What to do about a cold: home remedies and tips

What are typical cold symptoms and what can you do about them?

A runny nose, cough, fatigue, and perhaps a slight fever, chills, and aching limbs are the classic signs of a cold. More than 200 different cold viruses, known as rhinoviruses, cause these annoying symptoms. Unlike the flu, which causes the thermometer to rise significantly, a cold creeps up slowly and usually reaches its peak after several days. Thanks to our body's own defenses, it subsides on its own, but this can take up to two weeks. During this time, home remedies can help alleviate the symptoms of a cold.

Proven home remedies for colds

Vitamin C, echinacea, raw garlic, hot grog—many people swear by their personal home remedies to get rid of the culprits that make them sick so they can get back to their everyday lives and personal contacts with family, friends, and colleagues as soon as possible. But what can really be done about a cold, and which home remedies help with which cold symptoms?

1. The fruity-spicy root: ginger
Ginger has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. Whether for nausea or as a home remedy for colds, its valuable ingredients (e.g., gingerols) warm and unfold particularly well in hot drinks. Many swear by a hot infusion with wafer-thin slices of the spicy root for cough and sore throat symptoms.

2. Fresh fruit with vitamin power: lemon
Lemon not only contains plenty of vitamin C, bioflavonoids, and antibacterial properties, but also tastes great with natural home remedies for colds and flavor enhancers such as honey and ginger. A fresh tea made from honey, ginger, and lemon combines all these benefits particularly well.

3. Home remedies for coughs associated with colds
Chest compresses and chest rubs with essential oils such as pine needle, eucalyptus, or menthol are particularly beneficial as home remedies for coughs associated with colds. Inhalations with salt water or chamomile tea moisturize the mucous membranes and make it easier to cough up phlegm. For colds with coughs and acute bronchitis, herbal cough remedies such as the special ivy extract EA 575 in Prospan can also help to relieve symptoms.

4. Moisture for the respiratory tract
Even though colds are often most prevalent in the wet, cold fall and winter months, the viruses that cause them thrive in dry climates and spread particularly easily in heated air. Humidifiers, inhalers, steamy showers, or relaxing hot baths help to restore moisture to stressed mucous membranes. The steam produced moisturizes the nasal mucosa, clears the nose, and also helps you relax. If you like, you can add a few drops of a pleasant-smelling essential oil (e.g., tea tree, rosemary, orange, or lavender) to the bath water to relieve your cold.

5. Soothing warmth
Persistent congestion in the forehead or sinuses can also be relieved with a little heat treatment, which can alleviate the unpleasant pressure. If you don't have a heat pad to hand, you can heat a wet washcloth in the microwave for around 30 seconds—until it is warm but not uncomfortably hot—and place it on the affected areas. Other home remedies for colds include foods that “heat up” the body, such as chili peppers, mustard, or horseradish, which can provide relief from sinus blockages and clear the airways.

6. Rising foot bath
For those who don't have a bathtub or simply aren't the bathtub type, there is another similar home remedy that can help with colds: a rising foot bath. To do this, immerse your feet in lukewarm water – approx. 33 degrees Celsius – and gradually add hot water until a maximum of 40 degrees Celsius is reached. After 10-15 minutes, dry your feet thoroughly and then go to bed for 20 minutes. What does this achieve? Even though the feet and the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract are quite far apart, both areas of the body are connected via reflex pathways – in other words, when the feet are better supplied with blood due to the warmth, the blood flow to the mucous membranes also increases.

7. Sleep and rest – classic home remedies that help with colds
If you have a fever, feel exhausted, or have a severe cough, you need to rest completely in order to thoroughly recover from the viral infection. If the infection is only a mild cold without a fever, gentle exercise such as a walk in the fresh air can gently support the immune system. Otherwise, get under the covers and, above all, get enough sleep so that your body can recover naturally.