What Doctors Really Mean When They Suggest “Bed Rest”
When you get the flu or cold, doctors usually advise you to stay at home in bed. This may not always be taken literally, but Medical Director Daniel Nades explains what you should do in a conversation with The Wall Street Journal.
Bed rest is for two things: to help you get better and to prevent other people from infecting you. For example, if you are sick and trying to exercise, it can negatively affect your recovery time because your body releases stress hormones that interfere with the function of the white blood cells trying to heal you. So why bed rest? Neides explains:
“One of the many reasons we recommend ‘bed rest’ is that when you are lying down, the blood flow should not work against gravity,” he adds. “But any position in which you are calm and inactive will do …”
It seems quite obvious when you leave the doctor’s office, but it is good to know the reasons for this general recommendation. As for when you should get out of bed and get back to normal, Nides gives some tips:
“One thing I say to patients is that every day you get an infection, it takes three days to recover,” adds Dr. Neides. “So if you are out of action for two weeks, it will take you six weeks to truly return to your original energy level.”
Ways to get back to health include minimizing exposure, maintaining a balanced diet and hydration, and not aggravating the disease by trying to maintain normal activity. All this leads to the fact that I stay at home and do little.
So, the next time you have the flu, get well slowly, take a bed rest weekend, and get back into your daily routine.
Fighting The Flu: When To Stay At Home And In Bed | Wall Street Magazine