What should I do if I have a slight cold?

Written by Hu Bai Yu
Pulmonology
Updated on April 25, 2025
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If you experience some symptoms of a cold, you shouldn't worry too much about it. A common cold usually heals on its own in about seven days, and it tends to resolve naturally. However, if you experience a cold accompanied by headaches, fever, coughing, phlegm, or sore throat, this could be more serious and might be due to a viral or bacterial infection. In such cases, under the guidance of a doctor, you can take appropriate anti-inflammatory or antiviral medications. It's also important to stay hydrated to boost metabolism and enhance the body’s immunity. Make sure to keep warm and avoid exposure to cold drafts. During a cold, avoid smoking and alcohol and cooperate actively with medical treatment. Additionally, maintaining a positive mood is crucial as stress can adversely affect recovery from illness.

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What should I do if my nose turns red from a cold?

What should I do if my nose turns red from a cold? First, you should avoid rubbing your nose. You can relieve the swelling of the nasal mucosa through oral medications. The redness of the nose is due to the expansion of local capillaries. Additionally, external stimuli, pinching the nose, runny nose, and sneezing are all directly related. You can choose to take vitamin-based medications and medications known to affect glandular secretion for symptomatic treatment. If there is acute inflammation of the nasal mucosa, you should also choose some antibacterial drugs for treatment. Drink more water and rest more; generally, you will gradually recover in about three days.

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What should pregnant women eat when they have a cold?

If you experience cold symptoms during pregnancy, the first thing to note is not to take medications blindly on your own. If it becomes necessary to take medication, it must be taken under the guidance of a doctor and specifically for the symptoms. Initially, you can improve the symptoms of a cold by daily conditioning, such as eating some light fruits and vegetables, supplementing vitamins, and appropriately consuming some porridge. Also, rest more, avoid overexertion, consume fruits rich in Vitamin C to boost metabolism and enhance your immunity, do not stay up late, and ensure sufficient sleep. If the situation is severe, you can appropriately take some anti-cold traditional Chinese medicines, such as anti-inflammatory traditional Chinese medicines to treat and alleviate symptoms. (The doctor's answer is for reference only, please take medication under the guidance of a professional physician, and do not self-medicate.)

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What are the symptoms of a cold in infants?

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What should I do if I have a cold?

The common cold is a frequently occurring disease. If it is just a common cold, it does have certain self-healing properties, and generally heals on its own in about seven days. Symptoms may include a runny nose, sneezing, and some nasal congestion. At this time, you only need to stay warm, avoid exposure to cold winds, eat some warm, easy-to-digest foods, and drink some brown sugar ginger juice to relieve the symptoms. If the condition is more serious, or the symptoms are more pronounced, symptomatic treatment can be sufficient. However, if it is influenza caused by a viral infection, it generally onset quickly with pronounced symptoms. In this case, it is necessary to take anti-infective and anti-cold medications under the guidance of a doctor. Normally, it's also important to drink plenty of water, promote excretion, rest more, not to stay up late, ensure sufficient sleep, enhance your own resistance, and during the treatment period, avoid smoking and drinking alcohol, actively cooperate with the treatment.

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How to alleviate whole body soreness from a cold

How to alleviate the body aches associated with a cold: Body aches are a typical symptom of influenza, resulting from infections by influenza viruses or parainfluenza viruses, and are characterized by notable prevalence trends. To alleviate these symptoms, clinically, antipyretic analgesic medications are generally chosen, such as taking aspirin or nimesulide. Additionally, it is advisable to drink more water, rest more, avoid excessive fatigue, and choose some antiviral medications. Treating these viral infections is considered a cause-specific treatment method. (Please use medications under the guidance of a doctor)