After spending nearly two weeks coughing, sniffling and wheezing — and hearing everyone’s favorite remedies — I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as the “common cold”.
Some people get head colds — their nasal passages stop up, they sneeze a lot, their nose runs. For others, it settles in the chest — coughing, wheezing, sore throat. Sometimes these symptoms are accompanied by a fever, sometimes not. The only universal appears to be that dragging, rundown feeling — like your cell phone is on its last power bar and you left the charger in your other purse.
As varied as the symptoms are, the pet remedies are even more so. Hot tea with honey, chicken soup, every over-the-counter remedy ever invented, antibiotics (which do no good whatsoever — antibiotics only work on bacterial infections. Colds are caused by a virus, not bacteria). My personal favorite is one of my father’s old standby’s — a shot of Southern Comfort and a tablespoon of honey. It soothes the throat, cuts the phlegm, and tastes really good! And even if it doesn’t help your symptoms, you don’t really care anymore! LOL
Americans spend millions — perhaps even billions — on cold care each year. But there truly is no cure for the common cold. Granted, you can treat the symptoms — make them slightly (emphasis on slightly) more bearable — but a cold has a mind of its own. And all you can do is wait it out. Which is what I am still doing…
So, in conclusion, this is my apology for having neglected this blog for so long. Hopefully, I’ll be back much sooner the next time!
2 Comments
November 21, 2007 at 5:01 am
I always thought cold remedies were more for the mind than the body. You know what they say about the medication for colds?
“Properly treated, a cold can be cured in 7 days. Left to itself, it’ll hang around all week.”
But you can soothe the sore throat, get rid of the irritating sniffle and the headache; not to mention the dripping nose. And that is what the home remedies are for: to make you feel better.
November 21, 2007 at 5:01 am
I always thought cold remedies were more for the mind than the body. You know what they say about the medication for colds?
“Properly treated, a cold can be cured in 7 days. Left to itself, it’ll hang around all week.”
But you can soothe the sore throat, get rid of the irritating sniffle and the headache; not to mention the dripping nose. And that is what the home remedies are for: to make you feel better.