what do you do to help a cold or sore throat?

Answer 1

For throat, lozenges with anaesthetic and antiseptic in them - numbs your throat and tongue.
For cold drink plenty of water and inhale from a steaming bowl of water and Vick vapour rub with a towel over your head - take some decongestant too if you need it.

Answer 2

Lots of ideas above are good.

Gargling in the exquisitely flavoured Eau de TCP is also very good for sore throats (and helps kill bacteria) if you can stomach the flavour of watered down tcp at the back of your throat. :)

Lots of vitamin C is excellent for fighting colds. If taking it as a supplement, then not just 'one a day' as meant for a normal daily supplement, maybe 2 or 3 a day, plus eating more Vit C rich oranges, or drinking pure orange juice, on top.

A lemon chopped up and squashed around in the bottom of a mug (to release more of the juice) , then topped with boiling water and a spoonful of honey (or sugar if you haven't got any) is good too and tastes great so long as you've sweetened it enough, and if you're feeling 'ill' a paracetol to be taken with it.

Plus the loads of other tips above this answer :)

Answer 3

Gargle salt water for the sore throat, drink whisky just before bed, go to bed in a T shirt, sweat like a pig all night and that gets rid of the cold.

Answer 4

Always have some zinc capsules or tabs in the house - often come with vit C. When you start to feel that you might be coming down with a cold, suck them immediately and this may prevent the cold completely - but this only works in the first 12 hours or so.
Take echinacea to boost immune system. Best not to take it all the time, but if others around you have colds then take it as prevention.
Gargle with salt water for a sore throat.
Beware taking decongestant tabs at night as they can prevent sleep in some people (me included!).

Answer 5

When I was a kid (before all of the over-the-counter remedies existed), my mum used to make her own cough/throat medicine. She used to make it like this (I don't know the proportions):

1. Thinly slice some onions and put them in a shallow dish.
2. Cover with sugar and the juice from a lemon.
3. Leave for a few hours at room temperature.
4. Drain off the liquid and spoon it into sickly children's mouths.

It seemed to work and, surprisingly, tasted quite good!

Answer 6

Try out some home remedies. Sore throat is usually due to a viral infection. Gargling with warm salty water or mouthwash can reduce the pain and inconvenience. You can find some good home remedies at http://ailments.in/sorethroat.html

Answer 7

It depends really on your symptoms;
For congestion, headaches & sneezing take a flu plus tablet, use olbas oil & steam to ease congestion
For cough take couch medicine, chemist will suggest best
For sore throat gargle with diflam mouthwash, or diflam spray, which numbs throat. Or, dissolved aspirin, gargled & then swallowed helps.
Stay warm, eat & drink plenty & get lots of rest.
Hope you feel better soon

Answer 8

PLEASE try these 3 remedies...EVERY time I feel run-down or get that tickly feeling in my throat I take these 3 things and it NEVER turns into a full-blown cold.

1)Herb Pharm Olive Leaf Extract in tincture form:
This is the one I buy -

http://www.nextag.com/Herb-Pharm-Olive-Leaf-66659849/prices-html

2) "JarrowDophilus", by "Jarrow Formulas"...it will keep the healthy "flora" in your body in perfect balance which keeps your immune system strong.

3) "Emergen-C" Vitamin C packets by "Alacer"

All three can be purchased at "Whole Foods Market", possibly "Trader Joe's", or call your local health food store to inquire about these 3 products.

EVERY friend and family member who has taken this advice, hardly ever gets sick.

For your throat: "Peaceful Mountain--Throat Rescue"
You will NEVER find a more powerful throat spray which is all-natural....soothing, fast acting, and kills bad bacteria on contact.

Cayenne Pepper in capsules (or sprinkled on soup) helps greatly with congestion AND is also an immune systen booster too....and drink lots of organic green tea to help your energy levels.

You'll see!! :) Get well soon!

I've been in the Alternative Medicine field for some time now, and offer individualized consultations:

http://www.kasamba.com/Wellness-Coach

Answer 9

- remember to wash your hands often as all the germs and stuff you blow out of your nose or when you couch, can get onto your hands and then you just spread them about or put them back on your face!
- drink lots of water to help you flush the germs out of your system!
- for a sore throat, make a tea out of fresh sage leaves as that's really nice and soothing. sage is a natural antisceptic i think, so much nicer than gargling with aspirin! if you don't want to drink the sage tea, then you can just gargle with it as that works too. i've done this quite a few times and it's much better than gargling with soluble aspirin or dissolved salt!!
- also, i think the old adage of feed a cold and starve a fever is a bit of an old wives tale. your body needs vitamins and minerals and so on to be able to heal itself. i usually just do what my body tells me when i'm ill. if i want to sleep, then i sleep. if i want to eat, then i do. don't force yourself to eat or sleep if you can't or don't want to, but rest is definitely important. just nodding off in front of the telly, or listening to music is relaxing enough sometimes.

Answer 10

1. Feed a cold starve a fever - I also take multivitamins and minerals (not just vit c) to give my immune system a boost

2. Gargle with soluable asperin or paracetomol - tastes nasty but it does work

Good luck and get well soon