Common cold treatment lies in bed rest

Added: 12/13/2005

Common cold treatment is a thing everyone has come across at one point in their life or another. It is no accidentally because common cold is considered to be one of the most frequent diseases. It makes people miss a great number of days from school and work. There are a lot of medicines today that are able to relieve the symptoms of your condition but they can't shorten the period of your disease. One of the most common cold prevention methods is to escape unnecessary contacts with infected people.

Common cold is considered to be the most frequent disease ever known. The first signs of the condition are scratchy throat, sneezing and running nose. Though common cold is not a very serious disease and the symptoms are not those grave, people miss a lot of days from work and school. Statistics says that children have about 6-10 colds a year. It can be explained by the fact that they are always in close contact with each other in schools and in daycare centers. The average number of adults' colds is 2-4 times a year though the number can be quite different. Women aged from 20 to 40 catch cold more often than men. Maybe it happens because of more frequent contacts with children. As for the people over 60, they catch cold about once a year.

Here is a brief common cold treatment review.

As far as common cold treatment is concerned, most specialists are sure that there is no cure for the condition though it is quite possible to relieve the symptoms of the common cold. So, the main guidelines of common cold treatment include staying in bed and drinking large quantities of fluid. It is also necessary to gargle with warm salty water or use lozenges and throat sprays for sore throat. In order to cure the nose it is recommended to use petroleum jelly. If you want to get rid of fever and headache, take acetaminophen, aspirin and Tylenol.

Nevertheless, some doctors do not advise children take aspirin while common cold treatment, because there is a risk that it can develop Reye's syndrome. As a rule, it happens when children recover from chickenpox or flu. Reye's syndrome occurs not very frequently but it can be very dangerous for children between 3 and 12 years. It can damage all organs of the body, but liver and brain are mostly prone to the injury.

It is worthy of note that there are a number of medicines that are able to relieve most of the common cold symptoms but cannot shorten the period of the disease. Moreover, they are able to cause such side effects as dizziness, upset stomach, drowsiness and insomnia. That is why it is necessary to be very careful while taking various kinds of medicine.

Never take antibiotics during your common cold treatment because they are not able to kill viruses. It is possible to start taking some antibiotics in case you have a kind of bacterial complication, for example ear infections or sinusitis. It is not good to take antibiotics "just in case" because they are not able to prevent a bacterial infection either.

One of the most frequently used methods is steam. No doubt, it may help relieve congestion symptoms. Nevertheless, this effective treatment cannot be called effective.

There are several common cold prevention methods. First of all it is necessary to mention about those people who are already ill. It is necessary to escape close contacts with them. Accordingly try to escape any contacts with people when you are ill. In case you sneeze and cough, close your mouth or nose. Remember that there are a lot of cold germs on the hands, which can get through your eyes and nose. For this reason don't touch these areas with your hands.

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