Rain rain go away....

Dr Meghna Shah, Dean of 'the other song' talks about how to tackle monsoon ailments...

When the first drops of rain fall on the ground, it brings a relief from the heat and we heave a sigh of relief.

But monsoon also bring with it food and water contamination and the resultant illnesses.

Monsoon sees a rise in infections with fever, colds, cough, diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid, malaria, dengue, pneumonia among others.

Let us simply list out infections and how to tackle them...

Common cold: 

Obviously most common, symptomised by runny nose, constant sneezing, headache, and recurrent sore throat.

How to avoid cold...

·    Wash your hands regularly.

·    Do not share towels and handkerchiefs.

·    Cover your mouth when you sneeze.

·    Do not get wet in the rain.

·    Avoid cold foods.

·   Gargles, steam inhalations and a simple brew of mint, ginger, basil and lemon grass works best along with medication.

Typhoid: If you have fever, severe abdominal pain, headache with diarrhoea or constipation, check for typhoid. Eat clean and hygienic food. Drink bottled water.

Malaria: Water logging results in more mosquito breeding and that brings Malaria.  Fever, shivering, muscle pain and weakness are symptoms of Malaria.

Dengue: Dengue Fever, intense headache, muscle pain, vomiting, tastelessness, weakness, dry tongue, constipation, puffiness on face and a characteristic skin rash symptomises dengue.

To avoid both Malaria and Dengue, keep away conditions that breed mosquitoes. Use a mosquito net or repellent for safety.

Hepatitis A and E: Spread through fecal-oral method, that is ingestion of contaminated food and water, this is a short-term (acute) infection. Also, avoid street food and water.

Allergic asthma, Amoebiasis, Fungal infections, Conjunctivitis, tonsillitis, ear ache, pneumonia, diarrhoea, dysentery, vomiting, Gastro enteritis are other few infections that can be kept at bay with hygienic food and water.

During monsoons, go for Ginger and herbal teas, warm water, coconut water helps best.

As a rule, avoid roadside food and water.

Wash hands frequently.

Homeopathy for monsoons

1. Curative: any and all forms of infections are very much curable with homeopathic medicines. All you need to do is to contact your homeopathy doctor and take the right homeopathic medicines. 

2. Preventive: Diseases like Chikungunya, Dengue and Malaria are know to spread fast. If you live in a locality where people have been affected with these illnesses, your homeopathy doctor will give you a preventive line of treatment as and when needed.

3. Developing long term immunity: If you are on regular homeopathic medications, you are less likely to fall prey to monsoon illnesses as homeopathy also helps in improving and maintaining good immunity.