Best 10 Home Remedies to Tame The Common Cold
The common cold may be mostly runny noses and sore throats, but it’s still a pain, especially because there’s not much the doctor can do to help. Fortunately, there are home remedies that work wonders without the trip to the clinic. Healthline reports: “There are plenty of home remedies that can help alleviate your symptoms and get you back to normal. If you still feel sick after a few weeks, make an appointment with your doctor.”
Before making any drastic changes to your nutritional habits, or trying any remedies that contain unusual herbs or questionable treatments, speak to a physician.
1. Enjoy Some Steam
A steam bath or shower can help clear your lungs and sinuses by heating up and thinning the mucus. You may find your nose running more after you step out of the steam, but boy does it feel good once you blow. Web MD writes: “You can loosen up your stuffy nose if you breathe in some steam. Hold your head over a pot of boiling water and breathe slowly through your nose. But be careful. Don't let the heat burn your nose.”
2. Drink Up
Water is an essential part of the human body, so it should come as no surprise that one of the best ways to cure the common cold is to drink plenty of water. Not just orange juice, tea, and hot broth, but actual water. This helps to thin the mucus, and hydrate your cells.
3. Tea Time and Chicken Soup
That age-old cure of chicken soup for the common cold may not be an old wife’s tale after all. Recent studies have shown that the warm salt water, and heat work together to ease the throat, and offer relief. Medical News Today explains: “Experts believe that chicken soup really does help relieve the symptoms of colds. It is believed to inhibit the movement of neutrophils, immune system cells which cause inflammation, and also helps the movement of mucus. Chicken soup is also watery and may help with dehydration.”
Tea is another great home remedy, especially if you add herbal boosters, such as ginger or mint to the mix.
4. Honey in the Morning
Honey is a known natural cough suppressant, among other things. Take it in a spoonful, or drizzle it into your morning tea to greet the day. This natural sweetener tastes much better than over the counter liquid medicine and can be taken again when needed with no side effects.
5. Prop Up Your Head for Bed
Sleeping flat on your back allows all the mucus in your nasal passages and chest to rest in the back of your throat and lungs. By propping your head up on two pillows, or sleeping on an incline, you allow the sinuses to clear, and for mucus to drain down into your body.
Killer cough keeping you awake? Get an extra pillow, and raise your head and chest off the mattress. It won’t work instantly, but after a while, you will find the tickle easing up, and sleep coming on.
6. Boost Your Immune System with Citrus
Vitamin C is by no means an overnight fix, but by boosting your immune system, before and during a cold, you give yourself more of a fighting chance. Drink orange juice, eat a grapefruit for breakfast, and squeeze lemon into your tea to reap the benefit of this vitamin.
7. Sleep it Off
There’s a reason that everybody is telling you to get more rest when you’re ill. Your body regenerates while you sleep, which means that keeping late hours and overreaching your physical limitations will not only slow your recovery time, it could hinder it as well.
8. Gargle with Salt Water
Research has shown that salt water has healing properties, particularly in term of its ability to work as an antibacterial agent. To reduce swelling, ease throat pain, and give your tonsils some relief, gargling with warm salt water is a home remedy you shouldn’t skip. Simply fill a glass half full with warm water, add a tablespoon of salt, stir, gargle, spit, and repeat. It doesn’t taste great, but you’ll feel the results instantly. 9. Try a Chest Salve This product opens the sinuses and cools the sting in your throat and nasal passages. Over the counter ointments are available for this purpose, but you can easily create your own salve with coconut oil and mint.
10. Fill a Hot Water Bottle
Whether you’re using it for aches and pains in joints and muscles, or to heat up cold toes when you get a case of the chills, this heat compress can help your body relax, for a deeper sleep and more substantial rest.
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