Home Remedies for Common Cold

• Midnight Medicine. Rubs containing natural ingredients like Pudina (Menthol), Kapoor (Camphor) and Nilgiri (Eucalyptus Oil) such as Vicks VapoRub, relieve congestion and help you breathe more easily. It also has a soothing and cooling effect. They are especially effective in children and help them sleep well at night.
• Steam Inhalation. This is an excellent method for opening blocked nasal passages. Fill a bowl with steaming water. Add two teaspoonfuls of a mentholated rub and gently inhale the steaming mentholated vapours. But closely supervise children to avoid scalding.
• Drink Extra Fluids such as water, juices (orange, grapefruit), tea, to replace fluids lost during the illness. Also eat fresh fruit rich in Vitamin C like citrus fruits.
• Take extra rest as it helps your body fight the infection.
• Keep a positive attitude as it can heal and mobilize the immune system.
• In case of fever associated with a cold, a regular paracetamol should help.
• Consult your doctor if the cold is accompanied by high fever or if the cold persists beyond one week as this may be because of a more serious infection.
• Additionally, colds are a viral infection and do not need as much internal treatment as externally safe and effective medication. As mentioned earlier, products with natural ingredients like Pudina (Menthol), Kapoor (Camphor) and Nilgiri (Eucalyptus Oil), such as Vicks VapoRub are useful. Pudina opens a blocked nose, Kapoor acts as a mild analgesic to soothe body aches and Nilgiri calms cough. Products with such natural ingredients have proved effective for millions of Indians over the last 50 years.
• Lemon is the most important among the many home remedies for common cold. It is beneficial in all types of cold with fever. Vitamin C-rich lemon juice increases body resistance, decreases toxicity and reduces the duration of the illness. One lemon should be diluted in a glass of warm water, and a teaspoon of honey should be added to it. This should be taken once or twice daily
• Garlic soup is an old remedy to reduce the severity of a cold, and should be taken once daily. The soup can be prepared by boiling three or four cloves of chopped garlic in a cup of water. Garlic contains antiseptic and antispasmodic properties, besides several other medicinal virtues. The oil contained in this vegetable helps to open up the respiratory passages. In soup form, it flushes out all toxins from the system and thus helps bring down fever. Five drops of garlic oil combined with a teaspoon of onion juice, and diluted in a cup of water, should be drunk two to three times a day. This has also been found to be very effective in the treatment of common cold.
• Ginger is another excellent remedy for colds and coughs. About ten grams of ginger should be cut into small pieces and boiled in a cup of water. It should then be strained and half a teaspoon of sugar added to it. This decoction should be drunk when hot. Ginger tea, prepared by adding a few pieces of ginger into boiled water before adding the tea leaves, is also an effective remedy for colds and for fevers resulting from cold. It may be taken twice daily.

• Lady's fingers are highly valuable in treating irritation of the throat and a persistent dry cough. This vegetable is rich in mucilage and acts as a drug to allay irritation, swelling, and pain. About 100 gm of lady's fingers should be cut into pieces, and boiled down in half a litre of water to make a decoction. The steam issuing from this decoction may also be inhaled once or twice a day to relieve throat irritation and a dry cough
• The roots of the bitter gourd plant are used in folk medicine to cure a cold. A teaspoon of the root paste, mixed with an equal quantity of honey or tulsi leaf juice, given once every night for a month, acts as an excellent medicine for colds
• Turmeric is an effective remedy for colds and throat irritations. Half a teaspoon of fresh turmeric powder mixed in 30 ml of warm milk, and taken once or twice daily, is a useful prescription for these conditions. Turmeric powder should be put into a hot ladle. Milk should then be poured in it and boiled over a slow fire. This mixture should then be drunk by the patient. In case of a running cold, smoke from the burning turmeric should be inhaled. It will increase the discharge from the nose and provide quick relief.
• Tamarind(imli)-pepper rasam is also considered an effective home remedy for a cold in South India. Dilute 50 mg tamarind in 250 ml of water. Boil the diluted tamarind water for a few minutes with a teaspoon of hot ghee and half a teaspoon of black pepper powder. This steaming hot rasam has a flushing effect, and should be taken three times a day. As one takes it, the nose and eyes water and the nasal blockage is cleared
• Inhale turmeric fumes, for this tie some turmeric in a clean cloth and light it. Boil some water and allow it to cool, now add ¼ teaspoon table salt to it. Put 2 to 3 drops of this solution in your both the nostrils before meals and going to bed. Mix natural apple cider vinegar and water in equal parts. Boil this solution in a pan, when the fumes rises lean over the pan and inhale the fumes. Prepare a solution using 4 drops of Lavender Essential Oil and Pine Essential Oil, 3 drops of Peppermint Essential Oil and 7 drops of Eucalyptus Essential Oil. Inhale vapors of this solution by putting it on a cotton ball or an aromatherapy diffuser
• The acute stage of the cold, when fever is present, the patient should abstain from all solid foods and only drink fruit and vegetable juices, diluted with water.
• After the acute symptoms are over, the patient can gradually embark upon a well-balanced diet, consisting of seeds, nuts, grains, vegetables, and fruits.
• It is advisable to avoid meat, fish, eggs, cheese, and starchy food.
• Other useful measures in the treatment of a common cold are a mild sunbath, fresh air and deep breathing, brisk walks, sound sleep, and adjustment of one's clothes and habits to the requirements of the season so as to nullify the effect of weather fluctuations.
• Boil water in a pan and put some Vicks in to it. Cover your head with cloth and take deep inhalations by leaning over the pan. This method reduces the headache and cold.
• Don't add sugar to your ginger tea or anything else. It significantly lowers immunity!
• Heat up a glass of apple juice and drink it like tea.
• Start the day with the honey-pepper mixture: grind 7 black pepper balls and mix with a teaspoon of honey, turning the spoon 108 times clockwise.