Thanks Jesus, Feeling Much Better!

~or~

Hydrogen Peroxide for Relief from Flu & Cold Symptoms

I can't believe I forgot about putting hydrogen peroxide in my ears when I got sick last week. I finally did it last night and started feeling better immediately, which will be no surprise to those who have done it before.

Consider: Your eyes, nose, and mouth all have pretty good defenses against disease vectors. What do you have in your ears? Okay, wax, but you just cleaned them all out with a Q-tip, now what do you have? Nothing. Bare skin that you are certain not to clean anytime soon. I can't remember where I saw it, but (in addition to the work referred to in the above link) I heard of a Russian study that showed it takes an order of magnitude (or two) fewer germs to get you sick via the ears than either the eyes or the nose.

So put enough H2O2 into your ear (you have to hold your head 90 degrees sideways, duh) and hang out for a few minutes until it stops bubbling. Drain it onto a tissue and repeat with the other ear. If you have a sick child, this is something to do every few hours - especially with a baby who likes to stick her fingers in your ears. If you don't notice any bubbling action after 30-60 seconds, go ahead and drain it; you will know when it is bubbling (unless you are deaf).

2 caveats: Don't if you have punctured eardrums, and if you have very thick ear wax, you might want to let it soak in baby or olive oil for a few minutes (to soften the wax) first, but otherwise this therapy is pretty much risk-free.