A cold is a harmless illness that goes away on its own. However, it can be very annoying. You constantly have a runny nose or are coughing. It can keep you awake, leaving you with little energy during the day.
Cold symptoms
Colds have the following symptoms:
- A sore throat
- Cough
- Headache
- Stuffy nose
- Earache
- Tearing eyes
- Loss of taste and smell
Preventing colds
There are no things you can do yourself to prevent a cold. You can limit the risk of infection. Throw away paper tissues after one use, hold your hand over your mouth when coughing to prevent contamination. Maintain good nutrition, even though your appetite may be reduced.
What can you do against a cold?
When coughing
If you suffer from a cough, you can take cough syrups. However, these do not always work well. Do not blow your nose too forcefully, as this will irritate the nasal mucosa, causing mucus to enter the ears or sinuses.
For sore throat
Throat sweets and throat lozenges can soothe sore throat. Lozenges in particular are recommended for sore throats. You can take a painkiller for pain and fever.
For sore throats it is also advisable to gargle with salt water. But the pain can also be reduced by cold drinks or eating an ice cream. Ginger tea also helps.
With a stuffy nose
Nasal drops and nasal sprays help relieve nasal congestion, but they should not be used for more than five days in a row as they can cause permanent damage to the nasal mucosa. If multiple family members have a cold, you should use separate bottles of nasal spray for each family member.
Onions
A golden tip for a stuffy nose is chopped onions. Yes really. Remove the peel from an onion and cut the onion into pieces. The sharp smell ensures that the blockage dissolves. Over time you will notice that breathing becomes better and that the blockage goes away.
Place the onion next to your bed for a better night’s sleep and fewer colds. The smell will not bother you much because your sense of smell is reduced.
