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Living healthy: Have a cold? Two home remedies only make it worse

Living healthy: Have a cold? Two home remedies only make it worse

When they have a cold, many people quickly turn to home remedies to relieve the symptoms. However, some seemingly harmless healing methods can delay recovery or even make the cold worse.

So that your cold doesn’t last longer than necessary, you should know which remedies actually help and which are more likely to cause harm.

Dry cough: stay away from chamomile

Chamomile tea is often used for dry coughs, as chamomile is known for its calming effects. However, this plant can be counterproductive if you have a dry cough. Chamomile has a drying effect on the mucous membranes, which can worsen an already dry cough.

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Instead of providing relief, the cough can become worse. In this case, moisturizing agents that soothe the mucous membranes and alleviate the urge to cough are more suitable.

Hot milk? If you have a mucous cough, it’s better not to

Hot milk with honey is considered a classic home remedy for colds, but be careful: if you have a cough, drinking hot milk can actually make the problem worse.

Milk promotes mucus production in the respiratory tract, which is particularly unfavorable when coughing with mucus. Instead of relieving the cough, the thick mucus becomes more difficult to cough up.

In addition, the fat content in milk can irritate the mucous membranes. Instead, choose drinks that soothe your throat and help loosen mucus, such as herbal teas or warm water with honey.

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Cold medicine: What you should pay attention to

Despite unpleasant symptoms, you should not immediately resort to strong medication, as Hans-Michael Mühlenfeld from the German Association of General Practitioners emphasizes.

Many people rely on tried and tested home remedies such as onion bags for the ears, steam baths, gargling or classic chicken soup. Even if these remedies cannot cure a viral infection, they are still useful and support the body in regeneration.

In addition, they often help to make the symptoms more bearable without unnecessarily burdening the organism with medication. As the body works against the virus itself, the immune system is strengthened – which promotes the healing process in the long term.

The original for this post Cold? Two home remedies make your symptoms worse comes from FOCUS Online.

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