When the headache, sniffles and hacking cough take over, you’ll be begging your cold to be over fast. Here’s the bad news: on average, cold symptoms last about seven to ten days. The good news? You can land at the shorter end of that range, and maybe even beat it, by taking the right steps and skipping the useless ones. Just follow these expert recommendations.
1. Rest
Yes, work and family are important, and you may feel you don’t have time to lie in bed. But when you feel a cold coming on, try to give yourself a break for at least the first few days. Your body needs that time to heal, and rest is one of the best ways to see off a cold before it takes hold. Think of it as a kindness to your colleagues and classmates, too: research shows you’re most contagious in the first few days of a cold, and even a day or two before you realise you’re sick.
“Rest is absolutely a good treatment, and I would encourage people not to go outside, at least not in crowded areas where you could transmit the virus to others,” says Dr Michael Incze, a physician in Salt Lake City, Utah. Just how fast can a cold virus spread? A virus placed on a single doorknob in an office could contaminate the entire building within hours.
2. Drink fluids
Congestion, sneezing and constantly blowing your nose all cost your body a lot of fluid, and replacing it will help you feel better sooner. Water and juice are fine, but warm drinks are especially comforting and may help ease congestion by getting mucus flowing. Try salty broths such as chicken soup to replace electrolytes, herbal teas, or simply hot water with lemon.
“I do recommend hot liquids. But use common sense,” says family physician Dr Cat Livingston of Oregon Health & Science University. “There have been a couple of reports that people were so aggressive with fluids it actually caused harm.”
3. Gargle
“Gargling with salt water can be helpful for a sore throat,” says Dr Livingston, who co-authored a paper for the American Academy of Family Physicians on treatments for common cold symptoms.
To soothe a scratchy throat, the Mayo Clinic recommends dissolving a quarter to half a teaspoon of salt in a 250 mL glass of warm water. Gargle, then spit it out.
4. Use saline nasal drops, sprays and rinses
Saline (salt-water) nasal drops, sprays and rinses are an easy, drug-free way to clear a blocked nose. “Things like neti pots and nasal irrigation can often help relieve congestion,” explains Dr Incze. “There have been studies to show those work. If you use a neti pot, keep it clean and use distilled water or water that’s been sterilised by boiling.” Just be sure to let the water cool first.
Saline sprays and rinse kits are sold in pharmacies and supermarkets across Australia and New Zealand. If you’d rather use a medicated decongestant nasal spray (such as one containing oxymetazoline or xylometazoline), stick to the number of days on the label, usually no more than three to five. Use them longer and you risk “rebound” congestion, where your nose gets even more blocked once you stop.
5. Try cold and flu medicines, but choose wisely
There’s a reason so many cold and flu products combine several ingredients. “There’s some evidence that the combination of antihistamine and decongestants helps decrease inflammation,” says Dr Livingston. Antihistamines on their own don’t do much for cold symptoms, she explains, “but in combination with decongestants, they can help improve symptoms if you start within the first couple of days”.
The decongestant matters, though. In Australia, most cold and flu tablets on open pharmacy shelves contain phenylephrine, and recent studies suggest it works no better than a placebo for a blocked nose when swallowed. Products containing the more effective decongestant pseudoephedrine are sold without a prescription, but only from behind the counter after a chat with the pharmacist. In New Zealand, pseudoephedrine cold and flu medicines have also been reclassified as pharmacist-only, so you can now buy them from a pharmacist without a prescription. And if you’re used to cold and flu tablets with codeine, note that codeine has needed a prescription in Australia since February 2018.
These medicines aren’t for little ones. Both Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and New Zealand’s Medsafe advise against giving over-the-counter cough and cold medicines to children under six. In Australia, children aged six to 11 should only have them on the advice of a doctor, pharmacist or nurse practitioner.
6. Use pain relief
Painkillers such as paracetamol (for example, Panadol) or ibuprofen (for example, Nurofen) won’t fight the virus, but they can help you feel better if a cold comes with a headache or aching muscles.
“Take a look at the daily recommended limits, and make sure you take into account what kind of medical conditions you have, and what other medications you’re taking,” says Dr Incze. “For instance, if you have kidney disease, naproxen or ibuprofen aren’t a good idea.”
Read labels carefully. Many cold and flu products already contain paracetamol or ibuprofen, so if you take a painkiller as well, you could accidentally double your dose. If you’re not sure what’s safe to combine, ask your pharmacist.
7. Maybe use a humidifier or vaporiser
A 2017 medical review of heated, humidified air delivered by one specific device (RhinoTherm) found no evidence of benefit or harm. In other words, it may not help you get over a cold, but there’s no harm in trying it if you think it makes you feel better. Plenty of people find that adding moisture to the air soothes irritated nasal passages and helps loosen congestion.
If you give it a go, the Mayo Clinic recommends a cool-mist humidifier or vaporiser. Change the water daily and clean the unit according to the manufacturer’s instructions to stop bacteria and mould from growing.
8. Maybe try honey
“Anecdotally, honey can help relieve symptoms, but I don’t think it’s a huge immune booster,” says Dr Incze. Still, plenty of people with a sore throat or cough swear by it. Stir some into your tea if it feels good, but never give honey to babies under 12 months because of the risk of infant botulism.
9. Maybe add zinc
The research is mixed, but there’s some evidence that zinc lozenges can shorten a cold by a day or so if you start taking them within 24 hours of your first symptoms. A 2017 analysis from the University of Helsinki in Finland found that, on average, zinc lozenges cut the length of a cold by a third. If more than a day has passed since your symptoms began, though, don’t bother: at that point, it won’t help.
Some people find zinc hard to take because of side effects such as nausea and changes to taste and smell. If you do try it, read the label for the correct dose. “And never, ever put zinc up your nose,” says Dr Livingston. “It can affect your sense of smell forever.”
10. Maybe add echinacea
“There’s mixed evidence on this herb,” says Dr Livingston. “There have been a number of positive studies and a number of neutral studies. A lot of people have interpreted that to mean it’s ineffective against cold symptoms.”
There may be another reason for the mixed results: herbal products vary in quality and strength, she says. “So echinacea might be slightly effective… but it might depend on the version you take.”
Like zinc, echinacea seems to work best if you start taking it as soon as you notice symptoms. Because it can interact with a number of other medicines, check with your doctor or pharmacist first.
11. Don’t bother with vitamin C
If you’ve already got a cold, there’s no point reaching for vitamin C: it won’t ease your symptoms or clear the cold any faster. And taking it regularly won’t stop you catching one, either. “But if you have been taking vitamin C, once you do get a cold, it might be a day shorter,” says Dr Livingston.
Be wary of megadoses, which can have side effects. A 1000 mg dose of vitamin C is roughly what you’d get from 14 oranges, and scientists warn the body isn’t really designed to handle that much at once.
12. Don’t drink alcohol
Your grandparents may have sworn by a hot toddy, with a nip of whisky stirred into tea with honey and lemon. Keep the honey and lemon, but skip the booze.
“I don’t think there’s any benefit at all, and there are potential harms,” says Dr Incze. “Alcohol can be dehydrating, like a diuretic. And it can exacerbate the effects of certain cold medicines since it’s sedating like antihistamines, which are in a lot of night-time cold remedies. That combination, of alcohol and antihistamines, could lead to falls.”
13. Don’t take antibiotics
When it comes to curing a cold, antibiotics are the biggest “no” of all. “Antibiotics are great when you have a bacterial infection, but a cold is almost never a bacterial infection. It’s viral,” explains Dr Incze. Yet many people still come away from the doctor with a script for antibiotics when they have cold symptoms, he says.
Taking antibiotics you don’t need simply gives bacteria a chance to build up resistance. “We’re creating superbugs with the bacteria that are out there,” says Dr Incze.
For most healthy adults, the best plan for a cold is to rest up and wait it out. Your symptoms should improve within seven to ten days. If you’re still unwell after two weeks, or you’re worried at any point, seek medical advice.
Source: RD.com
