Cold Prevention and Treatments - 2
From my first hand clinical observations, plenty of rest and having a positive mood can strongly affect a person's immune system. I often recommend my patients to drink lots of water. For an adult, approximately 2000-3000mL of water a day. If a patient says he drinks at least 3000mL a day, but is still thirsty most of the time, my next question would be "how is your sleep?" Almost all the answers are staying up late or not sleeping well.
If you are just too busy to maintain your immune system at its optimal condition, what can you do? The best advice is too use pulsatile nasal irrigator regularly everyday. It prevents mass growth of virus or bacteria and keep your nasal defense system (nasal muco-ciliary movement) functioning, in turn reduces the chance of virus invasion. Do I need to see a doctor for a cold It really depends on your condition. If you don't feel so bad, you can simply drink more water, take more rests, sleep early at night, and frequently use pulsatile nasal irrigator to cleanse your nose. However, if you are experiencing fever, severe coughing, ear pain, or thick yellow mucus, then it is best to see your family doctor, and examine for or prevent further complications. Cold complications Common complications seen in a cold: sinusitis, otitis media (middle ear infection), bronchitis, pneumonia (inflammation of lung). Meningitis (brain fever) and encephalitis (inflammation of brain) are more severe but less common. Pulsatile nasal hydro therapy for cold and flu. During a flu season, or your family, friends, or co-workers are experience colds, you should use pulatile nasal irrigator everyday (preferably at least twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening), it can greatly reduce your chance of being infected.
If you are starting to experience symptoms of a cold, you should start pulsastile nasal irrigatioin right away. At this time, it is recommended to wash frequently and with larger amount (preferably at least 3-4 times a day and use 1000-2000mL of warm saline solution each time). If you frequently nasal irrigate in the beginning of a cold, very often you can cleanse out the virus or bacteria and avoid further symptoms.