How To Treat Colds & Flu.
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Related Pages : Children's Coughs & Colds : Catarrh & Sinus Problems : Aromatic Decongestants : Steam Inhalers : Cough : Sore Throat : High Temperature & Fever ::
How To Treat Colds & Flu
Colds and flu are caused by viruses, which even antibiotics can't kill, because antibiotics only kill bacteria. So your doctor can't give you anything to cure a cold or flu infection, it's up to you to chose the right remedies to match the symptoms that you have, so that you can get on with your life. |
Runny Nose or Catarrh is the commonest symptom of the common cold, and often all you need is something to help to stop your nose running and relieve a blocked nose to help you breathe. These can be tablets, liquids, drops and sprays. |
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Aromatic Decongestants and Vapour Products can help when your nose is blocked and stuffy by helping to shrink back the swelling in your nose to make it easier to breath. These include natural products such as menthol and eucalyptus. | |
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Steam Inhalations can be useful to liquefy and clear this thicker catarrh, which can block your nose and even make things sound dull and far away by blocking the tube equalising pressure to the inner ear. This can be used with some aromatic decongestants | |
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Cold Remedies are catarrh remedies combined with paracetamol, formulated as all-in-one remedies for when you have catarrh and are also feeling unwell with a slight temperature. Powders, tablets and hot drinks are popular |
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Children's Coughs & Colds need their own special medicines which are specially formulated for children's tastes and only contain medicines that have been found to be safe and suitable for children under 12 years old |
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Sore Throat. Taking or sucking something to soothe the throat will help milder sore throats, and if the throat is really bad then there are stronger products to numb the throat and ease the pain available as lozenges sprays and mouthwashes |
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Cough. You may need a cough suppressant with colds and flu to calm down a cough. There are also expectorants which helps to bring up phlegm from the chest and demulcents which help to soothe coughs caused by an irritating throat |
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High Temperature & Fever. Normally the cold doesn't cause much of a high temperature, but flu does. You can take paracetamol, ibuprofen or aspirin to help bring your temperature down which will make you feel more comfortable | |
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Flu Remedies contain the maximum dose of paracetamol or ibuprofen to bring down your temperature, together with other medicines which can help with catarrh or cough. These all in one formulations come as tablets, liquids and hot drinks |
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Look after yourself - This is equally important, and there are several things you should do for yourself to help you get better faster.
- Drink plenty of fluids (non alcoholic) to keep the body cells well hydrated, and more able to resist infection. It also replaces fluids lost by sweating.
- Nutrition is important. Make sure that what you eat will help your body fight the infections, but don’t worry about being off your food for a few days. It is drinking that is more important.
- Keep warm, but not over hot, be comfortable, but have enough ventilation in the house.
- Don’t overdo it! With flu, have enough time to rest in bed until you are fully better, normally a few days after your symptoms have gone. With colds and flu take it easy for a week or two. Stop any exercise until you are completely better. If you overdo things it will take longer to get back to full health because exercise will further weaken your already weakened immune system.
- Take Supplements. Some supplements have been shown to shorten the duration of colds and flu. Popular ones include:
Protecting your lungs from flu virus attack is very important, because this can lead to the lung damage which leads to pneumonia, which is how most people who suffer from flu die. One research studyshowed that some sulphur-rich foods such as garlic, onions, broccoli, oats, corn, legumes, nuts and seeds naturally produce glutathione in lung cells which protects them from the damage caused by the M2 protein in the virus which causes the damage. (Reference - Plant-based antioxidants protect lungs from H1N1 and Antioxidants May Help Prevent Flu and Influenza virus M2 protein inhibits epithelial sodium channels by increasing reactive oxygen species).
How To Treat More Than One Symptom
Cold and flu symptoms do not always come alone - they often bring along their friends! This means that you can have more than one symptom to cope with. So you can have any combination of blocked nose, runny nose, sore throat, dry cough, chesty cough, temperature, headache, blocked ears. This makes your choice of what to take more difficult, as you need to choose the right product to treat all the symptoms that you have, or use a careful combination of products.
You need to be very careful if you use more than one product, and if you are in any way not sure that the combination is safe to use together, then you should check with your pharmacist before you take them. Taking a double dose of something can be very dangerous. This can easily happen when the same thing is in two products that you are taking together . Paracetamol is something to specially watch for, as it is in so many products, and unless you read the label very carefully, you may not realise that you are taking it. While paracetamol is perfectly safe to use in one product, if you are taking it in another product as well, then the double dose can be very dangerous indeed. Check with your pharmacist if you are unsure.
Taking two products to treat the same symptom is not a good idea. Even though the list of ingredients show that there is not the same ingredient in two products, it is still possible that you are taking two similar ingredients together, and this can cause problems. For example two products can contain a decongestant to clear the nose, and even though they have different names they should not be taken together. Check with your pharmacist if you are unsure.
Some products are fine to use together:-
- Vapour products and any other tablet or liquid for colds or flu.
- Most throat products and any other tablet or liquid to swallow for colds or flu.
- Supplements and any other product for colds or flu not containing the same supplement.
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