The flu is one of the more unpleasant illnesses that you can come down with that don’t really have a fix. It’s one of those things that you just have to ride out no matter how awful you feel. However, there are things you can do to make sure that your symptoms don’t turn into further problems and to hopefully avoid having to make a trip to the hospital. Some of them can also help to make you a little more comfortable while you ride out your sickness.
Stay Hydrated
This is the most important thing you can when you’re sick and it almost might seem like one of the most challenging. Consistently drinking water and chicken broth while you have the flu will help to restore fluids to your body and keep you from getting dehydrated. If you’re vomiting too often to keep fluids down and you start to have problems like cracked lips or lack of urination, you should probably go to an urgent care clinic or emergency room for medical help.
Eat Crackers
You might not be able to keep food down, but it’s still a wise idea to nibble on saltine crackers while you’re sick. It can help to settle your stomach and will encourage you to drink water. The combination of the two also helps keep you from throwing up stomach acid, which can be painful and leave a burning sensation in your throat.
Use a Cool Compress
Pressing a cool rag or compress to your forehead and face can help to soothe your nausea. It can also help with hot flashes that are often accompanied by the flu and with lowering your fever. You can also put it on your neck or chest if the feeling of it on your face is too much.
Get Lots of Rest
It’s probably hard to do much more than lay in bed when you have the flu, but that doesn’t stop some people from trying. It’s important to get a lot of rest when you’re sick because it allows your body to focus on fighting off the virus. Working yourself too hard can make your symptoms worse and could result in a necessary trip to an urgent care facility.
Go to the Doctor
This might not be a necessary step so long as your flu follows normal patterns and passes relatively quickly. However, you might need to go to your local urgent care clinic if your symptoms are persistent, you become dehydrated, you have a lasting or extremely high fever, or you are completely incapable of keeping food or water down. The flu generally passes in a short amount of time and you are generally safe to let it run its course, but sometimes it can become a further danger to your health and requires medical care.