Christmas Time, mistletoe and tissues… an awful lot of tissues, off brand cold and flu tablets and honey and lemon, writes Ruby Weatherill.
I am sure a lot more people would attest to the magic of the Great British Wintertime if it didn’t mean coming down with various illnesses that leave you longing to be cocooned in a blanket holding a hot drink dangerously close to your face.
I for one am a frequent sufferer from colds, as soon as October hits you will find me tucked up in a mountain of tissues, looking like death (barely) warmed up.
My only solace during the four months I spend longing that humans hibernate is hearing about everyone’s, grandmother’s, mother’s and cousins’ home cold remedies.
These range from the weird and the wonderful, from copious amounts of alcohol, to lining every shelf in your house with half cut onions.
Out and about in MediaCity today the people gave me plenty of suggestions for next time I come down with the lurgy, see below.
After the UK Health Security Agency issued an “amber cold-health alert” for three regions of the UK, including the Northwest, we want to keep the people of Salford in the know about staying safe in cold and flu season.
This comes off the back of reports of a brutal cold across social media, with one Reddit user in r/CasualUk claiming “Just coming off the back end of a brutal cold that’s lasted about three weeks, during which my sinuses have been almost completely closed, relaxing only for brief periods while also producing mucus at an alarming rate.”
The NHS’s official advice, if you come down with any respiratory viral infection, is to get plenty of rest, stay hydrated with water, and drink a hot lemon and honey drink to soothe a cough.
Commonly, people tend to treat colds with vitamin C but that is primarily a preventative measure. If you have cold-like symptoms try using zinc on top of your usual treatments, the NHS advises this could reduce the severity of your symptoms and reduce the length of your cold by two days.
Stay safe this winter time, keep up to date with your flu jabs, drink plenty of water and take your vitamins, and maybe if you’re feeling brave try some of the people of Salford’s favourite home remedies.
If you have any strange remedies, let us know on our Facebook and Instagram stories!
Featured image taken by Tina Franklin, Flickr.