Daily tip #17| Colds

Colds are quite annoying, aren't they? Colds get associated with the winter, so why am I posting this now? Well, you probably have a cold right now as I'm writing this, let me explain and give you a few tips..


A cold is known as nasopharyngitis, or, a cold, obviously. The symptoms are obvious, sore throat, coughing, fever and a 'running' nose. This commonly lasts for seven to eleven days. Though some of the symptoms can stay for a month. It's the most common disease, and yes, it is called an (infectious) disease. The symptoms start occuring about 10 hours after the cause.


Now, ten hours after the cause? What could that be? The main ways you can catch a cold include: Touching your eyes or nose, which transfers the viruses from your hands to your eyes, nose or mouth, where they can infect the tissues and become a problem. You can also get sick from the viruses that transfer with a cough of an already infected person.


Though the most blamed reason is getting cold, which is not exactly true. Only about 10% of the people which get cold actually catch a cold, so you can take a risk. Not getting enough sleep can also increase the chance of catching an infection by three times.


Now try and figure out this, if you get symptoms of a cold often, is your immunity system weak, or strong? The symptoms are not caused by a cold, they are caused by your body, fighting the cold. A fever - to heat you up and allow to fight the virus faster, coughing - to cough out the dead bodies of the virus, a runny or stuffed nose is for the same reason, it's kind of like a store for the dead virus. So, what does that mean? It means that people can carry viruses and spread them without knowing - how would they know? Their body doesn't respond as strongly and properly as yours - meaning they do not get the symptoms, but they have the cold.



Since we've got all of the basic stuff down, and you know what a cold is, how do we prevent it?


Guess. Okay, maybe you can't, but it's a common treatment. Water. Staying hydrated is always good, it'll prevent some of the symptoms, a headache too.

Wash your hands, I've said above why to.

Smoking can also irritate the airways, making it easier for you to catch a cold. By the way, smoking, or staying near a smoking person will extend the time of your cold by atleast three days longer than it would've been otherwise. Tobacco also weakesn the immune system.

Spicy food can slow down white blood cells, which means that the symptoms will be slowed down. Hot liquid will also help you clear your airways, for example spicy soup is a good option if you want this.

Do not take decongestants, they will probably actually trap the bacteria in your nose.

Get rest, stressful activities can prolong a cold. If you're waking up in the middle of the night to cough, you can add an extra pillow or two under your head, to slightly reduce the space of your airways.

Gargle with salt water, salt is an antiseptic. Just do not overdo this, not make the water too salty either.

Honey and lemon can make the symptoms easy(ier) for two to four hours. It's obviously easy to prepare, boil some water, add in atleast half a tablespoon of lemon juice along with atleast two teaspoons of honey.

Don't blow your nose, this can lead to ear infections. If you really really have to, do so one nostril at a time. Also, if you have a fewer greater than 38.5 celcius (100 fahrenheit) you should contact a doctor, higher fever can be a symptom of a flu, a more serious thing.


I hope these helped you to treat and to prevent a common cold, you've possibly gained some knowledge of what exactly is a cold too, which is good to know. Have a nice evening and make sure to sleep right!

Posted in: airways,bacteria,colds,common cold,coughing,decongestants,fever,flu,getting cold,how to treat,immune,seasons,smoking,symptoms,system,treating,treatment,virus,what is a cold,winter