by Peter Francis Cunneen, MATCM
Managing an active infection
See our other blogs in this series for strengthening your immunity to prevent infection. Contact your public health Covid-19 hotline if you have symptoms and suspect an attack.
The advice below can be used additionally to medical treatment for managing your infection - lessoning its severity and duration. But, if you can take corrective action at the very first sign of an infection you have an opportunity to not let it ever become established. This might mean:
A good nap. Perhaps you are feeling a little extra tired with no obvious cause. Ask yourself - is your head a little warm, do you have a slight tickle in your throat or feel achy in your neck, head or upper body? This certainly could be the start of something, so its wise to listen to your body and rest. The extra energy saved maybe just what your immune system needed.
Eating light. Over-eating or eating rich, fatty, deep-fried foods, dairy, red meat, alcohol, sugar & sweets is placing a burden on your system which responds by redirecting its energy for digestion and therefore with less to allocate for immune response. Choose chicken soup - not steak; steamed vegetables – not fried; peppermint – not sugar. Especially good for cough – steamed cabbage, steamed pear; for phlegm obstructing the lung – organic citrus peel, radishes and seaweed; to clear head & relieve sore throat – mint; aid immunity, fight off virus – mushrooms, bitter melon. And drink plenty of fluids as a fever dries you out.
Taking natural herbs. Forsythia, honeysuckle, Echinacea, peppermint, and fresh ginger root are a few of many herbal substances specifically used at the onset of an infection. Depending on your symptoms, constitution and medical history a mix of these substances would be composed into an herbal medicine selected for your current situation and then adjusted as necessary (contact us for assistance). For those who suffer pneumonia, it is strongly advisable to take a different herbal tonic remedy during a period of one-three months to support a full recovery. Ignoring this step may leave one in a vulnerable condition and negatively affect one’s future lung functioning, immunity and constitutional strength.
Acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture, cupping and massage, rightly applied, can boost immunity, reduce a fever, soothe a cough, improve respiratory functioning. The severity of the case determines the frequency of treatment needed. Currently during the pandemic, we are limited to self-treatment. Look for our video to be posted soon on Self-massage for Immunity.
Performing Qigong. To build immunity and prevent infection, we recommend daily practice of the Hungry Tiger (Qigong for the Lungs I video, category Qigong). During any cold, flu or viral attack, avoid excess activity, as you don’t want to tire yourself. Dragon Dance (Qigong for the Lungs III video, category Qigong) is recommended at this time; an excellent moderate-intensity Qigong exercise that opens the pores to expel uninvited pathogens. (It also stimulates fatty metabolism as an effective part of a natural weight loss program). To reduce cough and diminish phlegm congesting in the lungs, you can use Water and Fire Meet (Qigong for the Lungs II video, category Qigong) to regulate the energy flow in the chest. If your infection goes deep in the lungs, it may become difficult to breathe. In this case you need to work on opening the chest and strengthening the lungs with Great Bird Spreads its Wings (Qigong for the Lungs II video, category Qigong). These exercises can be found in the most useful book by Dr Mao Shing Ni - Secrets of Self-Healing. We are currently preparing video materials for all these Qigong exercises. We hope you will take advantage of these treasures from our ancestral experts in natural healing.
My next blog on Nutrition for a Strong Immunityand our videos will follow soon!