The Best 7 Cold Treatments
1. Allergy Medicine – Allegra, Zyrtec, Claritin, Benadryl
Allergy medicine (Anti-histamine) works on colds by drying up mucus in the nose and throat areas, reducing congestion and build-up. This makes it easier to breathe! Some people find that certain allergy medicine brands work better for them than others, for example Allegra vs. Claritin, etc. Antihistamines are also known for their help in reducing general allergy symptoms like sneezing, runny nose, and itchy eyes/nose/throat. Generic versions of these medications are fine!
2. Steroid Nasal Spray – Flonase
Nose sprays like Flonase (generic is fluticasone) contain steroids that reduce inflammation and irritation. Flonase will coat and calm the tissues of the nasal passages and the throat, reducing redness and swelling. This helps with congestion greatly! More info on severe congestion to come.
3. Pain Reliever – Advil, Motrin, Tylenol
These common over-the-counter pain relievers (generic is ibuprofen and acetaminophen) can really help with cold symptoms such as sore throat, headache, sinus pain, sore muscles, and general malaise. They also both treat fevers. Advil and Motrin (both ibuprofen) reduce inflammation because they are Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs. Inflammation is redness, swelling, or irritation. Tylenol (acetaminophen) is just a pain reliever and brings relief to mild pain.
4. Hydration
Increase your fluids! Drink water, herbal tea, or electrolyte drinks. This will thin out the mucus in your nasal passages and chest as you become more hydrated! Is also helps your body to flush out the infection and decrease your symptoms. Mucus will be less sticky and less likely to grow further infection. Your body will thank you for the extra support, and you may feel better sooner! Mind your caffeine intake as this dehydrates the body.
5. Cough Drops – Ricola or similar
Feel a tickle in your throat? Have drainage, sore throat, or congestion? Sucking on a cough drop can really soothe these cold symptoms. The menthol provides a cooling sensation, helping to open up nasal passages, while also coating the throat decreasing that urge to cough. I appreciate the healing herbs/honey in Ricola, but if you’re not a fan, go with traditional menthol cough drops like Halls, generic, etc.
6. Cough Suppressant – Robitussin or generic
Mild cough is usually fine here and there. However, if your cough is disruptive to your daily life, you may consider a cough medicine like Robitussin, “tussin”, or similar with an ingredient called dextromethorphan. This is also a place to consider taking Mucinex, or a medicine with guaifenesin, if the cough is very wet. A wet cough means you can hear a lot of mucus when trying to clear the airway in a cough. A future post will discuss more severe symptoms such as these!
7. Vitamin C and Elderberry
When I was in nursing school, our textbook taught that the only proven complimentary therapies in science were Vitamin C and Elderberry! I never forgot this. Hence you can see the market has exploded with both of these options. That being said, keep your doses of these modest, and follow the directions on the supplements that you choose. Vitamins and supplements have little to no regulation, so we must be cautious – more on this topic to come!
Bonus Info
Personally, I do not like to take multi-symptom (multi-drug) medications since all drugs have different dosages and dose frequency (how often to take). I may want to take Tylenol, but it is hard to keep up with that dosage amount and timing if it is also in the multi-symptom drug, for example Tylenol Cold & Cough, DayQuil, etc. This risks taking too much of a drug unknowingly. I only want to take the particular drug for a particular symptom. This gives me greater control. Also, we don’t use multi-symptom drugs in the hospital.
A common decongestant drug called phenylephrine has recently been proven in research to be completely ineffective! We may commonly know this medicine as Sudafed PE, some DayQuils, etc. Well, I for one won’t be taking that anymore! More on this to come!
Research Published on Phenylephrine (Decongestant)
What are your thoughts on cold treatments? Did I leave out a go-to cold treatment that you swear by? Please share in the comments!