The Equipment
Welcome to the final installment of our 3-part series, Surviving Sick Season; all the information you need to know to prepare you and your family for the upcoming season of colds, flus, and other illnesses. Nobody wants to be laid up in bed, miserable with head colds, sore throats, or headaches! That’s why I wrote a good amount of information that will be useful to you and your loved ones as you prepare both your immune system and your home supplies for this winter.
Top 5 Essentials
- Home nebulizer
- HIGH quality thermometer
- Humidifier
- Neti Pot & Salts
- Pulse Oximeter
1 A home nebulizer is my #1 recommendation for home equipment. It is the most helpful in breaking up secretions, clearing out mucous, and encouraging wet coughs (which means the body is getting the yucky stuff up and out). This is the most frequently-used treatment in the ER that we use for respiratory illness and you can do it at home!
- It’s important to have a nebulizer that has a mask attachment. It works better for when it is difficult to breathe (instead of placing your lips around a mouthpiece) and for kids too.
- If you have a little itty bitty one, you can remove the mask and let the nebulized air fill their nose from the attachment underneath.
- Use a nebulizer with congestion, or “rattly” sounding breathing.
2I’m old school and still like to use either an Exergen forehead thermometer, or a standard thermometer orally for adults, and under the armpit or rectally for kids. I don’t trust the infrared thermometers yet 😉
- If you choose to get a rectal temp on your little one, make sure to remember that it will register HIGHER than an armpit, oral, or forehead temp.
3 A humidifier is a huge player in fighting respiratory illness. It helps to provide “wet” air to loosen up secretions in dried out and clogged up nasal passageways.
- It took me forever to find a good humidifier that didn’t leak and was user-friendly. It is linked! Place it next to the bed so that as much of it as possible is inhaled while you sleep.
4 I bought a glass neti pot one time…before I was married and had children…and I broke it. So I stick to plastic and it works great! I add 1/4 tsp of salts, sometimes with essential oils infused into them, and clean out my nasal passageways.
- MAKE SURE to use distilled water when utilizing a neti pot!
- PS, neti pots look super weird when you use them 🙂
5 A pulse oximeter brings peace of mind and helps you to know if your oxygen levels are flirting with needing to go to the emergency room. It also provides you a quick read of your heart rate. I will go over appropriate ranges for both oxygen and heart rate below!
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