Everyone gets a cold and can be miserable, but for most colds, a trip to the doctor won’t help. You basically have to let it run its course, but that doesn’t mean you have to be miserable all the time. There are many over-the-counter treatments and Americans spend billions on them, but you may already have everything you need to help you at home. I will review some of the most common home remedies to alleviate the effects of cold symptoms.
The first home remedy may be the most offered and the most ignored. Drink plenty of water. When you’re sick, your taste buds are dull anyway, so go ahead and drink plain water. This can help thin mucus, which can help you get rid of it and reduce swelling in your mucous membranes. In addition to this, some of the symptoms you are experiencing may not be from a cold but from dehydration.
Many people drink caffeinated or alcoholic beverages to relieve a sore throat without realizing that the caffeine and/or alcohol will help dehydrate them. For the most part, it would be best to avoid or minimize alcohol (although it can clear mucus fast!) and avoid caffeine altogether. Many people really like hot tea with lemon. Try just a little hot water with lemon. It probably tastes almost the same because your taste buds don’t work properly when you have a cold. If you’re determined to drink tea, there’s an easy way to drastically decrease the amount of caffeine. Steep the tea for a few seconds and then pour out the water, drink fresh water and steep the tea again. Most of the caffeine in the tea leaches out of the leaves in the first few seconds. This won’t eliminate caffeine, but it can limit it. Lemon can help ease the discomfort of a sore throat and also helps to expel mucus.
Bay leaves can help in two ways. You can boil them in tea or by themselves to make a tea or you can boil several of them to make a warm pack to put on your chest. To make the tea, pluck a fresh leaf or break up a dried leaf and boil it with water. To make the hot compress, take several sheets, rip or tear them apart, place them in a towel, and soak the towel in hot water. Make sure the water is not hot enough to cause a burn. Place the warm cloth on your chest and as it cools, reheat it, being very careful not to heat it enough to cause a burn.
The next home remedy is more home than remedy. Call to say you are sick! You are sick and the job you have can be handled by others who will appreciate you not sharing your cold with them. While you’re home, get some more rest. Read a book, take a few naps, relax. When you’re sick, it’s harder to “sleep through the night” because of your symptoms. With symptoms waking you up, you may need a few naps to help you get the rest you need.
Stay comfortable. If this means staying in bed or lying on the couch, cover yourself with a blanket or turn on a fan. Remember that you are not “curing” the disease, you are only fighting the symptoms that make you feel miserable. The more comfortable you are, the better you’ll feel, helping you maintain a positive attitude, which some studies show can help your immune system.
Humidifiers or vaporizers can help you feel more comfortable. If you don’t have one, you can boil some water, place a towel over your head, and place your head over the steam. If you choose the latter, be careful not to burn yourself, it’s boiling water! Many vaporizers will allow you to add other things like peppermint, eucalyptus, or other menthol oils to help you breathe easier. Standing in a hot shower will have a similar effect and can feel good. Remember we’re just trying to make ourselves feel better while this runs its course.
Try gargling with warm salt water. This can help relieve a sore throat and remove some of the mucus that is irritating the mucous membranes. Be sure to expel water and mucus after gargling. Only use about a teaspoon of salt per glass. If you don’t use enough salt, the effectiveness may decrease, but if you use too much salt, it could lead to further irritation of the throat lining.
Oddly enough, coughing and nose blowing are actually remedies as well as symptoms. It will do this naturally, but it’s hard to resist the urge to use medication to relieve these symptoms. Try to remember that this is your body’s natural way of getting rid of the infection and clearing your passageways to restore breathing. If you need the medicine to get some rest or just feel miserable, go ahead and take the medicine, but try to find a balance between the two. If your cough is dry and doesn’t produce phlegm, use cough-suppressing medicine.
Almonds are considered by some to be one of the “superfoods.” Its benefits for respiratory diseases have been known for a long time. They are very rich in vitamins and minerals that your body needs to replenish during illness. They can also help clear your throat when you swallow.
Anyway, you can get onions that will help you. Onions will help your body expel mucus. If you like onions, eat them raw or cooked, their benefit will be the same. If you just can’t stand the taste of onions, here are a couple of ways to reap the same benefits. Chop the onion very small or use a food processor to make very small pieces. If you cook them with other ingredients, you may not be able to tell that the onion is present. Especially in soups, onions can fade if cooked long enough. The onion is gone but the benefits remain. You can also make your own “onion medicine”. Slice an onion, cover it with honey and let it sit for a long time (overnight would work fine). Then remove the onion and take a teaspoon of honey 4 times a day either directly or in hot tea or water. The onion flavor will not be present but again the benefits will remain.
There are many more home remedies. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but rather a starting point to help you think more in terms of using home remedies. It is important to remember that over-the-counter medications may relieve symptoms, but they increase the duration of the illness. These remedies are usually expensive and may not be more effective (and in some cases less effective) than their home remedy counterpart.