Home Remedies for Common Cold

The common cold has no easy cure but there are some home remedies that can ease the effect of common cold. This article provides information on Common Cold Treatment, Natural Cure for Common Cold, Causes of Common Cold and its symptoms. The common cold generally involves a runny nose, nasal congestion, and sneezing. You may also have a sore throat, cough, headache, or other symptoms.

Common Cold Remedies

Common Cold & Symptoms

An inflammation in the upper respiratory tract caused due to viral infection is called common cold. Over 200 viruses can cause a cold. The occurrence of this disease is very frequent and hence has been named common cold. Also known as acute coryza, common cold is not a one time disease and may re-appear several times a year. It is most common in kids however adults are also a victim of this disease. Common cold lasts for about 3 to 7 days and mostly affects the nose. Sometimes there is blockage in the ears as well. Bronchial tubes and sinus can also be affected. The symptoms of common cold are soreness of throat, congestion of nasal passages, running nose, sneezing, headache, chill and body ache. A common cold is not really a serious illness, but it may not always seem harmless because of the extent of discomfort that it can cause. A common cold is caused by a variety of viral infections and it is the most common of all infections that we suffer from and accordingly is the most treated condition. . You and your children will probably have more colds than any other type of illness. Children average three to eight colds per year. They continue getting them throughout childhood. Parents often get them from the kids. Colds are the most common reason that children miss school and parents miss work. Pharmaceutical products for common cold treatment are probably the highest selling of all drugs. Common cold remedies are highly sought after because natural treatments are preferable to pharmaceutical ones when it comes to dealing with common ailments that strike frequently or repeatedly. This is because most natural common cold remedies for common cold relief will not cause any adverse reactions as compared to prolonged or frequent usage of medications and drugs, no matter how mild they may be. Moreover antibiotics offer no relief against a common cold as common cold is caused by a variety of viruses and antibiotics can only work against bacterial infections. The use of antibiotics in such situations simply weakens your natural immunity, creates bacterial resistance and destroys healthy bacteria, leaving you a lot more exposed to a host of other infections. Home remedies for common colds are among the most popular and effective of all natural treatments, during pregnancy and for infants and kids, and in most cases would suffice to provide some swift common cold relief.

Natural common cold remedies are highly preferable in the case of common colds in infants, babies, toddlers, and children and pregnant women because of possible drug interactions. Common cold treatment with home remedies should be practiced carefully when dealing smaller children, infants and babies. Extra care should be taken in case of kids as there is a higher risk of complications developing from the symptoms and small children may not have the same tolerance levels to natural ingredients as adults do.

The most effective remedy for common cold would be to have lime juice. Take a glass of lukewarm water and dilute the lime juice in it. Add a table spoon of honey to enhance its efficacy.
The antiseptic properties of garlic make it one of the most effective ingredients for cold. Consumption of garlic soup would be the best way to cure common cold.
Another effective method of using garlic would be to combine some garlic oil with onion juice. Dilute this with water and consume it for several times a day.
Ginger also works favorably in treating common cold. Cut small pieces of ginger and put it in water. Boil this mixture. Once it simmers, strain the liquid and add half a tsp of sugar to it. Drink this hot.
Hot water bath also proves effective as it relieves of all the nasal and chest congestion. Taking steam also would heal the congested nasal tissues.
An excellent home remedy would be to have a glass of warm milk. Add 2 mg of roasted asafetida and drink this milk quite slowly two times in a day.
Mix 200 grams of coriander seeds and jaggery in it. Make a paste of it and then add water in it. Boil this mixture and inhale the vapors of this mixture. Four times a day would cure common cold.
Make a powdered mixture of black pepper and mix this in curd. Add jaggery or sugar candy to it. Take this two times a day to get cured of common cold.
Take 250 grams of water and boil 7 pieces of each black pepper and sugar cubes. When the content comes to 1/4th quantity, stop boiling. Drink this mixture hot twice everyday to get relieved from common cold.
Place 10grams of Sprague in a clean cloth and tie all the ends of the cloth. Apply indirect heat to it by keeping it in a vessel. Sniff this for a few minutes until it’s hot. It would effectively cure nasal blockage.
Mix equal amounts of tulsi (basil) seeds and ginger. Make a fine powdery mixture out of the two. Have this mixture two times a day.

Causes of Common Cold

The common cold is caused by a virus that affects the upper respiratory tract, including the nasal passages, the voice box, the throat, windpipes, and lungs. The reason for the widespread and frequent occurrences of the common cold is attributed to the fact that there are over 200 viruses that can cause the common cold. The viruses that can cause the common cold are generally referred to as rhinoviruses.

Human metapneumovirus
Coronavirus 229E
Rhinovirus
Respiratory syncytial virus
Adenovirus
Parainfluenza
Coronavirus OC43
Low vitality
Exposure to cold
Lack of sleep
Depression
Fatigue
Sudden changes in temperature
Dust and other irritating inhalations
Unhealthy food
Excess intake of red meat
Stress
Smoking
Consuming alcohol and/or drugs

Symptoms of Common Cold

A common cold will cause a runny nose, sore throat, coughs and congestion typically, but at times it may also cause sneezing, watering of the eyes and headaches. Because of the astoundingly high number of common cold viruses that can cause the illness the signs, symptoms cures and treatment of common cold infections can vary significantly and can also occur frequently, as it is impossible for your body to develop immunity against all the viruses. As your body develops an immunity to one of the viruses you will probably stumble upon another virus against which you have no immunity. Over the counter cold remedies are not always effective but they may help to reduce the cold duration.

Running nose
Nasal congestion
Sneezing
Dry, scratchy or sore throat
Chest congestion
Headache
Earaches
Slight fever
Chills
Coughing
Hoarseness
Aches and pains in the body
Loss of appetite

Who are at risk of catching common cold?

A common cold can affect absolutely anyone and there are no specific groups that are at higher risk of developing common colds. Immunity levels however have a lot do with susceptibility, which is why preschoolers are a lot more likely to experience frequent bouts of the common cold. Likewise adults with a weakened immunity, whether naturally weak or because of an unhealthy lifestyle and medications, are also highly susceptible to frequent common cold infections. Individuals who suffer from conditions that weaken immunity like HIV are at a high risk of suffering recurrent common colds. Under normal circumstances though, even a healthy adult could expect to experience a few cases of the common cold a year.