On Boogers

Nathan’s immune system isn’t working too well right now, which keeps us on high alert. So today I thought I’d write about some of the things I use when Nathan is sick or starting to get sick.

Our worst enemy is boogers. Since Nathan can’t blow his nose or cough them out, the boogers stay in his system and perpetuate the infection, eventually causing more problems including bronchitis, ear, and sinus infections. So every time he gets sick, my #1 goal is to get rid of those boogers. I’ve tried a lot of things and by now I have what I believe is the very best booger removal system out there:

This isn’t alternative medicine. It was given to us by Nathan’s pediatrician. We get ours from CVS. They sell it at walmart, walgreens, CVS – pretty much any pharmacy. And it is AMAZING for getting rid of all of the mucus stuck at the top of the nasal passageways all the way to the very back and to the throat.

Here’s how you do it. Add one packet of the salt solution that it comes with. Make sure the water is pretty warm – not hot enough to burn the inside of your hand, but pretty warm. Then hold the child’s head slightly leaning forward and to one side (depending on what side you’re cleaning). Squirt really hard until you see the liquid coming out of the other nostril. And enjoy as you watch the flow of boogers!

Yes, it’s pretty uncomfortable. Yes, it’s pretty hard to do on kids that have head control. Yes, they hate it. But it is SOOO helpful. We even used it with Belle when she was really sick and it helped her tremendously. In fact a day after we started using it she was pretty much back to normal. But I will say, it took one adult holding her head with all of their strength to keep her still enough to do it, and it made her hysterical, but, it was worth it to get her healthy again.

Next on my toolkit is Tea Tree Therapy:

You can get it at Whole Foods or order it online. It is AMAZING to relieve congestion. I rub it on Nathan’s chest and upper back, on his throat, even a little bit on his sinus and just under his nose. It burns a little bit but, once again, the burn is worth it as it helps him tremendously.

And here’s a bonus about this oil. One day my hand was hurting very badly and all I had handy was the oil, so I put some on the area where it hurt. Lo and behold, the pain went away! I use it often on areas of inflammation and it seems to work wonder. My next experiment will be to massage Nathan’s arms and legs with it to see if it helps with his spasticity. I will let you know how it goes!

Finally, I use some homeopathic remedies if I feel he still needs a boost. I get them all at Whole Foods. My favorite right now is:

It’s called Alpha CF, and they have an adult and a baby version. I give it to Nathan every 30 minutes if he is on the verge of getting sick or running fevers, then every hour when he gets better, then every few hours as he improves. It works wonders.

I also give him as much Emergen-C as we can get into him. Again, Emergen-C can be found anywhere and it is a wonderful way of helping to strengthen his immune system to avoid illness. Once he is sick then it helps speed up recovery but doesn’t help to manage symptoms.

Right now this is my golden combination and is really helping us to keep Nathan’s illnesses from escalating. Unfortunately none of this are improving his immune system, they just prevent him from getting worse. I just though I’d share as we head into flu and cold season.

Comments

  1. Do you think Nathan swallows any of the sinus rinse? I’ve thought about trying it for Cody but he would definately aspirate it if any went down his throat.

    Loved your Thanksgiving post too. So true!

    Laura G

  2. I have the neil med thing- gross but effective.

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