A flu infection is easy to catch even in the warm months: Then the mucous membranes of the nose are dried out by air conditioning or drafts and they lose their protective function against viruses. These home remedies and tips will help!
- In early summer you can catch a cold almost as quickly as in winter. Read here which home remedies and tips will help.
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Sick in the heat? Summer flu catches many by surprise. There are risk factors involved in catching a cold, especially in the warmest months of the year. Sunbathing too long, for example: It means stress for the immune system, which – weakened by this – makes pathogens easy to spread in the body. Or a surprising rain shower that leaves the body shivering and weakens afterwards.
Triggers of summer flu: That's why you often get sick on vacation
When you catch a cold, summer and winter apply: prescribe plenty of sleep and rest for your body to recover quickly, drink enough water, tea or juice, and strengthen your immune system with vitamins C and E. Hot drinks have also proven their worth – even if patients with a flu-like infection often feel little pleasure in summer temperatures.
Risk factors: air conditioning and train play summer flu in the cards
To prevent summer flu with a runny nose, sore throat and fever, here are our tips for prevention: Don't set the air conditioning in the car or hotel room too cold or leave it out entirely. Air-conditioned air dries out the mucous membranes, making cold viruses easy. Instead, ventilate well in the morning hours or enjoy the wind as long as it doesn't make you uncomfortable.
Do not run around in the swimming pool with wet bathing suits and never lie in the blazing sun for long. Vitamin D is produced under the influence of UV radiation, but too much affects the immune system.
The best home remedies for cold
Prevent summer flu: wash your hands and blow-dry your hair
Just like cold viruses in winter, there is a risk of infection especially where there are many people around. But certain objects are also virus throwers, for example doorknobs, smartphones and banknotes. To protect yourself from summer flu viruses, you should therefore wash your hands regularly and thoroughly (with soap and lukewarm water, for around 30 seconds) and do not touch your face unnecessarily with your hands. To keep others from getting infected, use disposable handkerchiefs, dispose of them immediately, and sneeze and cough in the crook of your arm.
Wet hair is also an invitation for a cold – no matter how long it is. The head has a large surface on which the water evaporates from the hair. The evaporative cold removes heat from the body, which reduces blood circulation. "But the defense is carried through the blood to the site of the attack," says Klaus Schäfer from the General Practitioners' Association in Hamburg. Cooling down increases the susceptibility to infections. After swimming or showering, it means: blow-dry, wait or put on a hat.
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Cough, runny nose, sore throat: colds are extremely annoying. Which home remedies work quickly and gently?
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A cold can also be prevented with home remedies such as hot lemon or milk with honey. Tea with honey is even better. This can help ward off infections. The sugar in it also has an expectorant effect. However, it is important to use only cold-spun honey, says Schäfer. Because the heat in industrial processing destroys the anti-infection substances. Therefore, the honey is best only in the drink when it has already cooled to drinking temperature. In addition, it works better in tea than in milk.
Summer flu: symptoms correspond to the signs of a cold
In contrast to real flu (influenza), summer flu is nothing more than a cold (flu infection) in the warm season. Accordingly, summer flu is usually mild, but there is also no vaccination against it. While influenza viruses are the trigger in the case of real flu, summer flu can trigger so-called Coxsackie viruses.
(Small) children and adults who suffer from summer flu therefore help the same home remedies that are also used for a winter infection. These include, for example, cold baths, inhalations and herbal teas.
Survival time of cold viruses
The symptoms of summer flu also correspond to those of a cold in winter: They range from scratching the throat and pain to coughing and runny nose or a stuffy nose to mild fever, headache and malaise.
Incubation period and duration of summer flu
Incubation time and duration of the summer infection also hardly differ from the typical chronological sequence of a cold in winter: three to four days after we were exposed to the viruses, the first symptoms become noticeable in the case of a weak defense. After that, it takes about a week until summer flu patients are completely healthy again. Colds have a lot in their own hands: Drinking a lot, ventilating regularly and being physically gentle are among the most important tips for getting back on your feet quickly.
If your nose is running, pull up rather than blow your nose
If the cold has already struck, according to Schäfer: "Pulling up is healthier than blowing out." Whoever pulls up the mucus in the nose simultaneously sucks it out of the sinuses and discards it in the stomach. When blowing his nose, he is not only pressed into the handkerchief, but also into the sinuses. There it forms a breeding ground for pathogens, the facial cavities can become inflamed. After swallowing, however, the secretion can no longer do anything because of the stomach acid. Schäfer does not find it disgusting for others to pull his nose up for colds: "This can also be done discreetly."
Preventing the common cold: tips for a strong defense
