Some cures for a stuffy nose and a sore throat

As an instructor, I can't afford to get sick or else I'd fall behind in giving my lectures which have been carefully scheduled throughout the semester. (My apologies if that sounds like the beginning of a tv advertisement based on actual users' testimonies.) Just late the other day I was starting a cold and sore throat (probably due to the heat) and was practically feeling terrible by late last night as I went to bed with the dreadful thought of having to miss a few more classes so late in the semester with little time to hold make-up classes. But beginning this morning I promptly began to take a few home remedies which have proven most effective time and again. So now that I'm feeling so much better I thought I'd share with you these home remedies that I take to prevent a stuffy nose and an itchy throat from developing into a full-blown cold:

• At the first sign of a cold (the sniffles), I sometimes do some steam inhalation: I fill a small bowl or tabo with tap water and set the water to a boil using my portable water heater. Or else, I put some water into a small sauce pan and heat the water to a boil on the stove. At this point, you've got steam rising which I inhale while placing a towel over my head to keep the steam in. Sometimes I would put in a drop or two of White Flower or Lion Tiger oil in to the water as well. (We would put in a small teaspoonful of Vicks Vaporub ointment in the good ol' days.) This is really very effective for unclogging a stuffy nose or stopping a runny nose. I found out though that this is only works in tropical climates where you do get a lot of steam because of the humidity. I was dismayed to find that I couldn't get any steam at all when I tried to do some steam inhalation while I was in the US during winter.
• A good way to sooth an itchy throat is to drink some ginger tea or salabat. I usually drink two or three cups in a day and I often feel much better afterwards. For a better effect, I sometimes mix in one or two tablespoonsful of honey and some orange or pineapple or calamansi juice (the latter is the most effective). Some lime juice or lemon juice should do as well. Unfortunately some people won't take to the taste of ginger very well but for those who do give it a try I suppose it will be like eating some Halls honey-lemon candy.
• Then my latest discovery is Pei Pa Koa candy. (The name almost sounds like how we would refer to an origami bovine.) I used to see my roommate in Singapore drink the syrup form of this Chinese herbal medicine and she swears that it helps relieve a sore and itchy throat, if not completely cure a cough. My mother discovered that a local supermarket sold bags of the candy and bought one some months ago to try. I was starting a cough at that time and found that it is indeed effective, probably safer than taking the regular cough lozenge from the drugstore once in a while since the candy is made from all natural ingredients. (I'm one of those who believe in resorting to all-natural cures and would rather not bombard my body with drugs and manmade chemicals at the first sign of illness.)