Whenever you feel that tightness or slight tickle in the back of your throat, or your nose getting a little stuffy, it is important to take steps to try to avoid a full-blown cold. While you may not be able to stop every cold in its tracks, there's a good chance that, if you take the proper steps, you'll be able to get rid of a cold before it starts or, at least, reduce its severity. The key is to take action at the first sign of cold or flu and then keep nursing your body back to optimum health until all symptoms are gone. It really helps to stop consuming sugar during this period and brush regularly with Hydrogen Peroxide and baking soda toothpaste as another great way to defend against colds.
Take vitamin C to boost your immune system. Vitamin C boosts the immune system, which helps your body to fight off the cold. There is no doubt that vitamin C in large doses has value against the common cold. At the first sign of a cold, take a gram of vitamin C (or 1 packet of Emergen-C powder drink) every three to four hours for the 1st day. If the symptoms still exist - if you're still sneezing, your nose is running, throat has a tickle, or feel shivery, take another 1 or 2 grams of vitamin C (or EmergenC packet). Keep doing this until you are feeling like the symptoms have subsided.
By using the neti pot or a simple nose flush device, flush the nose with a salt water mixture. If your nose is a bit stuffy, salt water is the best fix. A neti pot allows people to clean the nasal passages. Fill the pot with warm salt water, tilt your head to the side and pour the water into the top nostril. The water should run out of the bottom nostril. If you do not have a neti pot, purchase an over-the-counter nasal saline solution at the pharmacy. Be sure that it is saline, not a nasal decongestant, which can dry nasal passages.
Curing a common cold and flu. - This works 80% of the time
In 1928 Richard Simmons, M.D. hypothesized that colds and flu virus enter through the ear canal. His findings were dismissed by the medical community. According to Dr. Simmons, contrary to what you may think or have been taught about how you catch the flu or the cold there is only one way that you can catch the two, and that's via the ear canal not through the eyes or nose or mouth as most have believed. Keeping your fingers out of your ears will greatly reduce your chances of catching them, but then again these two are microscopic and can be air-born and may land on or even in your ear. Once they have entered the inner-ear (middle-ear) where they begin their breeding process, and from there they have access to every avenue throughout our body to travel to and to infect and make us sick.
In 1938 German researchers had great success using hydrogen peroxide in dealing with colds and the flu. Their data has been ignored (maybe suppressed) for over 60 years.
For many years people, in the know, have been attacking the Influenza(s) Virus & Common Cold where they begin their breeding process and not where they have already have spread to and that's the inner-ear (middle). It is important to begin treatment as soon as symptoms appear.
Research has shown remarkable results in curing the flu & cold within 12 to 14 hours when administering a few drops of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (h2o2) into each infected ear, (sometimes only one ear is infected) The Hydrogen Peroxide starts working within 2 to 3 minutes in killing the flu or cold; there will be some bubbling and in some cases mild stinging occurs. Wait until the bubbling & stinging subside (usually 5 to 10 min) then drain onto a tissue and repeat on another ear. A bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide in 3% solution is available at any drug store for a couple of dollars.
To best defend against the flu, people need to repeat this process two or more times at one or two hour intervals until there is no more bubbling when putting Hydrogen Peroxide in the ear(s).
Gargle with warm salt water. To ward off a sore throat, mix up a glass of warm water with salt. Gargle with this solution five times every hour.
Drink lots of fluids. Fluids will help your body stay hydrated and fight off cold germs. Water is always an excellent choice, but you may also want to try tea or juice. Avoid drinks that are dehydrating, like coffee and sodas.
Use a humidifier with purified water. Dry air can make a cold worse. If you want to get rid of your cold, use a humidifier to make the air more humid. If you don't have a humidifier, you can create moist air by running a hot shower with the bathroom door closed. Sit in the bathroom and breathe in this air or try a steam room with eucalyptus fragrance infused into the water.
Try lemongrass green tea with a big dollop of honey stirred in (honey is not only an anti-inflammatory, but it is also supposed to boost your immune response).
Also, try orange spice white tea with a chunk of crystallized ginger submerged inside. Ginger is best known for its properties as a digestive aid, but it is also a decongestant and lends a nice zing to the tea.
Lukewarm lemon water should be taken at the beginning of each day to alkaline the body and stomach before consumption of any foods. Between the immune-boosting vitamin C and the anti-viral power of this amazingly healing fruit, it should be a staple in everyone’s (under the weather or well) diet.
You can also boil water in a pot and mix 1 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice with two teaspoons of honey. This mixture is very effective and can provide instant relief for a blocked nose and sore throats, even though you might have to take it regularly for it to be effective.
Zicam and ColdEeze are popular zinc, vitamin C and a few other minerals and vitamins that boost your defenses homeopathic options that can be purchased at any drugstore and probably at most supermarkets. At the first sign of a cold or symptoms of the cold or flu, follow the instructions on the box (place small dissolvable tablet under the tongue in interval hours). ColdEeze also makes one that's basically a cough drop and should be able to lessen and shorten the flu and cold symptoms. The Cleveland Clinic did a study on ColdEeze that showed it did, in fact, shorten the duration of the common cold.
As soon as you feel the first symptom (within hours):
✶ Take 2000 mg of vitamin C or 1 packet of Emergen-C powder drink.
✶ Start drinking lots of water.
✶ Start ColdEeze regimen.
Then, keep drinking lots of water and taking ColdEeze.
✶ Get as much rest as you possibly can. The body repairs when it is sleeping.
✶ Eat a sugar-free, light diet of homemade chicken soup broth. Bacteria live off of sugar, so cutting out sugar and anything mucus-building (dairy and wheat), adding natural immune booster and disinfectants, such as onions, ginger, lemon, honey, and cayenne pepper is recommended. Refined sugars also weaken the immune system which fights off the cold and promotes the growth of yeast.
✶ Fresh chicken soup (not from the can) best for individuals suffering from colds because it provides the body with vitamins, to rejuvenate the body and clear up a stuffy nose and aids to soothe a scratchy throat.
✶ Use a humidifier or sit in a steam room or bath a few times a day.
✶ Keep yourself as warm as you can unless you have a fever, in which case you should keep your body cool, though you may feel like you are freezing. Taking a cool shower and dressing in cool cotton clothes during a fever or until it breaks is best.
✶ Wash your hands and dishes religiously- with antibacterial soap, and do not reuse water glasses. This will keep your hands germ-free, which is especially important if your body is already trying to fight off one cold. You do not want to catch a different strain.
Working out or walking outside in the fresh air is a great way for the body to fight off a cold. This gets the heart working to circulate blood and oxygen to other parts of the body to ward off bacteria. Physical activities also help people under the weather to sleep better, which is necessary when a cold is near.
Avoid getting in contact with too many people, crowded areas or stressful environments, as this can lead to infecting others and exacerbating and elongating the cold and symptoms.
Please note*: Treating the root cause of the cold or flu is the best way to ensure that it does not come back. By taking over the counter drugs, only symptoms are masked and the cycle of feeling unwell will only return again. Of course, if a cold becomes worsened or a fever of 105 F (for adults) does not break, you may have to seek professional medical aid so you can get prescribed drugs to clear up the cold.
