DIY Treatment for Mild COVID-19 Symptoms

Have you been having fever, dry cough, runny nose, sore throat, loss of smell or loss or taste? If you are concerned that you might have COVID-19 and don't want to get tested or go to a hospital, then try these suggestions by Dr Sandhya Ramanathan, a general practitioner in Auckland, New Zealand. These are low-tech treatments that can save you from expensive medical costs and maybe even prevent you from getting worse from tests or exposure to sick people in a hospital or clinic.



Below is an executive summary of her suggestions from her 18-minute video


Boost and prime your immune system

  • Eat healthy food, especially vegetables and fruit
  • Don't eat processed food or alcohol
  • Stay well-hydrated with water
  • Stay calm
  • Sleep 8 hours each day
  • Take Zinc, Vitamin D and Vitamin C supplements
  • (Not mentioned) Eat garlic and drink ginger tea

Reduce your viral mode

  • When outside, wear a mask and glasses (if possible)
  • Rinse your mouth with salt water or betadine mouth wash.
  • Rinse your nose with saline nasal spray up each nostril or drop a few drops of diluted betadine concentrate into each nostril twice a day
  • Better: Make a homemade solution of water and half a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda and half a teaspoon of salt and a few drops of betadyne concentrate, boil them all together and then squirt the cooled solution into one nostril and let it come out the other nostril.
  • ** Steam inhalation ** (especially for reduced sense of smell and coughing)
    1. Put around 1 tablespoon of Vicks VapoRub in a bowl of boiled water.
    2. Put your head over the bowl and cover your head with a towel.
    3. Breathe the vapor through the nose for 10 minutes.
    4. Do this twice a day until the cough stops.

Do breathing exercises

Breathing exercises can simulate a ventilator and open up airways by blowing out against resistance

  • Blow up a balloon (ideally in only three breathes)
  • Blow bubbles through a straw in water (good alternative for elderly people)
  • Check oxygen saturation, possible with checking device
  • Lie on your stomach when sleeping or resting in bed so your lungs can expand better.
  • Don't lie on your back, if possible.