Cold & Flu

For too many people winter equals chesty coughs, runny noses and congestion. Mucus seems to build up and no matter how hard you cough or blow your nose it just won’t clear or come up!  Chest congestion can be caused by any number of ailments, chief among them the common cold and the flu. Fortunately, chest congestion relief also comes in many forms, from home remedies like hot steam, to different kinds of medications and therapies like salt therapy. Hopefully one of these ways to break up chest congestion and relieve the build up of mucus works for you. Vicks is your friend:  Vicks can provide great relief when...

Brace yourself Australia, we are on track for a killer flu season. Three times as many people have been diagnosed with the flu virus so far this year, compared to the same period in previous years. In March, more than 10,000 people were diagnosed with the flu. In March 2018, that number was 3,173. So, why is there so much flu around already? In 2018, Australia had a pretty quiet flu season and that means that community immunity wasn't built up to protect against this year's virus. Because of this, Chair of the Immunisation Coalition Professor Robert Booy, has warned Australians that many...

Sick days. Great fun when you're a sneaky kid having a day off school. Not great fun when you're a parent with a house full of cold and 'flu. We all know winter is a rough time for catching colds, with all of those germs circulating indoors. But when it comes to kids, sicknesses seem to spread through classrooms as quickly as new fidget spinners. So how can you keep your children as healthy as possible this winter? Drink up, kids. Keeping your young'uns hydrated is not an easy task, especially in winter. A big cold glass of water is just not...

In case you haven't noticed, it's getting cold outside. Just ask anyone doing the morning commute, or wiping the frost of their windscreens. But what does the cold weather do to our wellbeing? We all know that winter brings with it a charming cold/flu season, where we take it in turns to be the one with the runny nose. But it's not actually the physical state of being chilly that leads to catching a cold. In fact, if you lived alone in Antarctica, you probably wouldn't catch many colds at all. It's being huddled indoors without ventilation (i.e. keeping the doors...

Listen carefully. Can you hear that? That's the sound of thousands of tissues being pulled out of their boxes around the country. Cold season is here. Hooray. You know the usual drill. Vitamin C, chicken soup, warm blankets. But here's a few unusual natural remedies and cold prevention techniques that may just surprise you. Here we go. 1. Garlic shot. Look, it's a bit intense, but give it a go. Take 1-2 very finely minced cloves of garlic and stir them into a small glass of water, then throw it back. It won't be as fun as a Tequila Slammer, but it will definitely...

If there's one thing you learn by being surrounded by kids, it's that they get sick. A lot. All over each other. Coughing, sneezing, scratching, wheezing – sometimes, kids are just a cacophony of contagion. Are you sick of it? (Pun intended, of course.) We bet you are. So here's a few handy tips to boost the health of your little monsters. 1. Move it, move it. We all know exercise is better for you than sitting on the couch. Unfortunately. But between iPads, TV and Netflix, there's far too many reasons for kids (and the rest of us) to be snuggling under...

What to do to get ready for the winter months to keep you and the whole family happy and health. Winter is coming. It's good news for Games of Thrones fans, but bad news for our immune systems. With the colder months come colds and flus, thanks to all the time spent indoors coughing all over our colleagues. If you don't want to spend your winter chained to a tissue box, here's a few natural tips to help you and your family avoid the sniffles this year. Wash yo' hands. It seems obvious, but keep your hands clean is one of the most important...