A detox bath won't cure your cold, but you may find it soothing and calming. It may also help to temporarily alleviate your symptoms including congestion, muscle aches and pains, or a fever. Other home remedies, such as sipping tea with honey, may also be beneficial for cold symptoms.
Yes, a warm bath can help relieve cold and flu symptoms to some extent, with bath water coverage across the chest area particularly helpful. In effect a hot soak in a home bathtub will assist in relaxing aching muscles, breaking a fever, and offering some relief to congestion in the chest and sinuses especially.
A warm bath with water over your chest might help if you're fighting a cold or the flu. When you're sick, taking a bath can help relieve congestion, break a fever, and relax sore muscles.
Raising your body temperature through a relaxing soak will also induce sweating that can help release toxins and free radicals, which elevate the symptoms of the flu.
Water, juice, clear broth or warm lemon water with honey helps loosen congestion and prevents dehydration. Avoid alcohol, coffee and caffeinated sodas, which can make dehydration worse.
Avoid salty foods, alcohol, coffee and sugary drinks, which can be dehydrating. Ice chips are another simple way to stay hydrated and calm a scratchy throat.
You may have heard that it's beneficial to “sweat out a cold.” While exposure to heated air or exercise may help temporarily relieve symptoms, there's little evidence to suggest that they can help treat a cold.
Epsom salt baths for cold and flu
Epsom salt baths can help relax muscles and relieve body aches associated with colds and the flu. They can also help dilate blood vessels, which increases white blood cell production to help speed recovery.
In adults and older children, they usually last about 7 to 10 days, but can last longer. A cough in particular can last for two or three weeks. Colds tend to last longer in younger children who are under five, typically lasting around 10 to 14 days.
Reduce Congestion With Steam
Congestion can block your nasal passages and put tension on your whole head. If congestion is making it difficult to breathe, eat, or sleep, take a dip in your hot tub. The heated steam from the water can enter your nasal passage to help shrink swollen membranes and loosen congestion.
Taking a hot shower or a bath can really help to quell your various pains. The warmth from the bath can help soothe your lungs, and the steam will moisturize your throat and nasal passages that have been dried out from your sickness.
You can easily get dehydrated from sweating and producing lots of mucus, and you need to make plenty of urine to clear the waste from your immune system.
Moderate exercise won't prolong your illness or make your symptoms worse, but it may not shorten them, either. One possible benefit of exercising with a cold: If you're generally well-hydrated, a workout can break up congestion, notes Dr. Durst. However, your congestion could worsen if you're dehydrated.
Summary. There's no way to cure a cold—or sweat it out. Breathing in warm, moist air can help alleviate cold symptoms, like congestion. Light exercise can increase blood flow, which also might help with congestion.
Helen (Eleni) Xenos, a One Medical doctor in Chicago, describes the typical progression of the common cold: Day 1: Fatigue, headache, sore or scratchy throat. Day 2: Sore throat worsens, low fever, mild nasal congestion. Day 3: Congestion worsens, sinus and ear pressure become very uncomfortable.
There is no cure for the common cold. However, people can take steps to ease the symptoms and shorten the duration of the illness. These include getting plenty of water and rest, eating a healthful diet, and taking OTC medicines and supplements. A cold will usually go away on its own.
The stages of a cold include the incubation period, appearance of symptoms, remission, and recovery.
While the duration of your symptoms may vary, many people wonder how to cure a cold in 24 hours or even overnight. The best way to tame a cold fast is to stay home, rest, drink plenty of fluids, gargle with salt water, take an OTC medication, and humidify the air.
A few hours of bed rest can do wonders for your body. Drink plenty of hot fluids: Hot drinks or a cup of hot herbal tea can make you feel better. Hot liquids may relieve your nasal congestion, prevent dehydration and soothe discomfort due to a sore throat. Try sipping herbal tea, lemon water, or warm broth.
Take a Bath or Hot Shower
This can help loosen mucus and clear it from your nose, reducing sinus pressure, as well as your throat, minimizing chest congestion.
Painkillers like acetylsalicylic acid (ASA – the drug in medicines such as Aspirin), ibuprofen and acetaminophen (paracetamol) can relieve cold-related symptoms such as headache, earache and joint pain. These painkillers can also lower a fever. They don't help to relieve a cough or stuffy nose.