How to Get Rid of a Cold Fast: Can Natural Remedies Help?

Relieving Your Symptoms

Stay home and get plenty of rest. While colds are rarely serious, they can still drain your energy. The most important thing to do is take it easy. Try to sleep through the night and take naps throughout the day if you have to. This gives your body the energy it needs to fight the virus. Take a day or two off from work or school if you can. This is good for your health and also prevents the virus from spreading. If you regularly exercise, take a day or two off. Your body needs that energy to recover. Try lighter exercises like a walk instead.

Drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated. Dehydration can dry out your nose and throat, and also make it harder for your body to fight the infection. Drink water throughout the day to keep yourself hydrated. In most cases, 6-8 glasses per day is enough, but you might need more if you’re actively fighting an infection. If you feel thirsty and your urine is dark yellow, then you’re getting dehydrated. Drink more water to fix that. Avoid alcohol and caffeine until you’ve recovered. These can both cause dehydration.

Gargle with warm saltwater to ease a sore throat. A saltwater rinse soothes your throat and can also kill bacteria that might be causing irritation. Stir 1/4-1/2 tsp (600-1,200 mg) of salt into a glass of warm water until it dissolves. Then gargle with that water and spit it out into the sink. Continue until the glass is empty. You can repeat this 2-3 times per day. Never swallow saltwater. Don’t let children under 6 gargle with saltwater. They may not gargle properly and could swallow the water.

Humidify the air so your nose and throat don’t dry out. Dry air can irritate your nasal passages and make your symptoms worse. Try setting up a humidifier to moisten the air and soothe your airways. Dry air could also make you more susceptible to colds when you’re healthy, so if you live in a dry environment you could run a humidifier all the time.

Sip warm liquids to soothe your throat and sinuses. Warm liquids can relieve your sore throat and open up your airway. Have tea, soup, or broth throughout the day to soothe your symptoms. Warm liquids might also make your nose run because they loosen mucus, so keep some tissues handy. Remember to stick with caffeine-free teas or coffee because caffeine could dehydrate you.

Suppress your cough with honey. Honey is a well-known treatment for colds and sore throats. Try adding 1–2 tsp (4.9–9.9 ml) to your tea or a glass of water. You could also eat the honey plain for a similar effect. Raw honey is better than processed honey because it’s free of chemicals and contains more nutrients. Don’t give honey to children younger than 1. Their immune systems aren’t as strong and they could catch a botulinum infection from honey.

Clearing Congestion

Take a hot shower or bath and inhale the steam. A hot shower or bath can feel rejuvenating, but it can also help clear your airway. When you take your daily shower or bath, spend a few minutes inhaling the steam. This can loosen mucus and clear your sinuses.

Inhale steam from a pot to draw out mucus. You could also use this method for clearing your airway. Fill a pot with hot water, or heat it on the stove until it’s steaming. Then put your face close to the water and inhale the steam for a few minutes. This should loosen mucus and draw it out. If you boil the water, be careful not to burn yourself. While some instructions say to put a towel over your head when you inhale steam, this isn’t a good idea. Covering your head concentrates too much heat on your face and could irritate your skin or eyes.

Rinse your sinuses with a neti pot. A neti pot is a device for cleaning out your nasal passages. Fill the pot with saline solution and tilt your head to the side over a sink. Pour the solution into your top nostril and let it flow out of your bottom nostril. This will feel weird at first, but it’ll clean out your sinuses and relieve congestion. Only use sterile saline solution in a neti pot, and never use tap water. Non-sterile water could cause an infection. Always clean your neti pot after each use.

Trying Natural Remedies

Boost your vitamin C as soon as you feel cold symptoms starting. While vitamin C probably can’t do too much once a cold starts, there’s some evidence that it could shorten a cold if you take it right when your symptoms start. As soon as you feel a scratchy throat or runny nose, try boosting your intake to see if this helps you beat the cold faster. The average person needs 75-90 mg of vitamin C each day, but boost your intake to 200 mg when you feel a cold coming on. Good sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits, bell peppers, orange juice, and leafy green vegetables. You can also get it from a vitamin supplement.

Take echinacea early on to shorten the cold. Echinacea is a type of plant that’s traditionally used to boost immunity and fight illness. Results are mixed, but some people find that it shortens a cold if they take it right when they notice symptoms. You can try it for yourself to see if it works. Common echinacea doses are 300 mg for powder or pill forms and 1-2 ml of liquid. Follow the dosing instructions on the product you use.

Ask your doctor before taking zinc supplements. Zinc does have antiviral properties, but could also have side effects. High zinc doses could cause nausea and diarrhea. It’s best to ask your doctor if taking zinc is safe before you try it as a remedy. Zinc usually comes in lozenge or liquid form to kill virus cells in your throat. Zinc nasal sprays are associated with serious side effects like permanent loss of smell, so don’t use these products.

Try elderberry extract to shorten your symptoms. Elderberry shows some success in boosting immunity and helping your body fight infections faster. Studies show that elderberry can help cold and flu symptoms clear up a few days sooner than they would naturally. Try taking 15 ml of elderberry liquid when you start feeling sick to see if it helps. You could also make elderberry tea for a similar effect.

See if garlic helps prevent colds. Garlic does have antibacterial and antiviral properties, making it a common home remedy for illnesses like a cold. However, research doesn’t confirm most of these claims. If you’d like to try it, you can increase your garlic intake and see if it helps you avoid colds. It’s safe to eat 2-5 g of fresh garlic per day, equal to about 3-4 cloves.