Cold & Flu Home Remedies

When people get sick, they tend to first head to a drugstore and stock up on cold and flu medicines, grabbing anything to rid themselves of a runny nose, an irritating cough, a sore throat and other ailments associated with cold and flu. However, there are other remedies that can clear up a cold and lessen the symptoms of a flu that can be made right at home.

Drink Echinacea Tea or Juice

• Echinacea is a herb known to have curative properties, particularly when it comes to colds. According to Health.com, combining 15 to 20 drops of echinacea tincture with warm water and drinking it four to five times a day can knock out a cold. Echinacea tea also can alleviate cold symptoms and relieve sore and irritated throats.

Ginseng Benefits

• Taking ginseng or drinking ginseng tea can fight colds, according to WebMD. It is generally used to boost energy and health, but in 2005, Canadian researchers found that when people take ginseng every day, they decrease the severity and length of colds and often prevent it.

Elderberry Tea

• Elderberry juice, tea or syrup are potent and can help knock out flu symptoms. According to Stason.org, elderberry juice can be mixed with lemon juice and honey, brewed as a tea or consumed as a shot of syrup. It is known to purify the lungs and skin and generate perspiration to reduce fevers. It has calming properties as well. Elderberry also acts as a detoxifier for upper-respiratory congestion and can unclog ears.

Gargling

• Gargling with warm saltwater helps relieve a soar throat, according to WebMD. Mix a few teaspoons of salt into warm water, and gargle with it about four times every day until pain subsides. Tea that contains tanin can be used to tighten the membranes in the throat as well reduce itch when consumed as well.

Showers and Salves

• Steamy showers are beneficial when a person has the flu or a cold. It relaxes the body and moisturizes the nasal passages, making it easier to breathe through a stuffy nose. Another way to open up nasal passages is to dab mentholated salve under the nose, according to WebMD. For skin under and around noses that are irritated by too much blowing, menthol and eucalyptus can relieve pain.

Other Natural Remedies

• According to WebMD, blowing your nose often and blowing one nostril at a time can help relieve cold symptoms, along with getting plenty of sleep and drinking hot liquids, which help alleviate nasal congestion and prevent dehydration.