Household Ways to Get Rid of the Common Cold

The common cold is a nuisance that most everyone has to deal with at one time or another. As is well known, there is no cure for this sickness, but there are a number of ways to make the symptoms more tolerable and reduce the amount of time spent dealing with them. Many of these remedies involve the use of items most people have at home.

Lemons

• A cold that involves any amount of fever can be treated with lemon, according to Home-remedies-for-you.com.
  Increase your body's level of vitamin C and reduce the amount of time you are affected by cold symptoms. Squeeze the juice of one lemon into a glass of warm water. Add a teaspoon of honey to sweeten the mixture and stir it to combine the flavors. The result will be a sweet and sour liquid that will sooth the throat and relieve symptoms. Take this concoction twice each day.

Garlic Soup

• Make garlic soup to take advantage of its antiseptic properties. Garlic will help open up respiratory passages and flush out toxins, reducing a fever associated with a cold or flu.
  Chop up four garlic cloves into small pieces and drop them in boiling water. Drink the soup once each day while you have the cold and you will see the cold disappear in a shorter amount of time.

Ginger Tea

• Drink ginger tea twice each day while you have a cold to relieve the symptoms.
  Chop up about 10 grams of ginger root into small pieces and boil them in water. Strain the water and add a teaspoon of sugar to the tea. As an option, you may chose to boil your favorite tea bags with the ginger for better taste, without losing the medicinal value of the ginger.

Spicy Relief

• If you have a cold and are able to handle hot and spicy foods, then take advantage of the benefits of spice. Hot and spicy foods will open up the sinus passages and allow for clearer breathing while you have a cold, according to PioneerThinking.com.
  In addition, spicy foods tend to release natural painkillers called endorphins that will make you feel better all over.

Eucalyptus Oil

• Perhaps nothing involved with having a cold is more aggravating than the inability to breathe. Using eucalyptus essential oils can help loosen congestion and make breathing easier again. Place three drops of eucalyptus essential oil into a vaporizer and breathe in the steam overnight for help alleviating upper respiratory congestion, according to PioneerThinking.com.