When a person has a cold, the virus is most commonly spread from person to person by touch. The sick person coughs or sneezes and the virus flies through the air and lands on a table, chair, doorknob, or other area of the room. The virus also hitches a ride on the infected person’s hand when they touch their nose, mouth, or eyes. They then touch something and spread the virus to that object. As you come along and innocently touch the same object, the virus is picked up on your hand. You then touch your nose, mouth, or eyes, and the virus is free to move inside your body and start infecting you.
The best prevention against the cold is frequent hand washing. If a trip to the sink is not convenient for you several times a day, keep a small bottle of antibacterial wash on you just in case.
Your sinus cavities behind your face are the usual breeding ground for viruses. These openings are covered by a thin membrane that secretes mucus to keep the cavities moist and to prevent them from drying out. The openings in which the mucus is secreted are very tiny. Any inflammation in this area caused by a cold will cause those openings to clog, causing sinus congestion. The stagnant mucus, in this warm, moist environment, is the perfect place for viruses to replicate.
One of the theories as to why we get more colds in the winter is because we are staying indoors more often and breathing dry, heated air. As the dry air enters the nasal cavity, it dries out the mucus. The mucus then does not flow as easily and can clog these holes, leading to an infection. What starts as a virus infection can soon lead to a bacterial infection because of the abundance of mucus and the already lowered immune system.
One of the signs of a bacterial infection is a “sinus headache.” This is a pressure feeling either above or below the eyes. Nasal congestion is another sign because the membranes are swollen and are blocking your breathing.
Helping to get rid of the cold faster brings us back to some “old wives tales:”
The old standby of chicken noodle soup works in a couple different ways to help with your cold. It acts on specialized cells of the immune system to bring them to the infection. Chicken soup also acts as an anti-inflammatory to help reduce the swelling that causes congestion and a stuff nose. When the soup is warm or hot, it will speed up the rate that mucus is going through your nose to help clear out the viruses.
Many of you were told by your grandmother to gargle with salt water if you have a sore throat. I couldn’t find any scientific studies to show whether a salt water gargle was beneficial or not, but most doctors feel is does soothe a sore throat and will help you feel better.
Vitamin C has been the standby for years to help you get over your cold faster. Scientific studies are mixed in their results with vitamin C. Scientists reviewed dozens and dozens of studies and have concluded that taking extra vitamin C at the start of a cold does not help once you feel symptoms. Taking extra vitamin C every day also does not reduce the number of colds you will get but it will decrease the duration of your cold.
Is it feed a cold, starve a fever or starve a cold, feed a fever? There have been no studies that show either method is effective in reducing the duration of your cold. Just be sure that whether you have a cold or fever, you stay well hydrated to avoid dehydration.
It seems every other throat lozenge now contains zinc. In reviewing studies, for every study that showed zinc is effective, there was another study that shows it is ineffective. As far as the zinc nasal gels are concerned, there was a $12 million lawsuit based on people’s loss of sense of smell after using these products. In my opinion, I would use a throat lozenge containing zinc as long as the cost was not much more than the regular lozenge.
Perhaps one of the most used herbs is echinacea, especially for its cold fighting characteristics. A review of sixteen studies shows that echinacea is no better than placebo at preventing the common cold. Also, the studies did not prove that echinecea can shorten the duration of a cold either.
As far as symptoms are concerned, here are some tips:
To quickly get rid of the annoying nasal congestion symptoms, the best remedy is a simple ball syringe. It is not the most pleasant experience, but once the process is over, the symptoms generally disappear for an extended period of time. A ball syringe can be found in the baby care section of your pharmacy or supermarket. The procedure involves adding about a teaspoonful of salt to a glass of warm water. Fill the bulb syringe with the water, lean over a sink, place the syringe in one nostril, and squeeze the syringe.
The water will fill the sinus cavity and flow back out through the same nostril. The expelled water contains viruses, bacteria, pollen, other particles, and the mucus that was blocking those holes. Repeat for the other nostril and your breathing should return to near normal. You can repeat this procedure a couple times a day until the symptoms are gone.
A trick to this procedure is to add about one-half teaspoonful of baking soda to the water. This addition will soothe the nasal passages by balancing out the pH of the cavities.
A humidifier can help moisten the air and relieve the symptoms. They keep the mucus warm and thin allowing it to flow and not block the secretion passages. An often overlooked but important issue with humidifiers is cleanliness. They must be cleaned regularly to remove any fungus or other bacteria growing. You don’t want your humidifier emitting out fungal spores and bacteria into your room causing more infections.
You should not take the over-the-counter decongestant sprays, like Afrin. While they work very well initially, after a couple days, you get what is known as a rebound effect. When the medication wears off, the congestion returns at a greater level than before. This causes you to use the nasal inhaler again, leading to another rebound, and the cycle is repeated.
Recently, doctors now have to use stronger antibiotics to help kill the bacteria. These stronger antibiotics are having more serious side effects especially the wiping out of our normal flora, or beneficial bacteria. Another issue with the stronger antibiotics is the fact that they cost significantly more money.
On a final note, many people rush out to their doctor asking for an antibiotic for their cold. Antibiotics are effective against bacteria only and will do nothing against the cold virus. If the cold does turn into a bacterial infection, then the antibiotics can be prescribed. The overuse of antibiotics is causing certain bacteria to become more and more resistant.
