How to Beat the Flu when Away from Home
How do you feel when, after you have a carefully laid out plan for something, something beyond your control comes and interrupts that plan? For instance, when you make an exciting travel or vacation arrangement and have even visualised yourself having fun, only to fall sick during the long awaited travel or vacation. Frustrated does not even begin to describe it.
One common sickness that travelers battle with, especially in this winter season, is the flu. Having the flu not only makes you feel miserable but also makes you look miserable as a cough, fever, and other symptoms accompany the flu. And since it is communicable, people may also try to avoid direct contact with you and this can be painful as well.
If you about to embark on a trip or you are away on vacation already and find yourself down with the flu, don’t worry, this is absolutely under your control. Let us show you 10 ways to beat the flu when away from home:
1) Anticipate it: Prepare your mind for such occurrences and don’t try to wish it away. Admit that there is a possibility of you getting the flu because it is winter. Not being in denial gives you the willingness to prepare for the possibility of flu happening in the near future.
2) Prevent it: while it is good for you to plan against the flu, the best way to beat the flu away from home is to not get it in the first place. Take precautions to prevent the flu. Always cover yourself up well, especially when out there in the cold, and make sure you have a regular vitamin intake.
3) Check your Health Insurance: find out if your health insurance will cover claims in another country. If it doesn’t, you may consider getting travel insurance that will cover medical care while you are away. This way, should you get the flu, you can easily fix it at the beginning. Also, take some drugs with you that will combat some of the general flu symptoms. For instance, you can travel with some cough syrup and any anti-fatigue medicines. Call your doctor and get the right prescriptions.
The above are things you could do to prepare yourself against the flu because you know that it is a possibility. Now, what about when you miss the prevention stage and are down with the flu already? Here are some tips you can employ to beat the flu:
4) Take some Medicines: Expect fever, cough and cold aches and travel with some medication that will help ease the symptoms. Having the flu can be hard, but having no immediate recovery plan can be even more difficult. See your doctor for a prescription before you travel.
5) Take in more fluid: Taking in more fluids will aid your recovery process when you have the flu. It helps make the mucus less difficult to release. There will be less congestion in your lungs when you take in more fluid and releasing the mucus won’t be a painful process. It does not have be just water here, but you might want to stick with just water, juices, and yoghurt. You need to stay hydrated.
6) Get some rest: people go on vacations to rest from their normal life, only to fill up the days of the vacation with fun activities. You may end up very tired after such activities and make your body more vulnerable to the flu. So, while you are away, try as much as you can to cut down on activities.
7) Get a proper diagnosis: Influenza can be tricky sometimes and waiting for it to disappear could lead to a more severe case. You can ask the locals in your travel destination for directions to a health clinic where you can be properly diagnosed and have medication administered. Gifted healthcare is just a call away too, their experienced clinicians can come to wherever you are and provide you with the best care.
8) Take Very Hot Food and Tea: Your body is battling against the cold here so you have to take something at the other end of the temperature. You will feel good when you take hot meals, especially meals with liquid content. Eat soup and broth, whether beef, chicken or anything else you prefer. And you can always drink hot tea before or after your meals.
9) Eat Healthy: This is when you need to be very selective of the kind of food you put into your mouth. You are trying to rebuild your immune system, so you have to eat as healthily as possible. You are more than likely not going to have an appetite for food, anyway, but when you eat, try as much as you can to avoid unhealthy food, especially fast food with few nutrients.
10) Stay Away from Dust and Smoke: Avoid breathing in dirty, stuffy, and contaminated air so that you don’t worsen your symptoms. If you smoke, you really have to try as much as possible to avoid smoking now, because smoke will irritate the flu and worsen your symptoms. You should also stay away from other smokers to avoid passive smoking.
11) Stay Indoors: This may be difficult if you have a schedule that requires you to have contact with other people. But if it is strictly a vacation, it is advisable that you stay indoors. Besides feeling better, you will not have to bother about passing it on to other people, you will also save yourself the stress of worrying about how you look, because the flu has a way of making you look miserable as if feeling miserable is not enough.
There are many things you can do to beat the flu but these ones are basic and very effective. Having the flu at home is one thing, but having it when you are away from home is something else entirely because you are already not in your comfort zone. So you should do as much as you can to avoid going down with the flu. But, if you don’t succeed and already have the flu, you now know what to help you return to health.
Photos: pixabay
