You’ve been there. You might be there now. You do all the right things. You cover your cough with your sleeve. You wash your hands with soap while humming ABCDEFG… in your head. You make good dietary choices (mostly), you get outside and walk (most days anyway). And then out of nowhere, sick happens!
These are simply some of my herbal suggestions to consider when sick happens to you or to those you care for, drawn from my experience and research with medicinal herbs. Reminder: Herbs are not miracle cures. There are so many other factors to consider, such as common-sense diet, drinking fluids, and rest, as well as many other holistic approaches for healing. That said, here are my go-to herbs that I would suggest if you asked me about these common concerns.
“I feel like I’m getting sick” or “The person I hung out with all day yesterday has influenza now” or “Everyone at work is sneezing and coughing.”
Take frequent, larger doses of elderberry tincture. For more information about that, see the post I wrote titled, Elderberry for Winter Health.
Drink hot ginger tea. Ginger has a long, documented history of effectiveness with warding off illness. Fresh ginger has a higher level of antioxidants compared to dry. I think fresh tastes better, so I lean toward brewing thinly sliced fresh ginger and adding honey and/or lemon to taste. However, if dried ginger is all you have, go for it!
Sip on Fire Cider, use it in your cooking and salad dressings, or add some to hot water and sip while breathing in the fumes.
Increase the use of garlic in your diet.
“My throat is so sore”
Gargle with fire cider. Feel free to swallow the fire cider to kill germs on its way down, too!
Make a blend of honey, fire cider, prickly ash bark tincture, and spilanthes tincture and spray it toward the back of your mouth or sip small amounts. It should help reduce the pain while supporting healing.
If the severe sore throat lasts more than a few days, get tested for strep and get on antibiotics!
“I am burning up with fever.”
Stop drinking ginger tea. Ginger is warming and will likely irritate a feverish person.
Instead, drink hot herbal teas brewed with herbs with cooling properties, such as mint, lemon balm, rose, or hibiscus.
Historically, a blend of equal parts yarrow, elderflower, and mint has been used to ease the discomfort of fevers. This could be taken as a tincture, tea, or tea with tincture added (my favorite).
Keep in mind that a fever is not a bad thing as it will help to “burn away” the virus or bacteria. As long as it doesn’t spike too high or keep you awake at night, just let it do its thing.
“I just can’t stop coughing.”
For ideas of herbs to address different types of coughs, check out my blog post, Are You a Hacking Victim?
Herbal steams can be very helpful in calming a cough by helping to break up mucus. Eucalyptus is a popular choice, but I lean toward thyme or rosemary as they are already in my kitchen or pine needles from a tree in the yard. (I do not use essential oils in steams.)
If you made any herb infused honeys last summer, pull those out and suck on small amounts as needed. Boneset or elecampane infused honeys have proven particularly useful for my family. Even the folks at Mayo Clinic recognize that honey alone may soothe coughing.
“I tested positive for COVID!”
Check out my blog post, COVID is Still Here, So Are Herbal Remedies.
“Every part of me hurts. Even my bones”
Boneset tincture – boneset it too bitter to use as a single tea in my opinion. Several drops every hour, sublingually or a dropperful added to tea. Boneset has a long history of good results during past influenza pandemics and in regard to “break bone fever”, where your bones feel as if they are breaking.
Another herb I turn to for pain relief is prickly ash bark (tincture).
“My child has RSV. What can I do?”
Check out my post, RSV, Not Just Another Acronym
From the caregiver: “I know he/she/they feel lousy, but I just can’t take much more whining.”
Chamomile tea or tincture. Try it. It really does help calm the whining! Might just help calm the caretaker, too.
General Tips:
Take larger, more frequent doses of elderberry.
Drink strong hot teas using 1 heaping tablespoon of loose tea or 3 tea bags per mug. Be sure to cover it while steeping. Add honey and/or lemon to taste, if desired.
Steams benefit everyone in the house, not only the sick person, as they raise the humidity while the benefits of the herbs diffuse into the air. My favorites include fresh pine needles and/or dried culinary herbs such as oregano, rosemary, and thyme.
Consider that being sick is not all bad. It gives your immune system a work-out, perhaps even a bit of an upgrade.
Avoid cold everything. I recall hearing this years ago at a holistic health event and it has stayed with me since. Avoid cold foods, especially in the winter. Keep your kidneys warm (yes, kidneys). While we’re talking organ systems, don’t forget your digestive fire/TCM spleen. Basically, avoid cold everything.
Increase your vitamin C intake. I use vitamin C crystals to avoid the fillers of other forms of supplements.
Limit sugar as it suppresses the immune system.
My final tip to avoid picking up germs while out in public is to smear plantain salve up your nostrils before exposure to the outside world. Plantain is not only a great antiviral, but is also known as being a drawing agent. It may help to catch airborne viruses which oft times enter through our nostrils. I carry a tin of plantain salve in the car and do this little trick every single time I’m away from home. I have no scientific studies claiming it helps, but, as I tell my kids, it’s not gonna hurt and it just might help.