The Do's and Don'ts of Easing Cold Symptoms

Adults catch 2 to 3 colds a year, yet fewer than half of Americans know antibiotics can't treat one. Here's what actually eases cold symptoms, and what only makes them drag on.

The average adult catches 2 to 3 colds a year, and children get even more, according to the CDC figures cited by Mass General Brigham. Yet fewer than half of Americans realize antibiotics are useless against a cold, per a Harris Poll for the Merck Manuals. So the problem isn't catching a cold. It's treating it wrongly. Here's what actually helps, and what quietly makes things worse.

• 2 to 3 colds a year is the average for adults (Mass General Brigham).
• 49% of Americans correctly knew antibiotics don't treat colds (Merck Manuals survey).
• 10 to 14 days is how long a cough or runny nose can linger, even in an ordinary cold (Mass General Brigham).
• 3 times more likely to catch a cold virus: people sleeping under five hours a night, according to a physician quoted by News4Jax.

Because it's so ordinary that we stop paying attention. The common cold leads to more provider visits and missed school and work days than any other illness, Cedars-Sinai notes. That familiarity breeds shortcuts: the leftover antibiotic, the "just push through" workday, the megadose of vitamins.

None of these shortcuts shorten a cold. A cold is a viral infection of the nose and throat. Your immune system does the real work, and your job is simply to make that work easier. Think of it as managing cold symptoms, not fighting the virus.

Rest and fluids are the foundation. Cedars-Sinai lists them as the core treatment for reducing symptoms. They sound too simple to matter, but they are exactly what a recovering body asks for.

• Sleep more than you think you need. If short sleep is linked to catching a cold in the first place, it's reasonable to expect that protecting your sleep helps you recover.
• Drink warm liquids. Water, broth, and herbal tea thin mucus and soothe a scratchy sore throat.
• Use saline for nasal congestion. A saltwater spray or rinse with distilled or boiled-and-cooled water loosens thick mucus without medication.
• Run a humidifier. Moist air eases a dry throat and nasal congestion. Clean it regularly so it doesn't grow mould.
• Ask a pharmacist before buying combination products. Several cold medicines hide the same active ingredient, and doubling up is an easy mistake.

Anything that promises more than comfort. Antibiotics, in particular, don't help. The Merck Manuals state they don't work for colds even when mucus turns thick or coloured. One physician quoted by News4Jax adds that using them needlessly feeds antibiotic resistance in the whole community.