Battling with Colds

It's been three days now that I have not been pretty well because I have had colds. I have taken self-care treatments and hopefully today it would all turn well now. I kinda hate COLDS because it does not only make me less productive at work but it makes my eyes teary and eventually makes me dizzy and makes me feel weak.

CAUSES OF COLDS

• Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of cold viruses do not spread through the air and seldom are transmitted from airborne particles expelled when someone with a cold coughs or sneezes.
• The primary means of spreading a cold is through hand-to-hand contact or from objects that have been touched by someone with a cold.

(a) The typical transmission occurs when a cold sufferer rubs his or her nose and then, shortly thereafter, shakes hands with someone who, in turn, touches his or her own nose or eyes.
(b) Alternatively, virus transmission often occurs via doorknobs and other hard surfaces, such as subway handrails, grocery carts, office telephones, and computer keyboards.

TRY TO AVOID GETTING A COLD

• Wash your hands often. You can pick up cold germs easily, even when shaking someone's hand or touching doorknobs or handrails.
• Avoid people with colds when possible.
• Sneeze or cough into a tissue and then throw the tissue away.
• Clean surfaces you touch with a germ-killing disinfectant.
• Don't touch your nose, eyes, or mouth. Germs can enter your body easily by these paths.

CONGESTION

Drink plenty of fluids to help break up your congestion. Drinking water or juice will prevent dehydration and keep your throat moist. You should drink at least 8-10, 8-ounce cups of water daily.

• Fluids might include water, sports drinks, herbal teas, fruit drinks, or ginger ale. Your mother's chicken soup really can help.
• You can give your children colas, but don't include them in the 8-10 cups of fluid per day. Cola, coffee, and other drinks with caffeine work to increase urine output when your goal is to increase fluids in your system.
• Inhaled steam may ease your congestion and drippy nose.

(a) Hold your head over a pot of boiling water and breathe through your nose. Be careful. If the steam burns your nose, breathe in more slowly.
(b) You can put a pot or teakettle on a trivet on a table and hold a towel around the steam and your head.
(c) You can buy a humidifier, but the steam will be the same.
(d) Moisture from a hot shower with the door closed, a saline nasal spray, or a room humidifier is just as useful.


SOURCES:
Food and Drug Administration
eMedicineHealth