Last week, I got a cold and a sore throat. This was very annoying as you can expect, but more annoying than most as I had plans for the weekend (it was a Thursday that I got it), and had work the day after I got it. In 2016 I had a wave of sore throats and colds as the year went on; mostly sore throats, about 6 or 7 in total as far as I can remember, sometimes within a few short weeks from the last one. It was a horrendous time, and after a year of mostly sore throats, I was hoping 2017 would start off much nicer, but in less than a week, boom, another one. At the time of writing this, things are finally starting to wear off, but I am not letting my guard down. My sore throat is about gone, what currently remain are a cough, and an infected feeling at the back of the roof of the mouth. My cold is going down, my nose still feels twitchy, but I ‘hope’ that it does not get worse. It was really annoying as it pretty much ruined my weekend, and decided to prolong within to about a day of something big happening. For the most part; colds I can just about stand; yes they are really annoying and can cause violent cases of sneezing, however a sore throat is worse, as that is sheer pain!
Luckily however, due to a lifelong battle of on and off colds and sore throats, I have managed to learn a few tips and tricks to help it not to prolong too far. For starters, if I feel that one is about to come on, I will buy some Soothers to help beat it back. If things escalate, I may consider the purchase of some Strepsils and start putting on Vapour Rub. When it does kick in though, I know what I need to do. I have a select group of medicines I instantly go and buy, knowing that they work just fine.
Difflam Spray is a spray that comes in a nice green and white bottle. Basically spray it directly into the mouth onto the infected area. What’s good about it is a quick action that while minor-ly relieving the pain, it does act fast to slow down the infection. The ultimate bonus though is that it does not have a limited day use, as long as you separate the use of it by at least the times on the bottle, you can keep using it all day long. Soothers and Strepsils (I like the Honey and Lemon ones best) are more just lozenges to help soothe the pain, as Sore Throats can last a while, and are shockingly painful; as such, lozenges help to soothe the pain. Vapour Rub helps with breathing, which on occasion I will wear during the day in cases of the most pain, but is especially useful when going to bed, as every time you breathe in without it, you can’t hope to fall asleep with that much pain. Finally, you need something to which can not only help relieve the pain, but also fight against the illness to help you recover sooner than later. For this I have two choices. My main choice is Lemsip Day and Night pills; the reason for this being is that while they are strong and fast at working, the pack comes with night time pills, which aren’t loaded with caffeine, so this means you are not stark awake when what to be doing is going to sleep. In the case though that Lemsip is not available, I like to treat myself with Beechams Liquid, as I find it can work quicker than most, plus the taste of the liquid is enough to distract me from the pain briefly.
Alongside these things, one thing I find that helps is to keep warm. I do this by wearing full body clothing (minus the head), and a jumper on top of my t-shirt. I also try to keep the room I am in as warm as I can, and only drink (as far as I can) hot squash. It’s just a minor little thing based on a scene from Rizzoli and Isles (although that was about having a fever) and my knowledge of cooking (germs hate heat, lots of heat should help). Anyway, there you have it, my system for when I get a Sore Throat (as well as a cold). I just thought I would share that with you in case you want some advice (and also to find a way to distract myself).
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Numb3r5s's Blog 