Went to the doc's yesterday and he's signed me off sick for the rest of this week. I'm severely congested, and he's prescribed a course of antibiotics as a precaution against the congestion becoming infected which could be dangerous.
But I was surprised at his other recommendations, which sounded decidedly archaic. To relieve the congestion: steam inhalation. Yep, boil a kettle, pour it into a bowl, stick a towel over your head and breathe deeply. Something I remember both my Mum and my Gran doing when I was a kid, occasionally with the addition of a dollop of Vicks in the water, thereby filling the house with strong menthol vapours.
And for the sore throat? Gargle with salt water. Yuck. I had enough of that as a small boy (I had a lot of sore throats back then), stood at the kitchen sink for hours gargling and spitting, while trying to avoid the gargling turning into gagging.
I'm wondering now if this is a deliberate policy - returning to time-honoured "old wives'" remedies in place of decreasingly effective modern treatments in an effort to curb the ballooning NHS drug budgets.
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Some of those traditional remedies are still the ones that work the best. Gargling with salt water aces a sore throat. I should be doing the hot water thing as i'm all congested up this week but i do take an extra long shower and my breathing was a bit better after.
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