Home remedies for colds: 8 gentle helpers

Home remedies for common cold
Catches? 8 gentle helpers against coughs, colds and Co.

Is your nose running, your throat scratching and your head buzzing? These are typical signs that we have caught a cold again. With these home remedies for colds, we can quickly get the symptoms under control!

Especially when it’s wet and cold outside, we quickly catch a cold – our noses run, we get coughs and sore throats, our heads are pounding. But fortunately we don’t have to run straight to the doctor’s waiting room with these complaints – simple home remedies for colds help us to get the infection under control ourselves!

These home remedies really help

First aid against the infection: With these means you say the a cold start the fight!

1. Calf wrap

Not for nothing one of Grandma’s favorite home remedies for colds: Cool calf wraps can reduce fever. It is best to use towels made of linen and cotton. The linen cloth is dipped in lukewarm water and wrapped around the calves. So that the water is not lost, the wrap is covered with an additional dry cotton cloth. Incidentally, wraps are also suitable as a home remedy for a sore throat and as a home remedy for fever!

at bronchitis you can also do a chest wrap. The principle is similar to a calf wrap: First, a cold, damp linen cloth is wrapped around the upper body. You wrap a soft towel over it and snuggle up under a warm blanket.

2. Chicken Soup

A bowl of chicken soup when you have a cold is actually a good tip to reduce the discomfort. Because the soup contains it protein cysteine, which has an anti-inflammatory and decongestant effect on the mucous membranes. In addition, chicken soup is considered an important source of liquid.

3. Inhale

A very simple home remedy for colds that is good for stuffy noses and runny noses: inhalation. To do this, pour hot water into a bowl, bend your head over it, spread a towel over yourself and breathe in the rising steam for five to ten minutes. This cleans the mucous membranes in the respiratory tract and promotes blood circulation, some of the stubborn mucus is also loosened. Extra tip: One or two drops of thyme oil in water have an antiviral and antibacterial effect. However, adding essential oil is not suitable for small children!

4. Rising foot bath

The heating is on at five, you’re wearing three pairs of thick stockings and still feel cold? This footbath as a home remedy for colds: fill a bucket ankle-deep with pleasantly warm water, put your feet in it and slowly pour in the hot water. After ten minutes, the water should be around 40 degrees warm and should be up to your calves. Dry your feet, put on warm socks and go straight to bed.

5. Hot lemon

The hot drink increases well-being, maybe it can even give the body a little help at the beginning of an infection. Because the acid stimulates the mucous membranes and warms the body from the inside. However, it is questionable how much vitamin C the drink still contains if you prepare it with hot water: the valuable substance is very sensitive to heat. And what vitamin C really does for colds is also unclear. Tip: Add some peel (from an unsprayed fruit) as well, as it contains essential oils that have antimicrobial properties.

6. Onion Juice

Onion juice in combination with honey has a double effect antibacterial effect and can easily be combined into a cough syrup as a home remedy for colds. To do this, cut an onion into small pieces, put them in a glass and pour two spoons of honey over them. Then the jar is sealed airtight and stored in a cool, dark place for several hours to steep. The liquid resulting from the onion is then poured off for this home remedy for colds.

7. Ventilate well

Although we tend to shiver when we have an infection, that doesn’t mean that we should stay in the stuffy bedroom all day. Viruses and bacteria multiply rapidly in warm rooms. That’s why we should Air briefly three to four times a day: Open the window fully for five to ten minutes.

This is not only bad for the annoying pathogens, but also good for your health: dry room air also ensures that our dry out mucous membranes, which in turn makes it easier for viruses and bacteria to nest. For the same reason, we should go out into the fresh air every day when we have a cold – without exerting ourselves too much and wrapped up warm, of course.

8. Rest

Sounds banal, but: Those who tend to be workaholics find it difficult to lie still in bed or on the sofa when they have a cold. In the meantime, you could at least vacuum for a moment. But we should refrain from that: Our The immune system focuses all of the body’s energy on fighting pathogens. And it can do that best when we allow ourselves some rest. House cleaning can and should therefore really wait a few more days until we feel fit again.

Even more home remedies for colds and Co.

You have problems with cough? We explain to you where a strong cough and a dry, dry cough come from and what helps against it! Here we also reveal what you can do if you have chills and what helps against the common cold. We also explain how chronic colds develop and whether the male flu is really just a myth.

Sources

Bridget