Common Cold

A casually thrown around word: common cold. Have the sniffles, it must be a common cold. Got a fever, it must be a common cold. One thing is for certain, it certainly is common.

A common cold is a condition that affects the upper respiratory tract; it can be also called an infection of the upper respiratory tract. It normally affects the nose and the throat in a person. Most often a common cold is pretty harmless, but there are those, like me, who dread the common cold because of what it does to me. Some people suffer from a running nose, yet others have a more sever effect, they get a blocked nose, headaches, watery eyes and the never ending sneezing. Did you know: there are 200 different viruses that cause common cold and each one of them has a different symptom. Not so much common knowledge is that. Common cold can afflict any one, be it an adult, a child or an infant. Children are more susceptible to a common cold and get it 6 times a year, and this is because of lower immunity. Adults can catch a common cold 4 times a year. This is not a fixed amount; these can and will vary depending on certain conditions.

How do you know if you have a common cold?
There are certain signs and symptoms that you can use to recognize whether or not you have a common cold. Do not self-diagnose and always go to a doctor. The signs and symptoms are:

• Running or blocked nose.
• Sore throat or throat irritation.
• Cough.
• Congestion.
• Sneezing.
• Watering of the eyes.
• Body ache and headache.
• Fever – mild.
• Fatigue.

There will always be a discharge from the nose, but as the severity of the common cold increases the color of the discharge will change. What was initially a clear discharge could then become a yellow or greenish thick discharge. Do not confuse a common cold with a viral infection, though the symptoms are more or less the same. What will differ is the fever; in a viral infection the fever will be high. A common cold can be caused by any of the given 200 viruses, the most common and most contagious though is the rhinovirus. Most of the virus spreads when you come in close contact with a person with a cold, most commonly because a person sneezes or coughs and the virus travels through the air. But at times it also spreads by hand contact, touching and sharing of utensils of a person with a common cold.

What is the treatment for a common cold?
Before I talk about treatment, let me mention that there is no cure for common cold. There are no antibiotics available that will work against the persistent viruses that cause common cold. Over the counter medication may be available, but these are neither safe nor reliable to use.

• Using painkillers – some people suffer from headaches and body aches when they have a common cold. The best solution for this is to take acetaminophen medication like Tylenol. Take care while taking such medication or administering it to a child.
• Using nasal decongestant sprays – there are various nasal sprays available in the market that ‘claim’ to reduce the congestion, but do not use these for more than a few days as these can lead to chronic inflammation of the mucous membranes. Children should never be allowed the use of such sprays.
• Taking cough syrups – most people also suffer from a cough when they have a common cold, this when the use of a cough syrup may come useful. But these should be used with care and caution and should not be given to children below 14 years of age. Also cough syrups tend to make a person drowsy, care should be taken in such a case.