As soon as you start sneezing or having mild irritation in your nose and throat, follow these home remedies to prevent it from getting worse.
As the seasons change, we become more susceptible to infection, especially the common cold. This pesky virus targets the nose and throat, stirring up trouble and causing inflammation in our upper respiratory tract. As a highly contagious infection, it spreads from one person to another through sneezing, coughing, or even by sharing everyday items like towels, phones, and door handles.
While the common cold can affect anyone, it often hits children and adults with weaker immune systems harder. For those with asthma and sinusitis, it can bring on more severe symptoms. Although most colds clear up within a week, it is worth noting that smoking and alcohol consumption can make the situation worse. So, as the seasons shift, stay prepared to fend off this common enemy.
Symptoms
Cold and cough start gradually after exposure to the virus. Initially, you may experience a runny nose, watery eyes, sore throat, and mild fever. The watery discharge from the nose later becomes thick and yellow, thus, resulting in a stuffy nose. The cough that comes with the common cold could take almost three weeks to recover from.
Home remedies
When you realise that you are sneezing or having mild irritation in your nose and throat, follow these home remedies to prevent it from getting worse.
- Stay hydrated: Warm water, vegetable soup or chicken soup with extra pepper, warm milk with turmeric and pepper, and even juices without sugar can help alleviate the symptoms. Limit the consumption of tea or coffee as they cause dehydration.
- Take steam: Infuse the water with dry or fresh herbs and eucalyptus oil to get relief from a stuffy nose. In fact, a study published in the American Journal of Otolaryngology says that steam inhalation alleviates the common cold symptoms.
- Gargle: Warm saline water helps in loosening the mucus and clears the throat.
- Eat raw honey: If you have a continuous dry cough, consume a spoonful of honey and gulp it down slowly. You can also add a few drops of ginger juice and a pinch of turmeric with honey. NIH says that honey reduces cough and improves the quality of sleep for children.
- Decoction: Add dry ginger, betel leaf, tulsi, and black pepper to water and boil it for 10 minutes. Strain the liquid and consume it at least once daily. If you do not like the taste, you could add a spoonful of jaggery. Dry ginger and black pepper have anti-inflammatory properties which help reduce inflammation.
- Herbal leaves: Herbs like tulsi (holy basil) and karpooravalli (big thyme) are known for their medicinal properties and are traditionally used to manage cold and cough. You can chew two to three fresh leaves of these herbs every day to get their benefits.
Choose a home remedy that is suitable for you. In addition, getting adequate sleep of seven to eight hours is important when you have a common cold. If you find no relief from the common cold after a week, and you have breathing difficulties or recurring fever, consult your doctor immediately.
-Content partner Happiest Health
