You have been sniffing for quite some time, and it seems like you have had that cold forever. And yet here you are, jogging your way through the crowd from the nearest subway stop on your way to work.
There are pretty good reasons why your cold is clinging to you like glue, and the reasons are all rather easy to succumb to. Even this writer admits to being guilty of this “crime” against one’s own health. Sometimes, though, we just could not help it.
First is the temptation to not slow down. “It’s just a cold, anyway,” is what a lot of people tend to think; which means that it will be perfectly alright to still go through the day like you would normally do, working 10 to 12 hours and then going out for a night cap with friends.
When you have a cold, it is true that you do not have to stay in bed all day, but you have to make sure that you get an adequate amount of rest. If you can get by with four to five hours of sleep on a normal work day, revert back to the classic 8-hour sleep pattern, as sleep is very important to one’s immune system; then you may just possibly feel a whole lot better after a couple of days.
Another classic reason for a lingering cold is our tendency to play doctor. Some people who have a cold usually go ahead and load up on the decongestants. This is okay as drying medicine can indeed help with that stuffy and runny nose so that one can at least sleep through the night, but overdoing it is not good either. Drying medicines work by sucking water out of mucus, helping one breathe easier. However, the absence of fluid can make the mucus stick to the sinuses even more.
This brings us to an important thing to remember when having a bout with the cold — hydrate. Drink lots of fluid. Water, Gatorade and juice are great, and your intake should be more than what you usually take in when you do not have a cold.Tags: cold treatment, fighting cold, flu versus colds