How to Get Rid of A Cold Quickly
Getting sick is never fun. It shuts people down for weeks at a time, making them tired and achy and basically unable to function without their eyes completely open. The only choice they have to is to skip out on life for awhile, and wait it out. I don't know about you, but I don't like being glued to my couch, stuffing tissues up my nose while everyone else is out going to work and hanging with friends. Sure, it's fun to have one day to call off work, relax with a nice cup of tea and rest up, but that pretty much does it for me. Anything else is borderline depressing. So, how can we snuff the sniffles, and get back to normal faster?
Where Did My Cold Come From?
You may have a cold, but that doesn't mean that's how you got it! Colds are viruses; plain and simple. If you really wanted to, you could take a nice warm shower and then immediately run outside naked and soaking wet, and you'd probably be alright; granted you could incur other side affects, including but not limited to hypothermia and public humiliation. I digress. Colds come from viruses, so someone probably coughed on you at work. Unfortunately, it is difficult to track down exactly where your cold came from.
Hot tea can help soothe a sore, dry throat.
So, How Do I Get Rid of It Then?
Ridding yourself of an annoying, persistent cold may depend on you and your personal health needs. However, here I will give you a few tips that could help you shorten the length of your cold or at least lessen the symptoms dramatically to allow you to continue living your life normally.
1. Try taking a Zinc supplement at the first sign of cold. For me, the first sign of a cold onset is a sore throat. It can be difficult to discern between a sore throat that has to do with a cold, and one you may have when you wake up in the morning if you were breathing strangely the previous night. Either way, it doesn't hurt to take something just in case. I like to use generic brands of dis-solvable Zinc tablets; the ones you keep in your mouth until it dissolves completely and tastes really metallic-y in the last little bit. (Kinda gross-but worth it.)
2. Drink A LOT of Water. When I was a child, my mother would have me drink tons of water to help keep me hydrated, and keep my fluids moving to try to flush the sickness out. I'm not sure if it's scientifically proven to "flush" out a cold, but drinking water is never a bad thing anyway and I would recommend putting down the Mountain Dew and drinking about half a gallon of water instead. Hey, you want to get better, right? Also, drinking a nice cup of hot tea is great for soothing an irritated throat. But, avoid adding sugar and try using honey instead.
3. When you're sure it's a cold, start taking your favorite cold medicine right away and take it according to the directions on the box. When I'm sick, I stick to the DayQuil/ NyQuil routine. Supposedly, it is said not to work as well as others as far as soothing coughing and stopping runny noses, but it always works great for me. I took the DayQuil every four hours until it was time for bed. Then, I took the NyQuil and when I woke up, I got on the DayQuil again. I only had to do that for about two days until I started feeling much better. These medicines stopped the swelling, cough, runny nose, and aches for me.
4. When I'm sick, it's hard to keep me down. But sick people need to rest. Relax for awhile! Take a hot shower or bath, put on your sweatshirt and sweatpants, put in a movie and eat some soup. Take at least one day to just chill for awhile because if you don't take it easy, it'll be harder for your body to recuperate and you'll be sick that much longer while your body struggles to keep up with you and fight your infection. Believe me, it is much more worth it to take one day off than to struggle through your days feeling more miserable than you have to.
Oh, hey! After your congestion clears up, and you're back to wearing pajamas only at night, don't forget to clean up behind you to be rid of the germs! Wash your bedding, and the clothes you wore while you were sick. Replace your toothbrush, even if you just bought it. Clean up your mess around the house, and do the dishes. This will help scrub away any lingering sickness and put you well on your way to good health!
