Since there isn’t any cure for the viral infection, common cold treatments are intended to alleviate symptoms of the disease. Doctors often suggest a common cold treatment to relieve symptoms, not just because it is going to make you feel better, but also because it can help prevent secondary bacterial infections. One myth concerning common cold treatments is that you ought to allow symptoms to persist.
Let’s see…
The belief was that allowing the nose to run and itching to continue will neutralize the cold viruses in the body and you’d get “better, faster”. Actually, blowing the nose forces mucus, bacteria and viruses to the sinuses, which may cause the uterus to become infected. Post-nasal trickle (drainage to the back of the throat) may cause the throat, adenoids, or tonsils to become infected and irritated.
So, allowing a cold to “run its course” by preventing a common cold treatment that can alleviate congestion and decrease nasal drainage will not just prolong symptoms, but may cause complications. Additionally, coughing and sneezing spreads the virus to other people. The rhino virus, one of the viruses that causes common cold symptoms, can live for three hours on the skin and other surfaces. If you sneeze, wipe your nose or cough and then shake hands with somebody, then that individual can contract the virus.
Take note
Likewise, if you touch a surface (answer the phone, open a doorway ) anybody who comes along within the next 3 hours can contract the virus. If you don’t need to take common cold treatments on your own, think of others and do it for them. There’s absolutely no effective prescription medicine for the common cold, so a trip to the physician is unnecessary. A common cold treatment can be bought over the counter, at pharmacies, department and grocery stores. Choosing one is determined by the symptoms you’re attempting to relieve.
Common cold
Multi-symptom common cold remedies can address more symptoms than you are presently experiencing, leaving you with a sense of being over treated. It’s always advisable to read the label of the common cold treatment and check the ingredients. Some products contain aspirin, which may upset the stomach and shouldn’t be used by children due to the risk of developing Reye’s syndrome.
Many products, especially cough suppressants, contain alcohol, sometimes in relatively large quantities. These products cause drowsiness and shouldn’t be used by individuals with drinking problems, alcohol allergies, children and people with liver disease. They should also be avoided if you’ll be driving or operating equipment. All these warnings are on the bundles of common cold treatments, but some folks don’t read them.
Zinc
A zinc nasal gel, such as Zicam, is a common cold remedy that’s thought to shorten the duration of symptoms. Two full double blind, double-blind studies have revealed that participants who used a zinc nasal gel over the first 24 hours after detecting symptoms were completely symptom free in as little as two days. Participants who received placebo continued to experience symptoms for as long as fourteen days. The down side to these common cold treatments is that many people reported losing their sense of smell after using them.
Zinc lozenges are sometimes advocated as a common cold remedy, but are only effective in about 50% of the men and women who take them and just shorten length of symptoms marginally. Of additional concern is that high doses of zinc can cause anemia and because zinc is included in several multi-vitamins, can be found in food and utilized in immune system boosters, taking extra zinc supplements can put you over your daily recommended allowance.
Remember
Again, check the labels of the products which you use on a regular basis. Some people today use Echinacea as a common cold treatment. This plant has been used over any other for medicinal purposes among North American Plains Indians. However, prolonged use as a preventative may be toxic to the liver. Another plant, andrographis paniculata, is thought to be safer and has been demonstrated to be effective in clinical trials, both as a preventative and to shorten length of viral illnesses. One immune system booster contains both proper amounts of zinc and andrographis paniculata, in addition to Vitamin C and numerous other components that have been analyzed for their efficacy as common cold treatments.