What is a cold?

A cold is a common illness that can be caused by many viruses. It can be passed easily from one person to another. The exposure risk can be over many days.

If you have a cold, your throat may become sore or scratchy. After a couple of days, you may have a runny or stuffy nose and a cough that lasts from many days to more than a couple of weeks. The mucus from your runny nose might be yellow or green for a few days. This does not necessarily mean that you have a bacterial infection. Some people have a fever and muscle aches in the first few days. Sometimes, you have more serious symptoms like an ear infection, sinus infection, or pneumonia. 

Colds do not cause serious health problems for most people, but they can cause problems for people who smoke, people whose bodies can’t fight infection (immunocompromised), people who have lung problems, or those that are at the extremes of age such as those that are very young and those that are in the latter years of their lives.

Usually, you don’t have to do anything. Most colds don’t cause serious problems.

There is no medicine to cure a cold, but over-the-counter medicine might help you feel better. These medicines may not be good for young children and older adults. Some may have bad side effects. Please ask your doctor what medicine is best for you or your child. 

 If your symptoms are normal for a cold and you have been around people with colds, you probably have a cold and not something more serious.  See your doctor if you have:

• Symptoms that are worse than those of a normal cold or that have not gotten better in 10 days.
• A high fever (over 101˚) for more than a couple of days.
• An earache that gets worse.
• A headache or pain in your face or eyes.
• A stiff neck.
• Shortness of breath.
• Sleepiness or confusion (outside of your normal).
• A health problem that makes it more likely that you will have problems with a cold.  (For example:  asthma and other lung diseases or a disease that affects how your body fights infection.)  If you are on a drug such as prednisone or other steroids, this might decrease your ability to fight infection.  Diabetics also can have problems fighting infection.

• Some specialists in infectious disease now say that 8 glasses of liquid a day can be the best cough medicine that one can use. Cough medicines don’t help to treat the cold, but do try to help to treat some of the symptoms from the cold. 
• Over-the-counter medicines with a drug ingredient called dextromethorphan (DM) can sometimes help to suppress a cough. One should be careful if one is on other medications as there can be drug interactions. It’s also abused by some. Make sure you ask your physician. 
• If you are having trouble with increasing coughing at night, sometimes an inhaler will help. This would need to be a prescription inhaler from your physician.  Sometimes sleeping propped up or sleeping on a recliner can also help. Also increasing the humidity in your lungs can decrease coughing, and so I usually suggest a bath or shower both in the morning and in the evening before going to bed.
• If one develops a coughing spasm in the middle of the night, go into the bathroom, close the door and turn the hot steam on in the shower. You don’t even have to be in the shower to get the effect of the increased humidity.
• For a stuffy nose, saline nasal spray is safe and can be used every hour or two if needed.  Sometimes a prescription steroid nasal spray can be prescribed by your physician.
• For a stuffy nose, in those over 2 years of age, sometimes a decongestant can be helpful. Be careful if you are elderly and have any problems with your prostate gland as decongestants can make urination quite difficult for some males with a large prostate. Also drugs such as pseudoephedrine can increase blood pressure in those with hypertension or a tendency for that.
• Antihistamines might be helpful although they are usually more helpful for those with allergies, rather than colds.
• Obviously nutritious food and liquids are important for fighting off symptoms of colds.  Not getting over tired is also important. Extra rest might be helpful, but an upright position like sitting is better for lung function.
• Codeine containing cough medicines are helpful in a few patients, however, evidence-based studies have not shown these to be very helpful and indeed can cause drowsiness when one is trying to do everyday activities such as driving. I’m also concerned about the elderly on other medications and those that might have the possibility of falling in the middle of the night when they are having potential side effects from the codeine. Obviously codeine is also potentially addicting as well as constipating.

For other information concerning the common cold, please ask your physician or medical provider. An excellent website can be found on www.familydoctor.org.