Cold or running nose is such an irritating disease which can ruin our day. Severe cold may lead to headache, rising body temperature, scratchy throat and many others. Try one of these methods when you are hit with cold.
1. Inhale steam
This is the best, easy and effective method which you can try at home. This will ease your congestion and drippy nose. Take a pot of boiling water; now hold your head over the pot so that you can breathe the steam through your nose. Care must be taken for not to burn your nose. You can also use a humidifier, or take a hot shower with the door closed which will help to ease congestion.
2. Blow your nose often
It is very important to blow your nose regularly rather than sniffing the mucus back. Don’t blow it hard, because this may cause earache by carrying germ contained phlegm back into the ear passages. Gentle way is to press a finger over one nostril while you blow gently to clear the other.
3. Use saline nasal spray
Make some saltwater and spray it to your nose or rinse to irrigate your nose. It will help in breaking nasal congestion and also in removing virus particles and bacteria from the nose.
4. Gargle with warm saltwater
Take half teaspoon salt and mix it in 8 ounces of warm water. Now gargle with this solution which will help in moistening your scratchy throat. Do it four times daily for better result.
5. Take hot liquids
It prevents dehydration and helps in relieving nasal congestion. If you are so irritated with the cold and you can’t sleep at night, then try a hot toddy, which is an age old remedy.
Or
Make a cup of hot herbal tea and add one teaspoon of honey and one small shot of whiskey or bourbon if you want. Remember too much alcohol inflames the membranes and is counterproductive.
6. Take a steamy shower
Steamy shower will help to relax you and it will moisturize your nasal passages also.
7. Take plenty of fluids
This will help to break up your congestion and will also prevent dehydration. It will keep your throat moist. Drink 8 to 10 ounce glasses of water daily. Try to include more fluids in your diet. Don’t take drinks like cola, coffee and other caffeine drinks because that may dehydrate you.
8. Stay warm and rested
This will give you more energy and immunity to battle with cold. Try to remain under a blanket to stay warm if you need.
9. Apply hot packs
Hot packs are readily available at a drugstore. Grab one and apply it to your congested sinuses.
10. Sleep tightly with an extra pillow under your head
This will help to relieve congested nasal passages.
Medicines may not work for everyone. Try any of these methods to get relieved from cold rather than gulping too many medicines. This works for sure!!
Some foods are good to have during cold. These also help you in fighting the cold and flu. Take a look at them:
1. Ginger for treating cold
Cut raw ginger in thin slices and add them in boiling water. Drink this water after it is cooler. This keeps your cold away and also gives relief from nauseating feel.
2. Honey and lemon
Make some tea and then add a few drops of honey and lemon. Honey helps in suppressing cough and lemon eases the soreness in the throat. Antibacterial honey reduces symptom of cold if taken at night time. This helps in sound sleep if you are disturbed with cough at bedtime.
3. Garlic as food supplement
This is a good way to keep the cold away from your body. Garlic has properties that help in blocking the enzymes that help in infections. Keep this food while planning your diet in the cold season. This helps you remain fit.
4. Red onion soup
The person suffering from flu or symptoms of cold can eat a lot of soup made from red onion. This is prepared by slicing the red onion horizontally. Put some slices in a bowl and then pour honey into it. Cover the container for 15 hours. After this time you will find a syrupy liquid that is good for cold. Drink some of this syrup throughout the day and you will find the sore throat is taken care of. Cold and its symptoms also are reduced with this soup.
5. Chicken soup
Chicken has got anti oxidants and other vitamins that are good for flue and cold. Prepare chicken soup if you have cold symptoms and drink it throughout the day. The hot fluid will give you strength to fight the cold and speed the healing of the symptoms.
6.Spiced herbal tea
Prepare this tea with dry roasted coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and fennel seeds. Make a powder of these roasted seeds. Take a tablespoon of each kind and add them to boiling water. Add 1 and ½ teaspoon of rock candy. Simmer this solution for 5 minutes. Add some milk and boil the solution. Strain it. Drink this hot. Heat this often to drink it frequently till your cold symptoms are gone completely.
Medicines may not work for everyone. Try any of these methods to get relieved from cold rather than gulping too many medicines. This works for sure!!
Eucalyptus essential oil for treating cold
Eucalyptus oil can be effective to give you relief from the symptoms of cold. This essential oil can clear the mucus from the nasal passage and the airways which can be very helpful to let you breathe normally and to feel much better when you are suffering from cold. The refreshing smell of this essential oil can also help in curing headache, which often comes along with cold.
How to use it
You can add few drops of the eucalyptus essential oil in the water that you are using for taking steam. It will make the steam even more effective to give you relief. You can lightly sniff the eucalyptus essential oil from the bottle directly; it will help in decongesting the nasal passage and airways. You can also apply eucalyptus essential oil mixed with some carrier oil to your temples or on your chest to keep your nasal passage clear. Using few drops of essential oil on a pillow, or applying the oil on a towel and sniffing it repeatedly will also help.
Tulsi leaves with ghee and pepper
This is basically an Ayurveda treatment and might be very effective to treat the common cold. Tulsi leaves are known for their antibacterial properties and they can soothe the respiratory tract helping in reducing the congestion as well as the infection. Here is how you should take it,
Collect 5-6 fresh tulsi leaves, wash them clean with water and smash them to make a paste. Now add some pure and old (if possible) ghee with this tulsi leaf paste. Grind 1-2 black pepper and mix the pepper powder with the tulsi leaves and ghee. You can easily make the resulting mixture in the shape of a capsule and gulp it down with a little water. You should take these capsules at least 3 times a day to get relief. You can also simply munch a few tulsi leaves to reduce the congestion of the airways.
The common cold is a viral infection and hence gulping down antibiotics might not be actually very helpful to get quick relief. Antibiotics will boost your immunity and will help you to fight out the infection, but for getting complete relief you will need at least 6-7 days. You can get relief from common cold in the same time with home remedies and as these remedies help in easing the symptoms of common cold hence automatically you will feel much better, even when the infection is not gone completely. However, if the cold or the symptoms similar to common cold is caused due to some other reasons, like infection to the lungs or something else, in that case visiting your doctor and taking medicine is important.
According to yoga experts, yoga can also be effective to get relief from cold and the symptoms of cold. Different types of yoga that involves different breathing processes as well as pranayama can be effective to get relief from cold.
