During the summer, the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors is significant, leading many office workers to catch colds, with symptoms like headaches, coughs, and limb weakness, which can be quite uncomfortable. What should you pay attention to after catching a cold? What foods can help you recover faster? Don't worry, we'll provide a detailed explanation below.
Precautions for Office Workers with a Cold
Office workers should not take a cold lightly. It is crucial to avoid using medication indiscriminately, get plenty of rest, and maintain a balanced diet.
Avoid Indiscriminate Use of Medication
Some people, when they catch a cold, go to the pharmacy to buy cold medicine on their own. However, the active ingredients in over-the-counter cold medicines often overlap. If you choose incorrectly and take multiple drugs at the same time, you may overdose on certain ingredients. This not only fails to cure the cold but can also have adverse effects on your body, potentially causing serious damage to kidney and liver function. When selecting a cold medicine, be sure to read the instructions carefully, choose the one that targets your most severe symptoms (such as coughing, runny nose, headache), and just take one type. There is no need to select too many medications.
Avoid Wearing Contact Lenses
Office workers who wear contact lenses should take note! Especially with recent weather changes, it's easy for colds to spread in an enclosed office building. Many cold, cough, and pain relievers contain ingredients like acetaminophen and histamine antagonists, which can cause dryness of the mouth, nose, and eyes. For contact lens wearers whose tear production is already compromised, this can make the situation even worse. Furthermore, frequent nose blowing can introduce bacteria to the lenses. Bacteria can get trapped between the cornea and the lens, easily leading to eye infections. Therefore, eye care experts advise that you should avoid wearing contact lenses when you have a cold to prevent unnecessary strain on your eyes.
Do Not Drink Coffee After Taking Medication
Many people find that after taking cold medicine, they feel tired and unable to concentrate at work. They might resort to strong coffee to stay alert, but this is highly inadvisable. Due to their mechanism of action, most cold medicines contain antihistamines to relieve symptoms like a runny nose and sneezing. The side effects of these drugs include drowsiness and difficulty concentrating. Doctors warn that since cold medicines commonly contain phenylpropanolamine, taking them with coffee that is high in caffeine can cause a sharp increase in blood pressure, which in severe cases can be fatal.
Ensure Ample Rest
Combining medication with a healthy diet and ensuring sufficient sleep can help speed up your recovery.
Pay Attention to Your Diet
Office workers who typically enjoy spicy and greasy foods should note that it is best to stick to a light diet, avoiding the irritation of raw, cold, and spicy foods.
Recommended Home Remedies for Colds
To recover quickly from a cold, it's important to treat the specific type of cold. Here are some recommended home remedies.
Cold Caused by Wind-Cold
Add 5 sections of scallion whites, 3 slices of ginger, and 30 grams of brown sugar to a hot congee or soup. Boil for 10 minutes, then drink it while hot. Cover yourself with a blanket to induce sweating.
Foods to avoid: Cold and cooling foods such as persimmons, crab, chicken, duck, pork, bananas, and watermelon.
Cold Caused by Wind-Heat
Boil 20 grams of honeysuckle, 20 grams of chrysanthemum, and 10 grams of mint. After it comes to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes and add 30 grams of honey. Consume after it cools slightly.
Foods to avoid: Warming and blood-nourishing foods such as longan, jujubes, lychees, lamb, sea cucumber, and soft-shelled turtle.
Summer Heat-Cold
Decoct 20 grams of hyacinth bean and 15 grams of Agastache rugosa in water for 20 minutes, and drink orally three times a day. Alternatively, you can mix watermelon juice and tomato juice and drink them together.
Foods to avoid: Foods like ginger, scallions, brown sugar, as well as raw, cold, and greasy foods that are hard to digest.
Reminder: After catching a cold, drinking plenty of water can help your body recover more quickly.