The Cold and Flu Battle

Like much of the nation, the flu has struck numerous people in my immediate circles.

That prompted the postponement of a family birthday party a week, and a similar delay for another get-together for a game night.

Both delays occurred the same week a story appeared in our local newspaper about the wave of flu cases filling hospital emergency rooms.

This all made me appreciate the timeliness of my latest book editing project, 21 Secret Remedies for Colds and Flu, by Siloam Press, an imprint of Charisma House Publishers.

Backing into Progress

However, my real connection with this book doesn’t come by way of the cold and flu connection as much as my back.

After trying to do too much at the park in the summer of 2013, I wound up in nearly five months of physical therapy and visits to a chiropractor.

Along the way I also got several massages from our youngest daughter, a massage therapist and nutritionist. Yet the pain lingered, so badly that when I finally could resume an exercise routine with walking, my steps were halting and slow.

That is, until I worked on 21 Remedies and came to the chapter on aromatherapy and essential oils. When I read a note from a doctor about medical studies proving the effectiveness of these oils, I thought it might be wise to pay attention.

Our youngest daughter had already given a mixture of three oils to my wife for her back pain. I insisted my wife start putting it on my back that night around 9 p.m. so I wouldn’t get too tired later in the evening and forget to do it.

Immediate Improvement

Within a week, presto! I felt much, much better. When I told our daughter about the progress, she replied that I could put some on in the morning as well. So I added an 8 a.m. “oiling” to my schedule. Five months later, I generally only do one morning application per day, and some days even forget.

Had someone told me a year ago that I would feel this good physically, I might have considered the person a purveyor of “happy talk.” You know, the guys who proclaim things like, “You’ve got to be sick and tired of being sick and tired” or “When life hands you a lemon, you’ve got to make lemonade.”

My wife has a small box filled with various kinds of oils and frequently runs a diffuser to fill the air with healthy aromas and remove germs from the atmosphere.

While most of my use has been restricted to my back, a couple times when I had sneezing fits, I rubbed peppermint oil on my forehead to stop them.

Encountering Other Users

While this isn’t any kind of scientific claim, I also talk with people regularly who are big believers in essential oils. The latest encounter occurred last week during a funeral visitation for the mother-in-law of an old friend.

After I described my positive experience, he talked about his daughter rubbing an oil on the feet of her two hyperactive pre-schoolers, and how that immediately calmed them down.

“Whenever we go on the road, my wife carries along her bag full of oils,” he said, chuckling.

For anyone reading these words, and you are battling some kind of dreaded virus, these oils may be worth additional investigation.