In a year, there is a possibility that you would feel sick at least once no matter how healthy you are. These illnesses come with symptoms which includes nausea, stuffy nose, and pain, and science have been able to provide us with pharmaceutical remedies that make us feel better after consuming them but you know, there is a possibility that you can find yourself in a remote area with no easy access to pharmaceutical solutions including medications and ointments but then, there are non-pharmaceutical remedies that have science backing that can help with these symptoms and sharing them with you is something you would thank me for. That said let's get into it.
Chicken is one animal meat we are all used to, and chicken noodle soup is popular in some culture especially in Asia and it has its history way back to the 11th century CE where IBN Sina (AVICENNA) the Persian physician attributed the broth from chickens to leprosy cure and treatment but this isn't true according to science but with recent research, chicken soup has been attributed to helping with congestion in the nostrils throat, and sinuses when they are inflamed as a result of cold.
Studies have shown that cup of hot tea can help with congestion as a result of the steam and s researchers checked if steam could be attributed to chicken soup ability to clear the airway. In the 1970s some researchers investigation on 15 healthy people with 100ml of hot water or chicken soup for 6 days. They discovered that participants that took the chicken soup released mucus from the nostrils more than participants who took hot water. Although they got a result, they could not explain the reason but gave a theory that compounds in the chicken soup which gave it its smell was responsible for clearing the nose.
In the year 2000, a study on chicken soup showed that it may slow inflammation when there are foreign invaders in the body which is a good explanation to why chicken soup would make people feel a little better than hot water, it also clear pathogen from the system and prevent sinus infections. Although the effect wears off after about 30 minutes.
Aches and Ice Massage seem to work together. When you are having any type of ache, one thing people recommend is an ice massage. It is not clear completely what mechanism of action it uses but scientist agrees that it blocks pain perception as it works on the gate control theory of pain. The theory has been since in the 1960s and it is still being used till date. The theory concludes that the ice block intercepts the nociceptors which send pain signals causing the brain to focus on the cold signal than the pain signal.
If you are experiencing Nausea, you can help yourself by sniffing an alcohol wipe or sniffing rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball. There is no exact explanation to this yet but even in hospitals it is often used as it is a cheaper option to many anti nausea medications that do not work better than it or placebo themselves. Talking about anti nausea meds, placebos, and alcohol, scientists in 2003 performed a study where a few anti-nausea treatments were used on patients who just had a minimally invasive surgery. The result showed that inhaled alcohol was able to deal with self-reported nausea by half and four times faster than medication like Ondansetron.
Another study was carried out in 2021, where patients who reported nausea when they arrived at the ER were examined. The researchers found out that patients who were given alcohol wipes to sniff reported lower feeling of nausea than patients who weren't, and even better than the anti-nausea medications. Since there is no conclusion to this studies, and the fact that they are self reported and would advise using anti-nausea medications but I doubt medical practitioners would throw it out of their toolkit anytime soon because it is doing just what they expect it to do.
When pharmaceutical solutions are out of reach, these natural remedies can provide relief. Chicken soup can help with congestion, ice massages can alleviate pain, and alcohol wipes can reduce nausea. While these remedies may not replace medications entirely, they offer effective alternatives that are often easier to access and implement.
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https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692
https://www.cmaj.ca/content/161/12/1532.short#F1
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb04127.x
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https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.150.3699.971
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0304395980900081
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10965/
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33627064/
https://www.jwatch.org/na46286/2018/03/09/inhaled-isopropyl-alcohol-superior-oral-ondansetron
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22784340/