15 Ways to Get Rid of Cold Symptoms
There are no antiviral medications for the common cold, but, its symptoms can be treated with the medications available in the market. There are a few ways too to get rid of cold symptoms.Â
1- Drink warm fluids: During a nasty cold, a warm drink can soothe your sore throat and help you feel better. Staying hydrated will help you prevent dryness in your nose and will calm your inflamed mucous membrane. like soup, water, tea, or any homemade like, ginger tea, ginger-clove-pepper tea, and sometimes milk with turmeric also helps the cold symptoms.Â
2- Use saline nasal drops or sprays: Saline nasal sprays with or without medication can help you clean your stuffy nose and drain the mucus accumulation.Â
3- Use nasal douches: To clean your nasal passage accumulated with mucus and breathe better, you can use nasal douches, pressurized canisters, squeeze bottles, etc. You will have to bend your head sideways and insert the protruding part of the douche into your nose. The saltwater filled inside the bottle will clean your stuffy nose and help you breathe.Â
4- Use a humidifier: The dryness in your nose and throat can cause more irritation and can make you feel uneasy. To ease up the air in your nostrils, you can use a cool-mist vaporizer or a humidifier when you sleep.Â
5- Saltwater gargle: You can soothe your throat with a saltwater gargle. It is believed to supply the throat tissue with salt and in turn, help treat the infection faster.Â
6- Steam Inhalation: You should breathe steam out of a hot pot or in a steam room to make the mucus thinner which will drain it better.Â
7- Use cold rubs: You can relieve your symptoms with a medicated cold rub which will help you breathe better and prevent uneasiness during a cold.Â
8- Eat food rich in Vitamin C: Food rich in vitamin-c like lemons, oranges, red peppers, mangoes, strawberries, etc., will help boost your immunity and can make you heal faster.Â
9- Eat food to improve your immunity: Some food items like broccoli, red bell pepper, curry, garlic, and astragalus improve immunity and help relieve inflammation.
10- Use a salve: A dab of menthol, camphor and eucalyptus salve under your can help you breathe better and heal your irritated skin.Â
11- Cold or hot packs: To treat the cold symptoms, you can use hot or cold packs near your sinuses that will help you heal faster.Â
12- Sleep with your head inclined: Sleeping with an extra pillow will help you relieve your congested nose and breathe better.
13- Keep yourself warm and rest: Tuck yourself in bed, keep yourself warm, and sleep for a while.Â
14- Don’t go outside unless necessary: Avoid going outside as the cold weather can alleviate your symptoms and make you sicker. Wear a mask when you go out and avoid coming in contact with healthy people to prevent them from being infected.Â
15- Take over-the-counter medications: You can take antipyretics for fever, pain killers for pain, cold rubs, medicated throat gargle, and decongestants.Â