Easy and Effective Head Cold Remedies You Can Whip Up in A Dorm Room
Just yesterday, I got a call early in the morning from my daughter, the one I moved off to college during an ice storm. She complained of a nasty head cold, with congestion, headache, sore throat, and a low-grade fever, keeping her confined to her dorm room for the day. With my own day packed, I needed remedies that were quick and easy to assemble, suitable for a dorm setting. She lives in a standard dorm room but does not have a mini fridge, so there are some remedies that I eliminated, such as onion honey.
Her biggest complaint was a headache from sinus congestion that was making it hard to sleep. I would have loved to make a personalized loose-leaf tea blend, but loose-leaf teas require extra supplies and clean-up, so I grabbed a few store-bought bags of mint teas: vanilla-spearmint, and sage-mint. Mint soothes a sore throat, supports digestion, decreases nausea (mucus is hard on the stomach and often causes nausea), quiets headaches, and calms coughs while opening the lungs to make breathing easier.
To address her sinus congestion, I opted for an aromatherapy approach. She has a roommate, so it needed to be a personal inhaler.
Sinus Headache Inhaler
5 drops of wild orange
3 drops of lavender
2 drops of peppermint
2 drops of eucalyptus dives
I love to have Fire Cider on hand for cold and flu season, but I unfortunately did not have a batch ready at this time. With inspiration from a recipe of Heidi Villegas from Healing Harvest Homestead, I made a quick oxymel that resembles Fire Cider.
Fire Cider Oxymel
1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 Tbsp powdered ginger
1 Tbsp dried thyme
2 tsp powdered cinnamon
1/2 tsp powdered cayenne
1/2 cup local raw honey
Put all ingredients except the honey into a pot, and simmer on low for 5 to 10 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and blend with the honey. Store in a mason jar with a plastic lid (vinegar erodes metal). Take a spoonful a few times a day as you feel extra cruddy and need a pick-me-up. This recipe makes just enough to get you through a head cold. OK to keep at room temperature, but if you make a larger batch to have extra on hand, then store the extra in the refrigerator.
I also grabbed some Himalayan pink salt for her so that she could do warm salt water gargling. Gargling with warm salt water can help soothe a sore throat by decreasing pain and inflammation, loosens mucus, and can serve as an antibacterial. I have taught her that she can boost the gargle by adding a single drop of tea tree essential oil which offers antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties as well as being an expectorant.
Sore Throat Gargle
1 tsp salt
1 drop of tea tree oil
6-8 oz of warm water
Swish and gargle and then spit it out. Gargle like this several times a day, preferably starting as soon as the throat starts to hurt. This can stop an infection from taking hold.
These quick fixes not only provide relief but also can help prevent the cold from worsening. With a little ingenuity, even dorm room dilemmas can be easily addressed! As a testament to the power of herbal remedies, I got a text from her at the end of the day saying, "Thank you, I am feeling better ♥️"
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