Tips for preventing a cold, curing hiccups and insomnia
Daree Walker
Everest University Online
Professor Pincumbe
Composition 5002
August 24, 2014
Final

Preventing a cold can be as easy as listening to your body, while curing hiccups and insomnia might require using some unusual techniques. In this essay you will find helpful hints to help you rid a cold or hiccups and how to get some sleep at night. My experiences are based on old wives tales and tricks I have used on myself and I have proof that some of these tricks might work for others. Because I have not suffered a cold in many years, I thought I must be doing something right so I would like to share with you my regiment. Also, I will share what I have learned about how to cure hiccups and what my son and I have done to cure our hiccups. These tips are based mostly on old wives tale and tips from the “Help From Heloise” books by Eloise Bowles. Now my tips for curing insomnia are based on my experiences with the insomniac women in my family, who struggle to sleep at night or find themselves awoken from sleep in the wee hours of the morning. However, I do not have this problem of insomnia. So I became curious of the fact that these ladies were not sleeping at night only because I could not understand what they were going through. Sleep to me is like milk, “it does the body good” and I ensure I get the right amount of sleep. My tips to my family were based on my own sleeping rituals or from what I have read on WebMD. This essay is based on tips I have collected over the years, tips that I standby and I hope this information will help someone to prevent a cold, stop hiccups or to cure insomnia.
I have not had a cold since 2009, I have never had the flu nor have I had a flu vaccine. Some will contribute this to good DNA but I would have to give myself some credit as I have a fool-proof way of preventing or curing a cold. First, I take the right dosage of vitamin C every day. This is the first line of defense, along with vitamin E to help boost my immune system. I also take vitamin B12 complex for mental and physical energy. Secondly, I ensure that I eat a healthy, nutritional diet daily and drink water, water, water. I cannot stress how vital water is to the body and how many overall health benefits it provides. This is what the meaning of the saying, “eat an apple a day will keep the doctor away” if you eat right, you will have less infections and save money because of less doctor visits. So be careful when you diet to ensure that you do not starve your body of the nutrient it needs. Lastly, whenever you feel the first onset of a cold or fatigue, take some over the counter cough medications, drink plenty of water, eat a light diet of grains, protein, fruit and veggies and get proper rest. Listen to your body, learn your body, take care of your body by eating right, exercising, taking your vitamins and getting plenty of rest, and I guarantee you will experience less colds or flu, I know this has worked for me and again, I have not been sick since 2009.

Now curing hiccups might be a little tricky because there are no known cures but I have found several easy tricks that work for me. We have all been told to “drink some water” when you have the hiccups but does that even work? Well, it doesn’t work for me! But alas, I was reading an article some 15 years ago and the article instructed that if you pinch your earlobe for 60 seconds your hiccups will diminish. This trick works! It works because your brain waves will now shift from thinking about the hiccups and will now focus on the pain from the pinch of the earlobes. Which brings me to another trick, when you have hiccups, focus on something else to take your mind off of the hiccups and pull your tongue gently, this will sometimes help as well by calming your voice box from constricting and stop the hiccups. Another trick is to place a teaspoon of sugar on your tongue until it dissolves and then swallow, this trick is pretty handy too. But if you don’t want to try anything, then the hiccups will go away by itself over time. So the next time you get hiccups, pinch your earlobes, or shift your thoughts on something else and tug your tongue or place a teaspoon of sugar on your tongue, unconventional yes, but they work to cure your hiccups.
Enough women in my family suffer from lack of sleep so much so I decided I wanted to help them out by advising them on how to get a proper night’s sleep. My aunts, my mom, my grandmother and some of my cousins all suffer from insomnia but I don’t. I am not sure if my mother just instilled good sleeping habits in me at a young age but my body is so trained that if I do not get the proper hours of sleep, my body will alert me. This is an honest admission that I had no idea that there is a condition where people are restless at night and could not sleep. It was not until my family members would complain about this and admit that they would read or watch television at 2am because of insomnia. I actually thought that they were stretching the truth a little bit. However, this is when I first learned about insomnia. I also learned that these women in my family were not resting before they went to bed and they were doing activities too late where their bodies were confused as to whether to shut down for the day or gear up for the second day. The ladies were actually experiencing their second winds. I suggested to the ladies to try my tips for one week and if it didn’t work that I would take them out to dinner. I wagered my two aunts, my grandmother and my mom, to try my techniques for one week. First, as with a cold, you have to get the proper nutrients in your body because often times your body reacts to what nutrients it might be missing. For instance, a person may crave French fries but in actuality the body might just need the potassium from the potatoes. Your body is pretty smart and if you get to know it better, you will learn how to keep it healthy. So first, you have to eat right. I then suggested that they relaxed before going to bed. Sit down after work, eat a nice meal and look at T.V., or read a book or take a walk, way before bed time to signal to your brain that you are off work mode and now in relaxation mode. Take a warm bath, play some soft music but don’t do anything over stimulating, like internet surfing or talking on the phone with a friend, these are brain stimulators. The idea is to prepare yourself for total relaxation. And whatever you do, remove the T.V., radio and any nightlights you may have in your bedroom that will distract you from sleeping. Sounds and lights will only keep your mind wandering (brain stimulators) instead you should be preparing yourself for sleep in a quiet and dark room. I ended up taking one of the ladies out to eat because my aunt said that none of the tricks worked for her, which was okay. My other aunt found that she actually had sleep apnea so that was preventing her from sleeping well and my mom agreed that cutting off the T.V. and taking that evening walked, actually helped her to sleep better. These tips might seem typical but for someone who has insomnia these tips might be crucial in order to have a healthier life and to get much needed rest. Because lack of sleep can cause so many health issues and shorten your lifespan, I was pleased that the ladies in my family actually took the steps to change their sleeping habits or to go to the doctor to find out if there were underlining issues. So for a healthier you, a goodnight’s rest might be the cure.
My conclusion is that you can prevent a cold if you get the proper nutrients in your body by eating right, exercising and taking vitamins, and it is a proven fact that you will boost your immune system to have a healthier you. By trying one of the three techniques listed for curing hiccups might seem unconventional and painful but the tips will come in handy when your hiccups will just not go away by drinking a cold glass of water. Insomnia might be a tougher battle to fight but if you do not have an underlining medical condition your insomnia could simply be because you are not properly preparing yourself for sleep. If you totally emerge yourself into relaxation before going to bed and sleep in a distraction free bedroom, you will get some rest. I am no doctor but I do know my tips have helped me to prevent colds, cure my hiccups and to fight insomnia so I know these tips will work for you.