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Six tips to nurse your Freshers’ Flu quickly

Breathing through your nose is a privilege


All students will get Fresher's flu at least once and it sucks. Whether you're a Fresher, third year or postgrad, either way you feel like you're missing out. For some reason, all the cool parties and nights out are happening when you're ill, you have FOMO when your friends are meeting up whilst you're in bed and you're missing important lectures and seminars.

So in order to get well the quickest way possible, we're giving you six tips on how to take care of your Fresher's Flu quickly.

1. Swap your morning coffee for tea

If you absolutely insist on going to Uni, remember to still stay hydrated – and coffee has a tendency to dehydrate you. So keep far away from that, as it will also keep you from getting that much needed sleep. Instead, head for Arts Cafe and have a nice Chai Latte, or, even better a herbal tea as milk is also not that good for colds.

It could be okay to drink coffee, if you really remember to drink lots and lots of water whilst doing so, as it will at least give you an energy boost and has some healing properties. But try to avoid it if you can.

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2. Get your vitamin C

Preferably get it from eating a whole lot of fruit, which has the benefit that it also hydrates you a little whilst eating. Fruit that has a lot of vitamin C includes citrus fruits, especially oranges, tropical fruit like pineapples, mangos and also most wild berries. Orange juice is always a good option as well.

If you really feel like you cannot eat, there are always Vitamin C tablets which most supermarkets and pharmacies sell.

3. Have an ice cream for sore throat

The best day of my childhood life was when the doctor told me to eat some ice lollies for my sore throat. Blessed.

Ice cream helps to soothe your throat and its just a throughly enjoyable desert.

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4. Nose Shower

Okay this one is a weird one, but it's helpful to know!

Use the nose shower with slightly warmed water and ideally half a teaspoon of sea salt, but any salt will do the trick. The nasal irrigation device is held to one of your nostrils and will run through out of the other one. It is super weird if you are not used to it, and at the start feels like you are washing your brain out – but trust us, it does wonders.

5. Steam inhalation and humidifying

Keeping those air passages clear really is essential in order for resting and curing well. Steam inhalations are a perfect way to get you back to breathing and also calm down a nasty cough. Make a full bowl of steaming hot water and sit down over it, covering your head and the bowl with a towel so that the steam stays within that space. Again as with the nose shower, sea salt is the best thing to put in the water, but any salt should be fine, and sometimes eucalyptus oil is also helpful, just make sure not to put in too much as it can really sting your eyes and nose. Thyme also works really well.

At night, it is also really helpful to keep your room humid, as that keeps your nose from getting blocked to the extent that you can't breathe, which in turns makes you wake up a lot. So a humidifier is always a good investment if you tend to get ill a lot and live in a dry environment. Fill the humidifier with eucalyptus oil for a nice calming scent. A bowl of thyme in boiling water next to your bed has a similar effect.

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6. Drink and rest a lot

You're probably tired of hearing this from the doctor as well as your mum – but honestly, this is the ultimately way to cure a cold. Drinking lots helps the fluids run through your sinuses, which keeps you from having a completely blocked nose at night and clears up those air passages. What it all boils down to is getting a lot of rest, because that is the most effective thing you can do to help your body fight the bacterias and regenerate.

Take care of yourselves!