think she’s nuts. In fact, she was pretty smart. Gargling with warm salt water absolutely helps relieve a sore throat by flushing germs, reducing swelling, and taking the pain away (even if only temporarily). Will a gargle shorten your cold? No, but it can make it more bearable while it sticks around.
Aquaphor
Last, but certainly not least, Aquaphor is a dark horse product that can help you feel better when you are sick. I don’t know about you, but when I’m sick, my whole face gets chapped. Especially my lips and nose. This chapping usually happens from all the nose blowing that’s happening. Help relieve your chapped face and protect your nose and lips by applying a layer of Aquaphor to the area. It provides a barrier to keep your nose and lips from becoming raw.
Other posts
In the market for other helpful tips that make life easier? You might be interested in reading these posts:
I hope you get to feeling better soon with these tips for how to feel better when you are sick. What is the first thing you do when you start feeling under the weather? Share below or over on Instagram @sarainseason.