How to survive a cold when you just don't have the time...

I hate getting colds. I hate that a bunch of tiny germs have invaded my body purely with the intention to make me feel rubbish! But they have, and they've succeeded.  I feel awful. Right now all I want is to burrow under the covers while somebody, my mum most likely, feeds me soup and pats me lovingly on the head. But ALAS! I'm too busy too wallow in bed whilst binge watching netflix, as amazing as that sounds. This week has not been a good time to be ill. I have neither the time nor luxury to indulge in a good old-fashioned sick day. Here are my top tips for surviving a cold when you just don’t have the time to be sick.

My first tip, and probably  the most effective, is to take Echinacea.  Echinacea is a herbal remedy that boosts the immune system  and helps fight off colds. Preferably with orange juice (which is good for colds anyway) because it absorbs into the blood stream quicker so it starts to work quicker.  According to the font of reliable *cough, cough* information that is Wikipedia the evidence to suggest that Echinacea is particularly adept at treating colds is thin but for me personally I recover so much quicker when I use it. Now it doesn't make you feel better immediately but it does fast track a cold so you get better sooner. I started taking it on Thursday when my cold was at it's worst and by Friday it was like I'd skipped ahead a  few days. 

My second tip is always use Eucalyptus Oil. It is a godsend for blocked noses. A drop or 2 in a hot bath, or a mug of boiling water and you'll be breathing easy in no time.  That brings me to my third tip...

Now my third tip is a bit steamy... because it's steam.  Take a hot bath, have a long shower, stick your face over a bowl of boiling water - not too close to it mind- and let the steam, combined with eucalyptus oil, work it's healing magic. 

My fourth tip is Moisturise, Moisturise, Moisturise! It's so important I repeated it thrice! I don't know about you but my skin is always at it's absolute worst when I'm sick. My skin right now is awful, the constant nose blowing has left my nose red, raw and chaffed  and my skin looks and feels disgusting. I've been trying to get away with wearing as little make up as possible because nothing looks worse than foundation sticking to the dry, chaffed patches round my nose. I've been moisturising constantly and my skin hasn't been as bad. Don't get me wrong it's bad BUT it could have been so much worse. 

My fifth and final tip is SLEEP! I really need to take my own advice on this one, it's common knowledge round these parts that I am a terrible sleeper. BUT getting an early night is instrumental in getting better quicker. I haven't been able to go into a lemsip induced coma because I just haven't had the time, but I've been trying to get as much sleep as possible because while you're asleep you don't feel ill and no matter what sleep is awesome.  

I also have a lot of basic stuff I do to treat a cold like drinking orange juice, taking vitamins and eating chicken soup but you could read more about that here

What do you do to make yourself  feel better when you're sick?  Let me know on twitter, by commenting below or dropping me an email at lolarocknroses@gmail.com.  Also check out my instagram, bloglovin, facebook and pinterest. 

Love love love xxx