The common cold is a viral infection of the lining of the nose, sinuses, throat and large airways. Many different viruses cause colds. Rhinoviruses cause most spring, summer and fall colds. Influenza (Flu) viruses and respiratory syncytial viruses cause colds in the late fall and winter. Flu viruses spread easily from person to person by infected droplets in the air from people coughing and sneezing. Rhinoviruses and respiratory syncytial viruses are also air-borne, but most likely by direct contact with infected secretions carried on the fingers.
Symptoms of the common cold start one to three days after infection. Usually, the first symptoms are discomfort in the nose or throat. Later, the following symptoms are sneezing, runny nose, red eyes, sore throat, dry cough, headache, general body aches and some times a slight fever. During the first day or two, the nasal discharge is watery and clear but can be annoyingly plentiful. As the cold progresses, the nasal mucus may become thicker, opaque, yellow-green and less abundant. Symptoms usually disappear in four to 10 days. Many people also develop a cough with or without sputum that often lasts up to two weeks. Complications may prolong the symptoms. A bacterial infection of the ears, the sinuses, airways and lungs may follow the cold and need antibiotics.
Prevention:
1. Eat well and get plenty of sleep and exercise to keep up the immune resistance.
2. Try to avoid people who have colds.
3. Keep your hands away from your nose, eyes, and mouth, and cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze.
4. Wash your hands often, especially when you are around people who have colds.
5. Humidify your bedroom or whole house if possible.
6. Drink plenty of water to flush out toxins and germs from your body.
7. Don’t smoke, because it will irritate the airways and break up the membrane resistance so germs are easily going into your blood stream.
8. During the common cold season, don’t eat too spicy of foods that can burn the throat membrane. This results in germs having a chance to attack you.
9. During the flu season, you can take Garlic, Echinacea and Vitamin C as supplements to help your immune system work more efficiently.
10. Use the sinus rinse to clean your nasal passages and sinus openings once a day so as to wash away mucus as well as pathogenic particles and prevent cold or flu.
Treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine
1. Acupuncture and cupping can reduce the fever, congestion, headaches, body aches and ease the symptoms.
2. Chinese herbs can comfort the sore throat, runny nose, coughing, relieve fever, aching, etc. and speed up the recovering process. Some Chinese herbs may strengthen immunity so as to prevent cold or flu.
3. Herbal nasal spray and rinse to clear the nasal congestion, clean local inflammation and infection, wash off the excessive mucus or allergens, moisturize and subside the irritation of inflamed membranes in the nose and sinuses.
For more information, please call Dr. Liyan Lu of Ping’s Acupuncture and Herbs Center at 661-513-9265.