Your Nose & Throat Need Some Love This Cold & Flu Season!
Continuing our series on our favorite ways to stay healthy through cold, flu, and virus season… Last newsletter we covered the Chinese antiviral and immune boosting herbs we want you to have on hand BEFORE you get sick. If you missed that one, check it out on our blog.
And as promised, we’re moving on to your nose and throat! Two of the main places respiratory viruses enter your body, and two places I like to give a little extra attention when colds and flus start going around.
These are two ridiculously easy things I use myself, especially when I’m traveling, around more people, or just feeling a little run down. And they happen to be two of the three most popular don’t-get-sick products we carry at Thrive.
Xlear Nasal Spray
If you want to prevent and reduce the symptoms of respiratory colds, flus, and viruses it’s a good idea to get in the nose and sinuses and stop them where they enter, hang out, and reproduce. While you’re in there it’s also a good idea to soothe, clean things up, and open your airway so your upper respiratory system can be a better first line of defense. Xlear excels at all those things and is easy to use and carry with you.
Xlear did a study during the pandemic that showed that using it helps people not get sick from respiratory viruses after exposure. Their study actually found that healthcare workers using a xylitol nasal spray had fewer COVID infections. They weren’t allowed to share it back then because things were weird, but now their label proudly says blocks bacteria and viruses, so they must have passed some labelling hurdles.
Xlear combines xylitol and grapefruit seed extract in a fine mist that gets all up into your upper respiratory system. The xylitol soothes the membranes and opens up the biofilm to allow whatever is stuck in there to wash out. The grapefruit seed extract is antiviral and antimicrobial. Together they help open things up, block the adhesion of bacteria and viruses, hydrate and clean out the membranes, and support your nose and sinuses in doing their job of protecting you from respiratory bugs.
Here’s how to use Xlear:
2 sprays in each nostril, 2-5 times per day. Wait a bit, then blow your nose to clean it out.
- Prevention: Xlear morning and night.
- Exposed: Xlear after exposure to colds/flus.
- Colds, Flu, Virus Symptoms: Xlear throughout the day when cold/flu symptoms have started.
You can use it or increase it if you’re run down, around more people, traveling, or if someone around you gets sick. If you’re motivated to stay healthy for a gathering or a trip, for example, I recommend you start using it twice a day a week before the event, and continue until you are back to your usual rested self.
With my history of sinus issues, I use Xlear morning and night pretty much year-round. I discovered Xlear after I already had a handle on my sinuses, and I was feeling pretty healthy. Even then, my respiratory health improved using Xlear regularly. And I use it a couple more times a day if there’s something going around, I’m feeling run down, or if I am extra motivated to stay healthy. Yup, even 15 years ago you could have seen me using this on the plane because my sinuses would get so uncomfortably dry when flying and I didn’t want to get sick on my trip. Pro Tip: Xlear is also great for allergies.
So how do you pronounce Xlear? How can such a great product have such a confusing name? We laugh about this with patients all the time. I’ve always called it “X-clear”, and to be fair there was no guidance about the pronunciation when it came out over 25 years ago. Now on their website they say that it is pronounced “clear”, but I think it’s too late for our office to change our ways.
Propolis Throat Spray
You know where else colds, flus, and viruses enter, hang out, and reproduce? The throat. So let’s get in there and deliver some potent antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory goodness to stop them from taking hold and soothe the throat.
Propolis Daily Throat Spray by Beekeeper’s Naturals has bee propolis extract in a spray that’s easy to use and carry with you. Propolis is known as the “defender of the hive” because it keeps sensitive beehives and colonies healthy. Propolis contains a high concentration of polyphenols, flavonoids, Vitamin C, and B—all known to support immune health. And BONUS: this spray tastes like honey.
Here’s how to use Propolis Throat Spray:
1-2 sprays on each side of the back of the mouth, into the throat.
- Prevention: 1 spray on each side morning and night.
- Exposed: 2 sprays on each side after exposure to colds/flus.
- Colds, Flu, Virus Symptoms: 2 sprays on each side throughout the day when cold/flu symptoms have started.
You can use it or increase it if you’re run down, your throat is tired from talking / presenting / singing, or if you’re around more people, traveling, or if someone around you gets sick. If you’re motivated to stay healthy for a gathering or a trip for example, I recommend you start using it twice a day a week before the event, and continue until you are back to your usual rested self.
My throat gets run down easily and I talk a lot, so I use this morning and night–1 spray on the left and 1 on the right of the back of the mouth into the throat. I use it extra anytime my throat feels tired or if there is something going around.
A Great Trio for Staying Healthy
For years, my tried-and-true easy plan for people who are motivated to stay healthy for a trip, holiday gathering, or big event has been:
- Gan Mao Ling Chinese antiviral pills (from the last newsletter)
- Xlear Nasal Spray
- Propolis Throat Spray
This trio works so well because it’s portable and doable. Patients will buy it for themselves and their family or travel partner. Just get everyone their own spray bottles because eeeewwww to sharing those! And so many patients have told us over the years that they avoided catching the thing that everyone else got at the family holiday trip. Or when everyone they were traveling with got sick and were down for the count, they only got a very mild version and got back to life quickly.
Stock Up & Stay Healthy
Next time you’re in, pick up what you need to have your own little stay-healthy kit ready to go. Or give us a call or email and we’ll have everything ready for you to pick up.
Already Sick, Still Struggling, or Tend to Get Hit Hard This Time of Year?
If you’re one of the unlucky people dealing with lingering symptoms after a cold or flu, come see us once you’re no longer contagious. Just use your best judgment about when you’re no longer contagious (most people can tell when they’ve turned the corner from actively sick to “why won’t this congestion go away?”) Acupuncture and customized Chinese herbs can help with that lingering cough, phlegm, sinus congestion, fatigue, or that general “why am I STILL not better?” feeling.
And if you tend to get hit hard every fall and winter, don’t wait until you’re sick! Come in and let’s work on getting your system in better shape before it has something to fight off.
Book an appointment online or get in touch: 707-527-0868 or thrive@thrive-acupuncture.com.
Next up in this series on our favorite ways to stay healthy through cold, flu, and virus season: One of the simplest supplements you can take to support your immune system, and why I finally got serious about taking it consistently!
A Win From The Treatment Room
Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathy Clinic Win with Megan Rauch
A patient came in who was undergoing chemotherapy for a second bout of breast cancer and had recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. She was suffering from chemotherapy-induced neuropathy in her hands and feet. It was so severe that she could not stand for long. It felt like walking on rocks, and shooting pains going up her legs would frequently wake her up at night. This kept her from her normally active lifestyle, and she felt exhausted from the disrupted sleep.
After trying everything Western medicine could offer for her neuropathy pain, she was still suffering. Her doctor suggested that acupuncture might help. I love working with patients who have tried so many things without getting the relief they want, but are still willing to try something new rather than giving up hope for feeling better.
Over the course of 12 acupuncture sessions: She started sleeping better right away. The shooting pains became less frequent. Gradually, she was able to do more and remain on her feet for longer periods. And even before the end of her series of 12 treatments, she went on a special trip to visit family and was able to enjoy herself, travel comfortably, and sleep well. This was a huge improvement from where she had started.
For now, she’s taking a break from treatments to see how well her improvements hold, but said she’ll be back. I told her to make an appointment as soon as the first whisper of the symptoms return and then we can figure out a maintenance schedule to help keep her active.
It is incredible to see the progress patients can make with regular acupuncture, even during chemotherapy. Helping them manage side effects and enjoy life with more ease while facing health challenges is what makes this work so rewarding.
–Megan Rauch, Lac
A few of the other things Megan has been loving treating lately:
- Concussion
- Back Pain During Pregnancy
- Neck & Shoulder Pain
- Wrist Pain
- Stress and Burnout
- Perimenopause Brain Fog
If you’d like to find an appointment with Megan, check out our online scheduler or reach out: 707-527-0868 or thrive@thrive-acupuncture.com.
Your Future Self Will Thank You for Booking Now!
Yup, it’s getting darker earlier, election season is here, and there’s a whole lot of holiday extra coming your way: treats, shopping, celebrations, family visits and obligations.
Our savvy patients are already booking their acupuncture appointments through December! There are some schedule changes around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s, so hop on our online scheduler (or bring your calendar to your next visit) and get yourself the spots you want!
We’d love to help you stay healthy, keep your digestion in check, support your mood, and build some reserves to get through winter so you still have some oomph in the new year!
Here’s to staying healthy and enjoying everything this season has to offer!
Christina and Team Thrive
P.S. Please share this with anyone you think could benefit from any of this info.
