Treatment of the Common Cold

COMMON COLDS are a nuisance, not life threatening. And being viruses, we don't have any 'antibiotics' against them. (Antibiotics only work on another group of germs called bacteria). Luckily, the common cold lasts only for 5 to 10 days. So for those ten days we try to make life as pleasant as possible by treating the symptoms of the common cold rather than the cold virus itself:

• Fever - acetaminophen based syrups or tablets are used to lower body fever.

• Runny nose/ Sneeze/ Dry cough - antihistamine and/or pseudoephedrine syrups and tablets can dramatically slow a pouring nose, sneeze and cough.

• Sore throat - the acetaminophen used in fever control also eases the pain of sore throats. Gargled aspirin and liquid anesthetics can stop a sore throat. The anesthetics work quick and last for about 15 minutes before your throat starts to hurt again - long enough for you to eat or drink comfortably - but for long term relief gargled aspirin is better but takes much longer to work.

These medications can be bought without a prescription to ease your misery, but consult with your pharmacist before purchase.

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