Although alternative medicine is not often regulated by the government, it offers new avenues that may not be explored by conventional medicine. Some people have obtained relief from difficult ailments by utilizing a wide variety of holistic medicines. The flu is one of those ailments whose symptoms prove difficult to treat with conventional remedies.

While there are many medications that work wonders against the flu and its symptoms, there is no quick cure. By keeping informed about alternative treatments, and perhaps trying a few, you may find something that works well. If enough people find alternative treatments that relieve them of their ailments, eventually contemporary medicine will embrace these treatments; thus making them more available to others.

Acupuncture is the perfect example of a treatment that has gone from being considered quackery to a position where its practitioners are licensed, and insurance carriers will pay for treatments. The related form, acupressure (which does not use needles), is fast gaining ground as a viable means of treating a wide variety of symptoms. While the flu cannot be cured by acupressure, its symptoms can be alleviated. Below are examples of some acupressure points that can help relieve flu symptoms. Use your fingertips to apply pressure to the following areas for three minutes.

The point where the bridge of your nose meets the ridge of your eyebrows. This point relieves itchy eyes and nasal congestion.

The bottom of either the right or left cheekbone, directly under the pupil. It serves the same function as the first point.

The hollows at the base of the skull, two inches apart from either side of the spine. This relieves eye strain and headaches.

Massaging the feet increases blood circulation, thus providing for faster healing.

Aromatherapy is also gaining attention as a viable form of therapy. Many oils are known to have the capacity to boost the body's immune system, and thus can be used as preventative measures. At the beginning of the flu season, you might want to try a drop of tea tree oil mixed with lemon and water and gargle each day. This gargle may help you fend off the flu virus altogether. If you begin to notice symptoms of the flu, you might want to try a few oils known to boost your immune system.

Essential oils like basil, peppermint, eucalyptus, and pine help to relive nasal congestion. These should be taken through steam inhalation. Basil and pine can also be used to relieve chest congestion, along with tea tree oil. These oils clear up mucus, easing breathing patterns. These oils can be rubbed over the chest or inhaled.

Muscle aches can be alleviated by tea tree oil, myrrh, and elemi. Pine can also help. These oils should be used in a bath. If you have a fever, try a lukewarm bath. If you have the chills, have a hot bath.

Hydrotherapy or promoting sweats went out of usage in conventional medicine many decades ago. At the time it was dismissed right along with leeches, and many other treatments. Whether or not hydrotherapy was truly useless, or even harmful, depends a great deal on whether or not the physicians of yore diagnosed correctly and employed this therapy correctly. Unfortunately we will never know the answer to that, as these doctors did not have the diagnostic tools that are available today. Indigenous people the world over have successfully used sweats for thousands of years. Perhaps hydrotherapy will make a comeback in conventional medicine, much as leeches are being reconsidered for their usefulness on some occasions.

When you have the flu, it is important to keep the feet warm at all times. It is no secret that a lower body temperature makes the body less resistant to viruses and bacteria. Thus, every effort must be made to keep warm. Many people have found their flu symptoms being alleviated by promoting sweat. Hot baths, hot foot-baths, and other heat therapies can do wonders. Among other thing, increased temperature at appropriate intervals increases circulation. Increased circulation translates to more white blood cells moving through infected areas, thus allowing them to get at and destroy the flu virus particles faster.

By trying these alternative cures, you just might discover ways to fight the flu faster and more easily. While these remedies may not be endorsed by practitioners of conventional medicine, discussing these alternatives with your physician can help him/her see that there are other options available. If they see it works, they too, will use it.