Cold/flu, I hate having to spend a week in bed every 8 weeks or so. Any less-known tips?
For example I thought that dealing with ear pain with a cup of pan heated salt poured into a sock and held against it (increases blood circulation and somehow that helps) is pretty universal, but just yesterday it turned out an Austrian pharmacist never heard about it. It may be new to you as well. As a traditional folk remedy, it provides very quick symptomatic belief, works in about 10 mins, but if the pain returns the next day, doctor.
For the record, the known tips are: paracetamol (tylenol) but with muchas caution as it is a liver killer, or ibuprofen (I would say if you have kids, don’t even keep paracetamol/tylenol in the house, ibuprofen works just as well and is safer) vit C, hot tea preferably with honey, bed, various kinds of throat lozenges.
I’m inclined to think the two month cycle is unusual. Are there other people in your area who are also getting colds every two months? Is there anything else in your life that runs on a two month cycle?
When I was a child, I had this. A 6 week cycle of cold → sinus infection which required antibiotics to normalize, 5 weeks of normalcy, then another one. I didn’t grow at all during 1st grade due to constantly being sick.
I had bad adenoids—they’re like tonsils but in the back of your nose. They are supposed to shrink away to nothing as you grow but mine were hypertrophic and blocking part of the drainage and thus causing constant infections. I had them removed in a quick and easy surgery in second grade, the cycle ended instantly, and I caught up with my classmates quite quickly.
Don’t get it in the first place. Take care of good hand hygiene and don’t pick your nose or rub your eyes and watch where you put your hands in public places. Don’t get sleep deprived or stressed and don’t exercise excessively so that you don’t compromise your immune system. Avoid people who you know are sick, avoid shaking hands or wash your hands afterwards. If you get a cold very frequently or it is always prolonged despite of taking precautions check for asthma and allergic rhinitis and get those treated.
Hm, I thought people get it mostly from the air, via other people sneezing? I must admit I am guilty of picking my nose as I hate it when it is full, and doing that with not even having washed my hand after grabbing everywhere on the public transport. But I did not think cold/flu virus comes from the hand, I thought it only works with droplet infection from the air, such as people sneezing.
I would rule asthma out—it would pretty much make exercise impossible, wouldn’t it? My cardio is not too bad for my weight and with that kind of problem it should be.
Allergy—good point, I actually told the doc that one of the medicine I took (probably silver-protein + ephedrin) resulted in allergic skin rash, and then the doc said if I am unlucky, the symptoms of medicine allergy and the cold can just as well add up, as they are similar.
If you get cold every 8 weeks the obvious thing is to get vaccinated against the common cold.
The second thing is to get enough Vitamin D3. Either naturally through spending time in the sun or through a supplement.
For example I thought that dealing with ear pain with a cup of pan heated salt poured into a sock and held against it (increases blood circulation and somehow that helps) is pretty universal, but just yesterday it turned out an Austrian pharmacist never heard about it. It may be new to you as well. As a traditional folk remedy, it provides very quick symptomatic belief, works in about 10 mins, but if the pain returns the next day, doctor.
The fact that it provides quick symptomatic relief doesn’t mean that there isn’t risk involved by putting something very warm near your ear.
I’m not sure that the heated salt is hot enough to be worrisome. What ill effects do you think are likely?
I don’t have specific concerns, but in general heating up a region under pain seems to be an idea that could be within standard medicine and it doesn’t seem to be standard practice.
If it would be useful, why is there no big pharma company that sells a creme that heats up ears and markets it?
I’ve never heard of the salt/ear thing, but warm compresses are fairly standard advice for certain types of eye infections. I believe the main goal there is less to increase blood circulation and more to soften oils that might be blocking the glands in the area, though.
Physical heating is something that pharma companies aren’t really equipped to monopolize, but I have seen microwavable hot/cold packs. They don’t seem to offer much advantage over a warm towel.
Nobody runs clinical trials to show that the cup of salts has ideal properties.
Nasal irrigation seems to have been pretty successfully commercialized, so I suppose you could commercialize heated salt and run trials with some inventive marketing.
Nasal irrigation seems to have been pretty successfully commercialized, so I suppose you could commercialize heated salt and run trials with some inventive marketing.
But then you would likely sell your heated salt at a higher price point and not for the price of ordinary salt.
There a lot of money in big pharma and there are solutions to heating up areas of the body developed for people with tense backs.
It’s no absolute heuristic but it looks to me like a topic that’s open to big pharma intervention.
That means there likely research out there that gives a better idea about whether it’s something worthwhile to do then simply following folk remedies.
Worth noting that you can easily obtain N-Acetyl Cysteine (e.g. from Amazon), which is an effective antidote to paracetamol toxicity (and the mechanism suggests it can be taken preventatively).
Perhaps good to have on hand as first aid, but are you suggesting taking more acetaminophen and trying to protectt your liver with the cysteine? Seems high risk, low reward if so.
Not suggesting anything like that at all, just a good and interesting thing to be aware of. Especially good to have on hand if you have kids, and I think it’s probably good to take it with normal doses of paracetamol.
I don’t think a mechanism suggesting that it can be taken preventatively is enough to suggest that it should be taken.
It’s a separate drug with it’s own side effects.
Before taking it preventatively I would like to see studies that suggest that it’s benefitial to take it in that fashion.
paracetamol (tylenol) but with muchas caution as it is a liver killer, or ibuprofen (I would say if you have kids, don’t even keep paracetamol/tylenol in the house, ibuprofen works just as well and is safer)
This is incorrect. Normal paracetamol dosing is less than half the toxic dose of paracetamol, and it is an incredibly safe drug at these levels. Ibuprofen however has rare but well know side effects of gastric irritation, ulceration and life-threatening haemorrhage
Normal paracetamol dosing is less than half the toxic dose of paracetamol, and it is an incredibly safe drug at these levels.
Yes, that is the point. It is incredibly easy to go over double the normal, if you are irritated with symptoms. I know people who take three aspirin pills at once because they really want to throw a nuke on that hangover. A typical coldrex pill is 4 pills a day. It is far too easy to not even read it (it is OTC so “safe” right???? they would make it prescription if it was dangerous right???? ← this is a common logic used) and pop a pill every hour.
Cold/flu, I hate having to spend a week in bed every 8 weeks or so. Any less-known tips?
For example I thought that dealing with ear pain with a cup of pan heated salt poured into a sock and held against it (increases blood circulation and somehow that helps) is pretty universal, but just yesterday it turned out an Austrian pharmacist never heard about it. It may be new to you as well. As a traditional folk remedy, it provides very quick symptomatic belief, works in about 10 mins, but if the pain returns the next day, doctor.
For the record, the known tips are: paracetamol (tylenol) but with muchas caution as it is a liver killer, or ibuprofen (I would say if you have kids, don’t even keep paracetamol/tylenol in the house, ibuprofen works just as well and is safer) vit C, hot tea preferably with honey, bed, various kinds of throat lozenges.
I’m inclined to think the two month cycle is unusual. Are there other people in your area who are also getting colds every two months? Is there anything else in your life that runs on a two month cycle?
Agreed. Especially if it’s the flu.
“Is it flu or cold symptoms?”… http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/flu-cold-symptoms?page=2
Bedridden and unhappy 11% of life is an extremely high cost—I would spend the money to see a doctor.
No idea and no.
When I was a child, I had this. A 6 week cycle of cold → sinus infection which required antibiotics to normalize, 5 weeks of normalcy, then another one. I didn’t grow at all during 1st grade due to constantly being sick.
I had bad adenoids—they’re like tonsils but in the back of your nose. They are supposed to shrink away to nothing as you grow but mine were hypertrophic and blocking part of the drainage and thus causing constant infections. I had them removed in a quick and easy surgery in second grade, the cycle ended instantly, and I caught up with my classmates quite quickly.
Don’t get it in the first place. Take care of good hand hygiene and don’t pick your nose or rub your eyes and watch where you put your hands in public places. Don’t get sleep deprived or stressed and don’t exercise excessively so that you don’t compromise your immune system. Avoid people who you know are sick, avoid shaking hands or wash your hands afterwards. If you get a cold very frequently or it is always prolonged despite of taking precautions check for asthma and allergic rhinitis and get those treated.
Hm, I thought people get it mostly from the air, via other people sneezing? I must admit I am guilty of picking my nose as I hate it when it is full, and doing that with not even having washed my hand after grabbing everywhere on the public transport. But I did not think cold/flu virus comes from the hand, I thought it only works with droplet infection from the air, such as people sneezing.
I would rule asthma out—it would pretty much make exercise impossible, wouldn’t it? My cardio is not too bad for my weight and with that kind of problem it should be.
Allergy—good point, I actually told the doc that one of the medicine I took (probably silver-protein + ephedrin) resulted in allergic skin rash, and then the doc said if I am unlucky, the symptoms of medicine allergy and the cold can just as well add up, as they are similar.
Nope.
You can use normal saline and oil sprays to get your nose clean so you don’t have to pick it. Or pick it with a clean tissue.
I doubt drug allergies and environmental allergies correlate in a meaningful way.
If you get cold every 8 weeks the obvious thing is to get vaccinated against the common cold.
The second thing is to get enough Vitamin D3. Either naturally through spending time in the sun or through a supplement.
The fact that it provides quick symptomatic relief doesn’t mean that there isn’t risk involved by putting something very warm near your ear.
There is no vaccine against the common cold.
I’m not sure that the heated salt is hot enough to be worrisome. What ill effects do you think are likely?
Ah, you are right. Still there’s a flu vaccine.
I don’t have specific concerns, but in general heating up a region under pain seems to be an idea that could be within standard medicine and it doesn’t seem to be standard practice.
If it would be useful, why is there no big pharma company that sells a creme that heats up ears and markets it?
I’ve never heard of the salt/ear thing, but warm compresses are fairly standard advice for certain types of eye infections. I believe the main goal there is less to increase blood circulation and more to soften oils that might be blocking the glands in the area, though.
Physical heating is something that pharma companies aren’t really equipped to monopolize, but I have seen microwavable hot/cold packs. They don’t seem to offer much advantage over a warm towel.
Because a cup of salt costs something like cents, it would be very difficult to compete with it.
Nobody runs clinical trials to show that the cup of salts has ideal properties.
Running clinical trials that a certain creme helps the ear on the other hand puts the treatment into the ‘evidence-based’ medicine bucket.
See Scott Alexanders discussion of Melatonin vs. Ramelteon.
Of course nobody does it, there is no business opportunity in it.
Nasal irrigation seems to have been pretty successfully commercialized, so I suppose you could commercialize heated salt and run trials with some inventive marketing.
But then you would likely sell your heated salt at a higher price point and not for the price of ordinary salt.
Businesses don’t necessary notice every opportunity quickly, or even at all.
There a lot of money in big pharma and there are solutions to heating up areas of the body developed for people with tense backs.
It’s no absolute heuristic but it looks to me like a topic that’s open to big pharma intervention. That means there likely research out there that gives a better idea about whether it’s something worthwhile to do then simply following folk remedies.
Well, there are these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heating_pad
It’s my understanding that the prime use of heating pad’s is treating tense muscles. Mostly for people with tense backs.
Heat and cold also get applied to sprains.
Worth noting that you can easily obtain N-Acetyl Cysteine (e.g. from Amazon), which is an effective antidote to paracetamol toxicity (and the mechanism suggests it can be taken preventatively).
Perhaps good to have on hand as first aid, but are you suggesting taking more acetaminophen and trying to protectt your liver with the cysteine? Seems high risk, low reward if so.
Not suggesting anything like that at all, just a good and interesting thing to be aware of. Especially good to have on hand if you have kids, and I think it’s probably good to take it with normal doses of paracetamol.
I don’t think a mechanism suggesting that it can be taken preventatively is enough to suggest that it should be taken. It’s a separate drug with it’s own side effects.
Before taking it preventatively I would like to see studies that suggest that it’s benefitial to take it in that fashion.
Actually, vitamin C does nothing for the flu.
The recommendation was for D3, not C.
More generally, working on improving health all the time is a somewhat different project than trying to get better when you’re sick.
I wrote in reply to DeVliegendeHollander’s vitamin C comment, not to ChristianKI’s D3 comment.
regular exercise. Should help keep your immune system stronger. (sorry I don’t have a source, but I am sure there are papers out there)
This is incorrect. Normal paracetamol dosing is less than half the toxic dose of paracetamol, and it is an incredibly safe drug at these levels. Ibuprofen however has rare but well know side effects of gastric irritation, ulceration and life-threatening haemorrhage
Yes, that is the point. It is incredibly easy to go over double the normal, if you are irritated with symptoms. I know people who take three aspirin pills at once because they really want to throw a nuke on that hangover. A typical coldrex pill is 4 pills a day. It is far too easy to not even read it (it is OTC so “safe” right???? they would make it prescription if it was dangerous right???? ← this is a common logic used) and pop a pill every hour.
Unfortunately, paracetamol is included in some multi-drug combinations, so it’s relatively easy to overdose by accident.