Cold and flu season has definitely hit here in California, and I blame it on the recent rapid changes in weather we’ve had. We had a glimpse of fall weather with a little tease of a rain storm and colder weather, but we are right back to our comfortable mid-70’s again. Pair that with the start of the school year and it’s a recipe for illness.
While sometimes you really can’t prevent the cold or flu from hitting your household, I do my best to prepare for it ahead of time.
Here are my top 5 tips for preparing for cold and flu season.
Change Air Filters
Changing the air filters in your home can not only help your A/C or heater work more efficiently, but it can help prevent the exacerbation of respiratory related illnesses. I personally suffer from seasonal allergies and am so sensitive to bad air in the house. I like to change my air filters every 3 months.
Clean Out The Medicine Cabinet
I don’t know about you, but I feel like we always have an overabundance of products in our medicine cabinet. I try to go through them at least once a year, pull out expired medications, clean up any spills that have happened (because something always seems to leak), and take stock of what we might need.
Some of the products I always keep on hand in my medicine cabinet are:
- throat drops
- thermometer
- pain reliever/fever reducer for adults and children
- essential oils – lavender oil, tea tree oil, peppermint oil
- various ointments – anti-fungal, anti-itch, antibiotic, etc.
- sinus relief products – sinus rinse, sinus relief capsules
- daytime/nighttime cough medicine for kids and adults
To go into a little more detail about the types of sinus relief products I keep on hand, I always go with a brand I’m familiar with like Vicks. Not only do I end up needing sinus relief products for cold and flu season, but I often turn to them during allergy season (which is during the fall harvest and spring blooms for me).
While you might think that taking antibiotics and other cold and flu medication is easy, the fact is, they are not. If you are someone that has trouble swallowing medicines, you know what wee are referring to. In such instances, doctors recommend an agent like Gloup swallowing gel to help you take downpour medicines with ease. You do not have to use soft drinks or wine, or food that can hamper the effectiveness of the cold and flu medication. The swallowing gel works wonders. .
Walmart carries some great Vick’s Sinex products that can help relieve congestion and sinus pressure and pain during daytime and nighttime. I recently picked up the Sinex Severe – Congestion LiquiCaps and while I hope I don’t have to use them anytime soon, I am happy to have them on hand.
I’ve already been using the Vick’s Sinex Severe Ultra Fine Mist for my allergies and it’s been great. This product is great for relieving sinus pressure and has those familiar Vick’s vapors that I love.
Ways to save on Sinex at Walmart:
- $1 off any Sinex product at Walmart – BrandSAVER coupon from the 10/28 newspaper
- $3 rebates on Sinex liquicaps, Sinex mist, and Sinex VapoCOOL at Walmart – iBotta offer starting 11/7
- $4 off Sinex products at Walmart through 11/10 when you combine offers
Increase Your Activity
This tip is something that I had to learn for myself. I started working out at least twice a week and it has done wonders for my immune system. I no longer feel exhausted all week long because I’m getting better sleep, and in turn, I feel like my body can fight off illnesses so much better.
My workouts consists of dancing for 1 hour straight, at least twice a week, and squeezing in some form of activity in between dance days.
Easy activities that you can do at home:
- jump on a trampoline with your kids for 30-45 minutes
- jump rope with your kids
- go on a walk around the block
- download a fitness app and do indoor workouts
- have hourly dance parties (this one sounds funny, but it really works)
Get More Sleep
This tip is a goes hand-in-hand with the activity list above. Increasing my activity levels has helped me sleep better each night, and I honestly feel like because I’m getting better sleep, I feel better overall.
Change Your Eating Habits
An apple a day might really keep the doctor away, so why not change your eating habits to help prevent the cold or flu? Eating cleaner helps get your gut right, which in turn helps keep your body healthier so it can fight off illnesses. Probiotics are great for gut health, as well, so you might want to look into buying more natural sources of them like yogurt or Kombucha.
These tips are things that personally work for me and my family, and though we still seem to catch something this time of year, the symptoms seem to be less severe and don’t last as long as they used to. I feel like changing my eating habit and increasing my activity levels play a huge part in my overall health and ability to fight off illnesses, and I encourage you to really analyze your diet and exercise habits. See if you can make some little changes for the better for your health.
Do you have any tips for preparing for cold and flu season? I’d love to read them. Feel free to leave me a comment with your tips.
This conversation is sponsored by Sinex available at Walmart. All opinions are my own.
