Ways to Speed Up Recovery from a Cold

May 1, 2024

Uh-oh! You wake up feeling awful. You’re achy, your nose is stuffed up, and you’ve been sneezing non-stop. It looks like you’ve caught a cold. Before you exhaust a box of tissues, pause for a moment to discover some tips on speeding up your recovery. With these strategies, you’ll be back to your usual self in no time!

Identifying a Cold: Common Symptoms and Signs

Identifying whether you’re dealing with a simple cold or something more serious can be tricky in today’s world of pandemics and resilient bacteria. Look out for these hallmark symptoms, typically associated with a common cold:

Cough
Muscle aches
Fatigue
Sneezing
Sore throat
Runny nose
Stuffy nose
Mild fever

Typically, a cold affects your upper chest and head, particularly targeting your sinuses. In contrast, with other illnesses, you might experience symptoms throughout your entire body.

What’s the Recovery Time for a Cold?

So, you’ve identified that you’re dealing with the common cold. But how long can you expect to be under the weather? Well, that varies from person to person, depending on factors like rest and overall health. Typically, you’ll start feeling better within a few days to a week, but in some cases, symptoms can linger for a couple of weeks. If your cold persists beyond this timeframe, it’s advisable to consult your doctor for further evaluation.

How to Speed Up Cold Recovery

Unfortunately, there’s no magic cure for the common cold. You’ll have to let it run its course and manage the symptoms as they arise. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to accelerate the recovery process. Instead of just addressing the symptoms, focus on aiding your overall body recovery. Follow these suggestions to expedite your recovery:

Keep Hydrated: Ensure adequate hydration as it aids in loosening mucus and prevents dehydration, which can exacerbate symptoms. Opt for beverages like tea, sparkling water, juice, lemon water, and broth, while avoiding alcohol, soda, and caffeine.
Eat Healthy Foods: Consume nutrient-rich foods to support immune function and facilitate healing. Incorporate foods like bell peppers, bananas, beets, blueberries, carrots, chili peppers, cranberries, garlic, honey, horseradish, and onions into your diet while avoiding overly salty, greasy, fried, and sugary foods that may worsen inflammation.
Take Supplements: Consider taking supplements such as vitamin C, zinc, echinacea, elderberry, vitamin D, and probiotics to support immune health and aid in recovery. However, consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new supplements to ensure compatibility with existing medications.
Get Some Medicine: Use over-the-counter medications like DayQuil for overall symptom relief or individual medications such as Mucinex for congestion and acetaminophen for headaches. However, note that these medications alleviate symptoms but do not shorten the duration of the cold.
Rest Up: Prioritize rest and adequate sleep to allow your body to heal efficiently. Aim for a full night’s sleep each night until symptoms improve, and consider staying in bed to conserve energy and promote recovery.
Have Some Tea or Another Warm Liquid: Soothe a sore throat and relieve congestion by consuming warm liquids like tea or chicken broth. These beverages help ease discomfort and promote mucus drainage, contributing to symptom relief.
Gargle with Saltwater: Alleviate throat pain and reduce inflammation by gargling with a saltwater solution. Mix half a teaspoon of salt into a glass of warm water and gargle the solution to temporarily alleviate discomfort.
Take a Steam: Create a steam environment in your bathroom by taking a hot shower or bath to help moisturize nasal passages and ease congestion. Alternatively, perform a facial steam by covering your head and a bowl of hot water with a towel to inhale the steam.
Blow Your Nose: Frequently blow your nose to expel mucus and rid the body of viral particles. Use gentle pressure to avoid injuring your eardrums and consider using tissues with lotion to prevent irritation.
Use Some Menthol: Apply menthol salve to alleviate congestion and open nasal passages. Dab a small amount beneath your nose and above your upper lip, or spread it on your chest to relieve chest congestion.
Elevate Your Heal: Sleep with your head elevated to improve nasal drainage and reduce sinus congestion. Elevating your head can alleviate discomfort and promote clearer breathing during sleep.