During your time in the US, you may find yourself in a situation where you suffer from a minor illness, such as a cold or upset stomach. We understand how inconvenient these can be for students – especially during the months of the semester when you’re trying to focus on your studies.
You may be tempted to go to a doctor to seek treatment but as many of our articles cover, healthcare is expensive in the US. Even a general doctors visit can cost you up to $419 on average. Insurance can help lower these costs, but you will generally still have to pay for at least some of the costs on your own. Treatment for many minor illnesses can often be taken into your hands for little to no cost. Read below for more information on these treatments.
General Ways To Treat Yourself When Sick
The best way to prevent illnesses is to stay proactive and make sure your taking care of yourself even when you aren’t sick. This may be easy to neglect during the school year but health should always be a main priority. The best ways to do this include:
- Staying physically active for 30 minutes most days of the week
- Sleeping 7-8 hours per night and perform stress reducing activities during the day
- Drinking a sufficient amount of water and eat a balanced diet including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins while minimizing intake of sugars, fats and processed foods
- Staying up to date on vaccinations and immunizations
- Maintaining your vitamin intake, especially vitamins C and D
However, despite your best efforts, you may still find yourself sick. This is especially common during the winter, as cold weather often has adverse effects on your immune system’s ability to fight off illness.
If you are sick, the best way to aid your recovery is to make sure you rest to minimize the exertion of energy and consume a lot of liquids. For many illnesses, the body will need time to rid itself of the virus/bacteria and let it run its course, so you will need to stay patient and find the best ways to cope with the symptoms.
To better assist you, here are some lesser-known home remedies you can try for different symptoms you may face:
- Gargling warm salt water has proven to be effective in calming cold symptoms, especially sore throat and nasal congestion.
- If you have a cough, ingest a teaspoon of honey or add it to a cup of warm lemon water. It has been shown to soothe your throat and decrease the cough reflex.
- Peppermint helps upset stomach/indigestion. Bite down on some raw peppermint if you have it or pop in a peppermint hard candy.
- If nauseous, place pressure on the tendons on the inside of the wrist (same side as your palm). If you rub this area for 2-3 minutes with the fingers on your opposite hand, it can help aid in reducing nausea.
- Ginger root has many beneficial compounds that you can use to help treat headaches, cold symptoms, upset symptoms, etc.
Over-The-Counter Drugs You Can Use
If you are unfamiliar, there are many drugs/medications that are approved to be sold “over-the-counter” in the US, so you can go to a local pharmacy and pick these up without needing a prescription. In most pharmacies, you’ll see most of these available in a nearby aisle or right in front of the pharmacy desk.
Here are the drugs you should use depending on your illness
- Runny nose/congestion/allergies
- Decongestants
- Help decrease swelling in the nose caused by viral illness, which causes congestion and increased mucus production
- Brands: Sudafed, Benylin, Claritin, Nasal sprays (Flonase, Mucniex)
- Antihistamines
- Help treat allergy symptoms by reducing histamines – which are chemicals produced by things such as pollen, ragweed, pet hair, etc.
- Brands include: Allegra, Benadryl, Zyrtec
- Decongestants
- Fever/sore throat/body aches
- Acetaminophen
- Used to treat mild to moderate pain (from headaches, menstrual periods, toothaches, backaches, fevers, osteoarthritis, or cold/flu aches and pains)
- Brands: Tylenol, Panadol
- Ibuprofen
- Reduces inflammation which causes mild to moderate pain
- Brands: Advil, Motrin
- Aspirin
- Brands: Bayer, Aspirtab, Ecotrin
- Acetaminophen
- Chronic cough
- Antitussives
- Help reduce the urge to cough by acting on receptors in the brain
- Brands: Robitussin, Delsym, Dexalone
- Expectorants
- Help decrease thickness of mucus to assist you in coughing it up
- Brands: Mucinex, Robistussin Chest Congestion
- Antitussives
- Stomach issues
- Best OTC drugs dependent on symptoms:
- For upset stomach – Mylanta, Tums, Pepto Bismol
- For heartburn – Pepcid, Nexium
- For diarrhea – Imodium, Kaopectate
- For nausea – Dramamine
- Best OTC drugs dependent on symptoms:
When Should You See A Doctor?
For minor illnesses, it often isn’t worth it to see a doctor, as they will most likely suggest the same over the counter drugs included in this article. As long as you are continuing to see progress and feel better day by day, then you should be good to keep treating yourself on your own.
You should begin to consider seeing a doctor in the following scenarios:
- Symptoms that worsen or fail to improve for several days
- Fever greater than 101.3 F (38.5 C) lasting more than three days
- Shortness of breath or chest pain
- Severe sore throat, headache or sinus pain
- Pain swallowing
- Cough that doesn’t go away for weeks
In cases like these, it may indicate a more serious illness that would require testing or supervision to accurately diagnose, such as whooping cough, tonsilitis, or asthma. For students, it would be best to try to visit your school’s student health center or make an appointment with a primary care provider.
If you are having the symptoms above, you should try to avoid visiting the emergency room unless you are having life threatening symptoms, as emergency room costs are several times more expensive than general doctors visits.
If you’re looking for an insurance which will keep you covered in the event you need to see a doctor, feel free to look into our plans with ISO Student Health Insurance.
