How to Recover When You're Sick

Chances are, you’ve likely been sick before. It’s an awful feeling, and you’re stuck with nothing to do but wait for your immune system to fight the illness on its own. Here are some ways to speed up the process of recovery.

Rest

Make sure you get plenty of sleep each night and even take naps if you feel like it. Getting adequate sleep will help your immune system and boost the speed of your recovery. Avoid stimulants like coffee and energy drinks at night.

Hydrate

Drink lots of water and other liquids, especially if you have fevers, vomiting, or diarrhea. In order to absorb water, your body also needs sugar and salt, so make sure you also eat, or drink soups or electrolyte drinks to get the sugar and salt.

Eat healthy foods

Choose nutritious foods that can help your body repair and maintain function, causing you to feel better. This means eating foods that are high in vitamin C and foods that soothe your stomach. Avoid junk food, caffeine, alcohol, and other intoxicants.

When you’re sick, there are also a lot of annoying symptoms that come with it. Here are ways to help alleviate some of them.

For reducing pain and fevers: Ibuprofen and acetaminophen will both help reduce pain and fevers. Read the labels and use them accordingly.

For congestion, some ways you could get rid of it are: by using over the counter nasal drops or sprays and using a vaporizer or humidifier in your room to add moisture to the air.

For a sore throat, you could gargle saltwater. The recommended ratio is ¼ to ½ teaspoon of salt dissolved in an 8-ounce glass of warm water. Gargling this will help with a sore or scratchy throat.

For a cough, try adding honey to some warm tea and drinking that, or also using over the counter cough medication (cough drops and lozenges).

Written by: Shengze