If you ever looked for information on how to treat a cold, the odds are you found as much fiction as fact. Fortunately, there is also solid practical advice available regarding how to treat a cold, and thankfully it doesn’t include drinking awful tasting tea brewed in a sock, or castor oil.
The first thing to do when you realise you have caught a cold is something few people ever think about, stop touching your face so much! The average person touches their face an amazing 600 times per day. When you have a cold, the areas immediately around the nose, mouth and eyes are full of bacteria that is just waiting to be spread to someone else which is one of the main ways the common cold spreads. This won’t help your cold go away any quicker, but it will help slow the spread to others. Furthermore, the more you spread the bacteria around where you live and work the more likely it is you can reinfect yourself.
What will help your cold however is a quick trip to the chemist to stock up on a few essential items. Look for a decongestant. Vicks is an example of a popular brand, but many generics work just as well for much less money. This will help you breathe a bit easier, and when combined with a dose of ibuprofen, most of your symptoms should be lessened.
Nasal sprays can deliver plenty of relief, but you have to be careful about overusing them. A nasal spray is really only designed for short term use. Those with chemicals should be used no longer than 4 days. Saline nasal sprays can be used longer, but may not deliver the same relief. A major reason nasal sprays are not a long-term solution is because eventually they begin pushing bacteria into your sinuses where you can sustain an infection.
The final two tips that will help get over a cold quickly are sleep and fluids. Sleep gives the body a chance to repair itself, but don’t overdo it. Try to keep your regular schedule during the day avoiding prolonged naps, and focus on getting a good solid 8-10 hours of sleep for the three nights or so when your cold is at its worst. Drinking plenty of fluids is a given, particularly drink plenty of water. Colds can dehydrate people quickly, so the best thing is keeping plenty of water in your system.
Take a regular vitamin. Vitamin C, Echinacea and Zinc supplements are well known for steering off colds. Epsilon Multivitamin Mineral Complex Multivitamin is packed with the recommended daily amounts of Vitamins A, C, K1 and other essential minerals including Zinc, Ginkgo Biloba, Ginseng and Magnesium. It helps lower fatigue and boost your metabolism. They are free from artificial colours and flavours, sweeteners, starch, milk, lactose, soy, gluten, wheat, yeast and porcine. They are also vegan certified!You can buy Epsilon multivitamin tablets on Amazon UK
It is also important to remember there is no cure for the cold, just ways to shorten it a little bit and reduce the aggravating symptoms.
