Home remedies for a cold

Synonyms

Rhinitis, cold, cold, runny nose, flu-like infection

introduction

Who does not know that? The nose runs constantly and when it finally doesn't run it is clogged, you sleep very poorly because you can't get air through your nose and otherwise you feel rather tired and limp.
These symptoms can be combated well with drugs such as Aspirin® Complex or Gripppostad ©, and nasal spray is very effective against a runny or blocked nose. You feel better after taking medication, but would the medication really have been necessary?
Colds can be combated very well with home remedies. Since the common cold is caused by viruses, the above drugs only fight the symptoms, not the causes.

Read more about this: Medicines for colds

Home remedies for colds

In addition to the preparation of meals, many foods are also suitable for treating a cold and some have been passed on for centuries. Drinking warm chicken soup inhibits inflammation in the throat, has a beneficial effect due to its warmth and also returns the fluids lost by the cold.

Often colds are also associated with increased body temperatures, the purpose of which is to kill the pathogens in the body. Fever is acceptable to some extent, but should be reduced if it increases significantly.

This is where calf wraps with a water-vinegar mixture help, which are wrapped around the calves and left there until the coolness subsides. Then repeat the process up to three times.

In addition, if you have a fever, you can rub the entire body with a cloth soaked in cold water. Different types of tea, such as linden blossom tea or elderberry tea, are also often given for colds.

They cause the body to rid itself of the pathogens through night sweats and increased body temperature.

Do you have a cold and want to avoid medication? Our topic could help you with that: Cold tea - how do I best make it myself?

Both inhalative steam baths and bathtubs are also frequently used for colds. The inhalation bath should be carried out with herbal remedies chamomile or salt, the bathtub with spruce needle, eucalyptus, menthol or thyme extracts. During the bath, you should pay attention to slow and deep breaths and because of the circulatory weakening effect a bath time of 10-15 minutes should not be exceeded.Steam baths and bathtubs loosen tense muscles, free the nose and relieve symptoms of chills. The well-known gargle is also used for cold-related inflammation in the throat.
Tea tree oil in particular can provide relief from cold symptoms as a bath additive or in gargle solutions.

See below: Tea tree oil - usage tips

Gargling with salt water solution is also a simple and tried and tested home remedy that can help against sore throats, coughing and inflammation in the mouth thanks to the disinfecting effect of brine. The quality and quantity of the salt as well as the duration and frequency of the gargle are important for the effectiveness.

Learn more at: Gargle with salt water - this is how it's done!

Read more on the topic: Naturopathy for a cold

Chamomile or sage should be boiled in water, then cooled and gargled in the throat for several minutes. This process has to be repeated several times a day. Many variations of wraps are also used for colds. A wrap with quark has a cooling effect (e.g. lowering the fever), and a potato wrap has a heat-storing effect (to relieve coughing problems or Sore throatwhen you put the warm wrap on your neck and chest). Herbal teas made from marshmallow root, Icelandic moss, aniseed, fennel and linden blossom have proven to be helpful against dry coughs. For a blocked nose, rinsing the nose with salt water several times a day can provide relief.

You might also be interested in: How can I shorten the duration of a cold?

Onions

Onions are a tried and tested home remedy for many ailments in everyday life. As soon as you realize that a cold is approaching, a tea made from onions provides relief. It is even possible to nip the common cold in the bud if the onion is used early enough.
To do this, simply peel three to four onions and cut into quarters and then pour about half a liter of boiling water over them. The whole thing should then still have the opportunity to brew for about half an hour. If you don't like the taste at all, you can sweeten the tea with sugar or honey.

Even if such a tea doesn't sound very appetizing, it definitely works against the viruses. By the way, some people and especially children like the taste of onion tea very much.
Of course, there is also the option of making an onion syrup that almost completely covers the onion taste. To do this, onions are peeled again and then quartered. Now, however, the onion parts are covered with sugar. Leave it alone for two to three hours, in any case until the onion juice comes out. The sugar is osmotically effective here and pulls the juice out of the onions. The taste of this syrup depends on the amount of sugar used, but here you hardly ever taste onion, but primarily the sweetness of the sugar.

But the onion as a helper against colds can do even more. Chopped into small pieces and wrapped in a clean tea towel also helps relieve headaches. Simply place the finished wrap on your forehead and leave it there for an hour. At the same time, the sinuses are cleared by the escaping juice and you can breathe much better.
A shower afterwards helps against the pungent odor.

Read more about this at: Home remedies for vocal cord inflammation

ginger

ginger is an all-purpose miracle weapon and can actually always be used. He'll be a that immune system said to have a stimulating effect. The essential oils contained in ginger have an antibacterial effect and the heat makes the human body sweat. Sweating, on the other hand, is good against Colds.
For colds, the ginger can be used as tea to be drunk. It is best to peel fresh ginger bulbs and cut into small slices. Then these are poured with boiling water and the tea should steep for a while. Then he can with honey can be sweetened or drunk straight. In order to increase the healing properties of ginger, the Ginger slices can also be eaten. The taste is very sharp and not suitable for every palate.

Ginger can too while cooking Increased use as a spice when ginger tea does not want to be drunk at all.

Hot lemon

Hot lemon is probably the classic when it comes to home remedies for colds. The lemon contains a lot vitamin Cthat the body needs to get well again. The vitamin C. strengthens the immune system. Unfortunately, if the temperature is too high, it will be destroyed.

For this reason, the freshly squeezed lemon juice should only be infused with lukewarm water and then sweetened with honey. Boiling water largely destroys the vitamins it contains.
It is best to always squeeze the lemon freshly just before drinking it, this ensures that all vitamins are actually still included.
Of course, the juice can also be drunk straight.
The lemon teas offered in stores no longer contain any vitamin C that the body can absorb.

honey

Honey has an antibacterial effect and strengthens the immune system in the fight against the common cold. Honey is therefore often used as a home remedy for colds.
Honey is ideal for sweetening drinks. Instead of sugar, it supports the body's self-healing with its own substances.
Whether in ginger tea or in tea with onions, honey can always be used very well. Hot milk with honey also has a supportive effect against the common cold, on the other hand it calms and promotes the urgently needed sleep. The body needs enough sleep to be able to fight off a cold.

also read: Home remedies for fever

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is a suitable home remedy, especially for bacterial infections such as tonsillitis. In the case of the "normal cold", which is usually caused by viruses, its effect is controversial. Nevertheless, you can try to get relief with apple cider vinegar, for this it is best mixed with honey and water and drunk slowly.

You can read more about this under Apple cider vinegar for a cold

Warm beer

Warm beer is a tried and tested home remedy for colds. It works best when it's already at the beginning of a cold is used, similar to the tea made from onions. Warm beer ensures that the Better blood supply to the skin vessels and the body starts to sweat. In the best case scenario, the body also excretes the viruses that cause the common cold through sweat.

For this, beer is heated in a pot or in a water bath and then drunk.
Under no circumstances should the beer boil, otherwise the alcohol will evaporate. After enjoying the beer, the patient should ideally go to bed and sleep for a night. It is also helpful to have a hot water bottle and wrap a thick blanket well to help you sweat.
Both the sleep, which will hopefully result from the alcohol, and the sweating support the healing of the body.

If the taste is too unpleasant, you can also add sugar or honey to the warm beer. It is important to ensure that sugar allows the alcohol to get into the bloodstream more quickly. Therefore go to bed immediately after drinking and get a good night's sleep.

Home remedies for a cold during pregnancy

For pregnant women, as for every other sick person, the top priority is: drink a lot to get a cold and coughing legs! However, where caution is required, medicines are used, because the substances they contain often pass into the unborn child's circulation to varying degrees. To ease the way out of the common cold without medication, many home remedies can provide relief and are completely safe for the unborn child. If you have a cold, ordinary saline solution can simply be drizzled into your nose to make breathing easier. Inhaling steam in the form of a steam bath can also alleviate the symptoms. Essential oils such as peppermint, eucalyptus or thyme oil added to the water bath can also have a liberating effect. Coughs are usually best treated with cough syrup. However, it is better to replace this with onion syrup during pregnancy, as most of the juices available in pharmacies contain alcohol, which can cause serious damage to the child. Onion syrup can be easily made from a large onion or, alternatively, from black radish by chopping it up and mixing it with rock sugar. The resulting mass can then be spooned several times a day.

Learn more about this under: Inhalation if you have a cold

If you have a sore throat, sage tea can replace the often used numbing lozenges. Milk with honey or thyme tea can also relieve pain and make the use of pain relievers palatable. Wraps with mashed jacket potatoes can also be used for sore throats. Among the tea varieties, in addition to the varieties already mentioned, chamomile tea, elderflower tea and lime blossom tea are considered harmless. Green tea should only be drunk up to two cups per day because of the caffeine it contains. Ginger tea should be consumed with caution because of its properties that promote labor.

Cold baths should not be too hot or too long. A maximum temperature of 30 ° C and a maximum time of 15 minutes are considered acceptable. The additives should be compatible with pregnancy, a common cold bath is not recommended. Among the homeopathic remedies, the following medicines are allowed during pregnancy: kitchen onions, yellow jasmine, gold seal root, dried pumpkin fruit and pasque flower. The Schüssler salts No. 3 (Ferrum Phosphoricum), No. 4 (Kalium Chloratum) and No. 6 (Kalium Sulfuricum) are also recommended for the treatment of a cold. Other methods that are suitable as alternatives to the application are Bach flower therapy, acupuncture or foot reflexology.

Read more on the topic: Common cold during pregnancy

Home remedies for a cold while breastfeeding

Even when you are breastfeeding, a cold is an enormous problem for the body. The energy requirement still has to be met, even though the mother with a cold usually does not feel like eating. Infection through breast milk is not possible. On the contrary, the baby even receives protective antibodies from the mother through breast milk. In order to be able to bear the cold symptoms better as a mother, there are also home remedies that are suitable for breastfeeding, but just as those that are unsuitable. Sage, for example, which is often drunk as a tea for a sore throat or gargled, is unsuitable. Sage tea is also recommended for weaning, as sage inhibits milk production. Similar descriptions exist for peppermint tea, although the effects on milk production are less pronounced than for sage.

Breastfeeding mothers should prefer to use the onion syrup described above. Thyme should also only be used after consulting a specialist. Herbal medicines may contain substances that change the taste of breast milk and thus cause breastfeeding problems without the substances being harmful. As in pregnancy, it is better to use drops of sodium chloride for nasal drops. If a cold is on the way, many alternative practitioners recommend Zinkletten Verla to possibly stop the cold.

Find out all about the topic here: Breastfeeding with a cold.

Home remedies for a cold in the baby

Can also be used for babies steam bath have a soothing effect and the respiratory tract to free. However, essential oils are because of that Allergy risk forbidden. In addition, the steam must not be too hot in order not to burn the baby's airways. It is better to stay in the bathroom while the warm shower is running. A completely natural remedy for a cold is that Breast milk. It contains protective antibodies from the mother and so one or two drops of breast milk can be put into each nostril of the cold baby when breastfeeding. After breastfeeding, when the baby can handle a bottle, are suitable Linden blossom tea and Elderflower tea to Lowering of fever. Under the fumes have turned Onion fumes particularly proven. Here you can simply pack a chopped onion in a small bag and hang it over the cot to make it easier for the baby to breathe through the ethereal vapors of the onion while sleeping.

If you also have a cough, walks in the fresh air are often very soothing. In the apartment, the humidity can be increased, for example, with wet towels over the heater or specially created air humidifiers. In acute coughing attacks, cool air helps and walking to an open window or the refrigerator helps the coughing infant to overcome the attack. It is important to make sure that the baby is still wrapped up cozy and warm and not freezing. honey is always with colds in the first year of life forbiddenas it may contain bacteria that are harmless to adults but which can cause serious illness in babies.

Also read: Cold in the baby

Home remedies for a cold in toddlers

Small children with colds are usually very uncomfortable and their parents are often helpless. Nasal sprays could provide relief, but are often only suitable for older children.

The toddler can catch a cold Chamomile steam bath Provide relief. Simply in a pot Camomile tea cook and then best sit with the toddler under a large towel and take the Breathe in steam to let.
Small children can easily get scared alone under the towel, but with mom it is always half as bad. In addition, hot chamomile fumes are not harmful to the caregiver. Care should always be taken that the hot pot does not Burns leads.

The room in which the toddler is staying should always have one during the cold season high humidity exhibit. To do this, simply place a flat bowl of water on the heater or hang up damp cloths in the room.
A stuffy nose can be cleared of mucus if it does rinsed with salt water becomes. Simply mix salt with lukewarm water and drip it into your nose with a pipette. Then the toddler should blow his nose vigorously. The secretion and some of the viruses are washed away from the mucous membranes and the toddler can breathe better.
If you have a cold, the nose should always be well covered with a mild cream. Is very suitable Penaten® creambecause it has a thicker consistency and is not wiped away the first time you use a tissue. It also has a calming effect on sore skin.

To that fever to lower, which often occurs as a side effect of a cold in young children Leg wraps with curd cheese. To do this, spread quark on a sheet (a tea towel is of course also possible) and then wrap the cloth with the quark-coated side down around the calves. After a while, the cloth with the quark can be replaced.
Also Baths in 37 degree warm water lower the fever. If the water is warmer, the toddler's circulatory system is stressed too much.

A very vitamin-rich diet supports the child's body in becoming healthy. Especially lemon and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables should now be served with the meal.
Even a toddler is good at one Onion tea drink, ginger tea the little ones, on the other hand, are often too hot in taste. Onion tea given in the early stages of a cold can avert the disease again.
Hot milk with honey helps against colds and also tastes very good. You should definitely refrain from pouring in warm alcohol. Warm alcohol is a well-known home remedy for adults to fight the common cold, but this home remedy should not be used on a toddler.

Summary home remedies for cold prevention

One of the easiest things to do to prevent a cold is one healthy eating with lots of fruits and vegetables. This gives the body important vitamins and minerals that the body and the strengthen your immune system.
Especially vitamin C, which is found in citrus fruits, and zinc are good for a strong immune system. But ginger or elderberry tea also have a supportive effect. Overall, it is important to drink a lot so as not to burden the body with dehydration. Sufficient fresh air is also important to prepare the body for the cold temperatures in winter. Dry heating air in particular should be avoided, as it dries out the mucous membranes by providing adequate ventilation.

The immune system is weakened by a lack of sleep, so it is important to get enough sleep, especially during the cold season, at least 7 hours a night, in order to prevent a cold.
An afternoon nap can also be helpful here. A similar influence as lack of sleep, has also stress. This should also be avoided if possible to reduce the risk of catching a cold.
The immune system can be activated by alternating showers during the day. After a warm shower, the whole body should be showered with cold to stimulate blood circulation. However, this should not be done in the evening, as the increased blood circulation can result in restless sleep. Also regular Sauna visits activate the immune system and are good for preventing a cold, especially in winter.

Since many diseases, including the common cold, are transmitted through the hands, frequent hand washing counteracts a cold.
Wearing gloves when you are in public also reduces the risk of the pathogen being transmitted. A Nasal irrigation in the evening can help to flush out any pathogens that may be in the nose.

To do this, the nasal mucous membranes are rinsed using a nasal douche either with a ready-made mixture or with a homemade saline solution and moistened at the same time. In addition, appropriate clothing is advisable, especially in winter. If possible, cold feet and soaking of clothing should be avoided as potential risk factors for a cold.