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Common cold
Is a wind-heat cold contagious?
In traditional Chinese medicine, a cold caused by wind-heat is seen as resulting from the combination of wind and heat pathogens. The symptoms include fever with relatively high heat signs, slight aversion to wind, not much sweating, headache, facial redness, coughing, sticky or yellow phlegm, thick yellow nasal discharge, dry throat or red and swollen throat, and other symptoms such as swollen and painful throat, nasal congestion, and dry mouth. The wind-heat type of cold in Chinese medicine generally corresponds to what is considered the common cold and influenza in Western medicine, both of which are recognized as viral infections. Therefore, the wind-heat cold is contagious, and patients should maintain a certain distance from others.
Can scraping (gua sha) cure a cold?
Gua sha cannot cure a cold, but it helps with recovery from a cold. This is because gua sha can reduce internal heat, promote blood circulation, remove blood stasis, and improve the body's metabolism. To cure a cold, it is still necessary to use cold medicines or anti-inflammatory drugs to achieve a healing effect. During treatment, it is also important to drink more water, urinate frequently, and engage in physical exercise to effectively promote sweating, which can improve the situation. After catching a cold, it is advisable to rest and avoid excessive fatigue. The diet should be light and easy to digest, avoiding stimulating and cold food. (Medication should be used under the guidance of a professional doctor.)
What is the best treatment for a mild cold?
Minor colds generally do not require medication. If your resistance is normal, adjusting your diet and ensuring proper rest usually allows for natural recovery. In terms of diet, it's important to avoid overly greasy, high-calorie foods, prevent overeating, maintain indoor air cleanliness, drink more ginger tea, avoid staying up late, take your temperature twice daily, and consume fruits and vegetables high in vitamin C, such as kiwi, tomatoes, dragon fruit, and mango. Typically, recovery occurs within three to seven days.
What to do if a baby catches a cold?
When a child catches a cold, it's important to consider their specific symptoms. If the cold lasts no more than three days and the child is in good spirits, you can treat them with anti-viral and heat-clearing Chinese patent medicines. Their diet should be light and easy to digest, and include plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits. If the baby is exclusively breastfed and under six months old, the mother should ensure a balanced diet, consume easily digestible foods, and avoid overly greasy or spicy foods. If the child's cold persists for more than three days and symptoms like cough with phlegm appear, it's necessary to bring the child to the hospital for timely tests, such as a complete blood count and C-reactive protein, to rule out bacterial infections and provide appropriate treatment based on the child's condition. For infants with a cold, considering their underdeveloped organ functions and weaker immunity, even a common cold can easily lead to secondary viral or bacterial infections, potentially causing severe diseases like pneumonia. Therefore, it's best to take the child to the pediatric outpatient clinic for assessment and targeted treatment. If it’s inconvenient to visit a doctor, consider that most colds are caused by viruses, such as respiratory or enteroviruses. Therefore, you might treat the child at home with antiviral Chinese patent medicines and symptom-specific supportive treatments. It's also crucial to manage their diet well, as digestive functions can be compromised during a cold. Thus, meals should be small and frequent, and it's advisable to avoid hard-to-digest and potentially allergenic foods to prevent exacerbating symptoms. (The use of medication should be under the guidance of a doctor.)
What should I do if I catch a cold during the postpartum confinement period?
If a pregnant woman catches a cold and it is not very severe, conservative treatment can be considered. On one hand, medication can be taken under the guidance of an obstetrician. On the other hand, during the early stages of a cold, one can drink more water and keep warm. Maintain good air circulation indoors. If symptoms are severe, oral administration of medicines such as Xiao Chai Hu Granules and Bai Lan Gen Granules can help alleviate the condition. In terms of diet, it should be light and easy to digest. Avoid crowded public places, wear masks when going out, and reduce contact with people who have colds to cut off the source of infection. Once a pregnant woman catches a cold, it is crucial to rest. Do not overwork, drink plenty of water, and avoid certain foods. Seek medical attention in a timely manner and follow the doctor's instructions for medication, without self-medicating.
Can I eat sea cucumber when I have a cold?
It is best not to eat sea cucumber during a cold, as it is considered a 'cold' food. Eating sea cucumber while having a cold can easily worsen the condition, and if there is an allergy to seafood, it may trigger an allergic reaction. During a cold, patients can eat some light fruits and vegetables, and it is generally not recommended to eat sea cucumber. During a cold, the body is relatively weak, and gastrointestinal function is not very good. Eating sea cucumber can lead to indigestion, which is not conducive to recovery from the cold. It is necessary to treat the cold with appropriate medication, and sea cucumber can be eaten after recovery.
Can you exercise when you have a cold in the summer?
Generally speaking, it is not advisable to exercise after catching a cold; it is usually recommended to rest instead. This is because after catching a cold, a person's immune system is often weakened, commonly accompanied by symptoms like fatigue, tiredness, and decreased appetite. If one exercises during this time, it will inevitably increase the body's consumption, further reducing the body's resistance, weakening the body even more, and hindering the recovery from the illness. Moreover, exercise increases lung capacity, leading to a higher volume of air passing through the airways, which can aggravate symptoms such as throat discomfort and cough associated with a cold. From this perspective, it is also unsuitable to exercise.
Where to press for a headache from a cold?
When we have a cold and experience headaches from wind-cold, we can alleviate some clinical symptoms through massage, targeting specific areas. The selection of massage points varies depending on the patient's pain location and clinical symptoms. For example, if the pain is in the yangming meridian, which typically presents with forehead pain, common points for massage would include Yintang, Shangxing, and Yangbai. For headaches in the taiyang meridian, points such as Tianzhu, Fengchi, Houxi, and Shenmai are chosen. If the headache encompasses the entire head, points like Baihui, Yintang, Taiyang, Touwei, Yangbai, Hegu, and Fengchi can be massaged. Clinically, it's essential to differentiate based on the different headache locations and symptoms to select the appropriate acupuncture points for massage. Additionally, if the headache is caused by external pathogenic factors, points like Fengchi and Fengmen can be differentiated, and adding moxibustion at Dazhui can also help alleviate symptoms of headache due to a cold.
What should you pay attention to when you have a cold with nasal congestion?
A cold, also known as an upper respiratory tract infection, typically manifests different clinical symptoms depending on its triggering factors. Generally, most patients with a cold exhibit symptoms like nasal congestion, runny nose, and sneezing due to a viral infection. Therefore, for such patients, personal hygiene is crucial. Additionally, it is important to ventilate rooms by opening windows and to avoid public places as much as possible to prevent spreading the infection to others with weaker immune systems. These cold sufferers are also advised to avoid spicy and irritating foods. Drinking plenty of water daily and consuming fresh vegetables and fruits high in vitamins is recommended. Consumables like apples, pears, water chestnuts, grapes, and kiwis, which are rich in vitamins and nutrients, should be eaten regularly to help enhance the immune function of these patients.
Is an air conditioning cold a wind-heat cold?
The so-called air conditioning cold refers to a cold phenomenon caused by setting the air conditioning temperature too low, which makes patients overchilled. The clinical symptoms of such patients are mainly those of a cold caused by wind-cold, primarily characterized by a runny nose, nasal congestion, and clear watery nasal discharge, along with an itchy throat and coughing. Of course, these patients may also experience varying degrees of fever. Therefore, air conditioning-induced colds typically occur in the summer, and it is necessary to combine the patient’s clinical symptoms to determine the specific type of cold, which is generally dominated by wind-cold colds.