When you have a cold, the symptoms you experience are usually very uncomfortable and most times they leave you restless. Therefore, the best thing to do at this point is to make yourself the most comfortable. Researchers opine that it is best to stay warm when you have a cold due to the possibility of high temperatures being unfavorable for those pathogens that cause the cold.
This would help prevent their replication. So yes, it might be more advisable to stay warm and cozy when you have a cold. However, if you have a fever alongside the cold, it is advisable to stay cool. The body’s raised temperature during a fever is already a sign that the body is fighting the microorganisms that have invaded the body system.
The common cold, medically called viral upper respiratory tract infection, is a contagious disease that can be caused by many viruses. A cold virus can enter your body system via your mouth, nose, or eyes. Personal contact with an infected person, or the droplets and mucus of an infected person, can also make you contract the virus.
The Rhinovirus [1]is the most common cause of the common cold, one in the about 200 viruses that can cause the common cold. Although there are said to be some specific periods of the year when one is prone to the Rhinovirus infection, the virus can still cause a common cold in any season of the year.
Symptoms Of Cold
This common cold usually begins with a headache, a sore throat that would worsen with time, and mild fatigue sometimes. As it advances, one might begin to experience nasal congestion, sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, and fever sometimes. In most cases, the symptoms of common cold wear off after fourteen days, but they can still last longer.
When you have a cold try to stay warm and your comfort should be your utmost priority. This might even mean staying a little cool for a short period, depending on the way you feel during the cold.
Ways To Stay Warm When You Have A Cold
Warm Shower
To keep warm, you can take a warm shower. Warm showers are great and can bring you a lot of relief. You will feel better and refreshed after a warm shower. Taking warm showers would also help moisturize your nasal passages.
Taking Hot Fluids
Taking lots of hot fluids like tea and coffee, soups, etc, is also another method that will help retreat the cold. Taking these fluids would not only keep you hydrated, but they would also induce the decongestion of your throat and nasal passages and they also ease the pressure because of the inflamed membranes in your throat and nostrils.
In addition, these hot fluids, like tea and coffee, would increase your body temperature due to an increase in the rate of metabolic activities. Taking lots of fluids would not only increase your body temperature by increasing metabolic rates, but they also enable the body to flush out the toxins. The old trick of taking hot chicken soup when one has a cold still works!
Gargling with warm water and salt or honey would also ease discomfort if your throat is dry or sore.
Other Ways To Stay Warm
If external temperature conditions are low. It would be advisable to take measures to stay warm. Those measures include:
Putting On Warm Clothing
Put on clothes that can keep you warm; thick cottony and woolly clothes would be appropriate. It is also good to dress in layers of clothing. Also, wear your socks, scarf, cap, coat, and gloves where necessary, especially when leaving the house.
Keep Your House Warm
You can ensure this by making sure your heating system is on and in optimum condition. Make sure your doors and windows are shut, or at least, are covered with curtains. Altogether, make sure there are no avenues through which cold drafts of air can filter into your house.
Also, make sure your rooms are warm, especially the room where you are taking your rest during this period of illness. You can also keep yourself warm by using thick fabric for your beddings(your blankets, bedspreads, pillowcases, etc.)
Aside From Staying Warm, There Are Many Other Measures You Should Take To Relieve Yourself Of The Discomfort You Feel Due To The Cold.
They include:
- Take Out Time To Rest – Your body needs rest to enable it to fight the cold. When you are stressed out, the body is weak and your immune system’s response would be slow. Adequate rest and sleep would boost your immune system’s response.
- Eat Healthily And Take Lots Of Fruits – Fruits would help keep you hydrated. The food you eat would increase your body metabolism thereby increasing the internal temperature. It would also help replenish the energy and nutrients your body is using to fight. Fruits having high Vitamin C content are also said to prevent your body from getting a cold and to increase the chances of a quick recovery from the cold.
- Stay Hydrated – Drink lots of water and juices. The metabolic rate is increased when one is hydrated. This would help increase your body temperature, making you warmer. Water would also moisten your throat.
- Steam Therapy – Putting your face above the source of steam for short periods may help loosen nasal congestion and may provide a bit of relief. Just make sure you don’t stay in the heat for too long.
- Take Medication – Medications can be taken to ease a cough. Decongestants, anti-inflammatory medicines, and pain relievers might also be necessary. However, caution should be taken in the application of these measures. Also, seek medical attention where necessary, especially, when it concerns the young ones.
- Nasal Saline Rinsing Or Nasal Saline Drops – You can make it yourself by adding warm water to a measured quantity of salt, use the solution to rinse each nose repeatedly. You can also use nasal saline drops for your nose. This would help loosen the nasal congestion and ease the pressure in your ears due to the stuffy nose.
- Maintain Good Hand Hygiene: Washing your hand regularly or application of alcohol-based hand sanitizers would help prevent the virus from spreading and the cold from worsening.
Glossary
- Web MD [Link]
