With the fluctuation in temps recently, we’re seeing a lot of these symptoms in the office–that tickle in your throat, a little extra fatigue, or the first signs of congestion. While wishful thinking may convince us it’s nothing, a few simple steps during these early stages could make or break whether a cold fully develops. Do these 5 things, we do!
Here are the 5 things that we would recommend:
1. Wear a scarf. (cue broken record):
If someone were to parody a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor, she’d probably be covered from head to foot in a scarf. While you don’t have to go this far, a light scarf will help. We are big advocates of protecting our neck. According to traditional Chinese medical texts, “wind carries a hundred diseases.” It’s not just the cold, but the wind that we need to protect ourselves from, and wearing a scarf protects our most vulnerable area–the neck.
So, don’t leave home without it–even if the weather report says it’ll be a high of 65F (because the small print usually says ‘but feels like 55F’). Technically, this is a preventative tip, but if you have the beginnings of some cold symptoms, it can still help.
2. Drink Miso Soup and Sweat It Out
There is a classic Chinese herbal prescription for early stage colds that include only two ingredients: fermented beans and scallion. That is essentially miso soup. Our 2.0 version includes ginger.
Fix yourself a piping hot bowl of miso soup, add extra scallion slices and grated ginger (or simmer the ginger in the hot water for 10 minutes prior to adding the miso paste). Put on your coziest hoodie or PJs, crawl into bed with all your thick blankets, drink a warm bowl of soup, and sweat it out. The trick is not to start sweating and then throw all the blankets off only to expose yourself again to the cold air. You can peel some layers off but keep yourself covered and away from drafts.
The fermented beans nourish the lungs. The light sweat opens the pores and acts to ‘push’ a cold out, preventing any toxins or viruses from penetrating deeper. The spicy, pungent qualities of the scallion and ginger assist with this. Once a cold penetrates more deeply, then we’re dealing with a more obstinate disease pattern, like a bad cold or flu.
3. Gua sha away your nasal congestion.
This smooth-edged, heart-shaped tool is not just for keeping your face glowing. Because it’s designed to move qi and fluids (that build up when we have a cold), gua sha is also excellent for addressing runny nose, nasal congestion, sinus pressure, sinus headaches, sore throat, ear infections, and even swollen glands/lymph nodes.
Keep a gua sha tool, along with a quality facial oil, in your bathroom and massage your face and neck daily–prevention is key. And, when a cold comes on grab your gua sha and use our guide to help keep things moving and slow down symptoms.
4. Gargle with warm water with salt.
A tried and true method to address the area that is usually hit first–the back of the throat. The soreness one often feels at the back of the throat at the beginning of a cold is usually from post nasal drip irritating the mucus membrane of the throat. If left untreated, this little patch of irritation turns into an infection and then, yup, a worse cold. The tonsils are also part of the first line of defense so physically addressing this area is key.
Turn your rinse up a notch, by adding a few drops of tea tree oil or hydrogen peroxide. Gargle for 30 seconds and spit, don’t swallow.
5. Tap Tap Tap
In Qigong, a traditional mind-body practice, rhythmic tapping along the chest and upper body is used to encourage circulation, relax tension, and prevent the accumulation of fluids that lead to cough and wheezing. Not only does it directly address the respiratory system, it stimulates all the meridian channels that flow into these areas to help activate them.
Tapping also helps us breathe better. By tapping along the Lung channel, the lung organs and the chest, we can help invigorate qi circulation in the lungs, improve the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide and soothe the heart.
So, which one are you going to try first?
You don’t have to do all five things or turn feeling better into another item on your to-do list. Pick 1 or 2 things that speak to you and start there.
Patients always say they don’t want to come in when they are starting to feel under the weather but please do! We love to use acupuncture and specialized herbal formulas to help stop that cold before it progresses. It’s often a race for time.
Through the lens of TCM, we can help you discover the patterns in your sleep, digestion, stress, energy that are keeping you from being in balance and then tailor a treatment plan just for you.
