Common cold is normally experienced by an individual at least twice each year, depending of course on one’s health conditions. However, as much as the common cold is a typical condition, it can be debilitating at times and if left untreated could lead to coughing and increased lethargy. The common cold is typically experienced during freezing weather, although you could easily catch cold too during the summertime. Eating too many sweets, inhaling dust, or getting caught in the rain without an umbrella can cause simple colds, and it will be best if you have simple remedies ready and waiting right at home. Common cold is the most common dosha disorder affecting human beings. Everyone has suffered from common cold at some point or other in their lives. Its symptoms are too well-known. In Ayurveda, this very ordinary ailment is called as Pratishyaya.
Symptoms
Symptoms of a cold include sneezing, sniffing, running/blocked nose (often these occur simultaneously, or one in each nostril), scratchy, sore, or phlegmy throat, coughing, headache, and a general feeling of unwellness; they last between 3 to 10 days, with residual coughing lasting up to 3 weeks. It is the most common of all diseases, infecting subjects at an average of slightly over one infection per year with greater than 3 infections per year not uncommon in some populations. Children and their caretakers are at a higher risk, probably due to the high population density of schools and the fact that transmission to family members or caretakers is highly efficient.
Treatment:
1. There are several different remedies which aid in quick recovery. One of the best ways to fight the common cold quickly, or even to prevent it from attacking our body all together, is by strengthening our immune system. Your immune system needs rest and proper nutrition in order for it to function properly. So when you are sick, try to consume foods that improve immunity.
2. Vitamin C – Although many scientists believe they have proven that vitamin C does not really prevent colds, if you have a vitamin C deficiency, then taking this supplement will most certainly help your body through this illness.
3. Fruit juices have long been considered home cures for the common cold. Both lemon and orange juice are excellent sources of vitamin C, one of the best known anti-oxidants. There have been hundreds more studies about vitamin C and the common cold than there have about green tea and the common cold. Numerous books have been written on the subject.
4. Garlic is another herb known for its antibacterial properties. Garlic aids in improving appetite as well so patients eat better even with their condition. The herb can be prepared in different ways as soup, tea or juice. If the patient can tolerate, they can eat pure garlic as well.
5. Tamarind-pepper rasam is also considered an effective home remedy for a cold practiced in South India . Dilute fifty milligram tamarinds in 250 ml of water. Boil the diluted tamarind i.e. imli water for a few minutes with a tablespoon of hot ghee and 1/2 a teaspoon of black pepper powder.
6. Ginger is another excellent herb that is a good remedy for colds and coughs. About 10 grams of ginger should be cut into small pieces and boiled in a cup of water. It should then be strained and1/2 a teaspoon of sugar added to it.
Read About Cold Sores Cure and Read about Common Cold Treatment and also Read about Common Fever
