(CU Independent Illustration/Sara Fossum)
There are always the ordinary ways to catalyze a cold cure—getting an adequate amount of rest, drinking tea and gargling warm salt water, but what about the more unique remedies?
It’s that time of year again-when everybody seems to be getting sick and missing classes. A cold can be classified as anything from just a stuffy nose to strep throat or bronchitis. Either way it is an annoyance for everyone.
These not so common cures for the cold might help the usually sick student stay warm and healthy this year, or at least make a cold short and sweet.
Abraam Fam, an 18-year old freshman psychology major, said there is a similar drink to tea that helps sore throats feel better.
“You can drink warmed up honey and lemon; it’s kind of like tea,” Fam said. “It soothes your throat and makes you feel warm inside.”
There are, of course, methods more unheard of than others, but still completely logical. Many students said drinking or eating lots of vitamin C helps them get over their colds.
Maryanne Hutt, a 20-year-old sophomore history major, said one could sweat it out.
“You can wrap yourself up in layers of warmth and sweat out all of the unhealthy bacteria,” Hutt said.
Warmth is typically a cold-fighting initiative, but this technique might apply just enough help to speed up that cold so that there are a few other methods that might just seem a tad bit “nutty.”
Meredith Tousignant, an 18 year-old freshman studio arts and art history major, said that a tool called a neti pot can help clear sinuses.
“When you have a sinus infection you can take warm salt water mixed with a little bit of baking soda and snort it up one of your nostrils,” Tousignant said. “The excess stuff then comes out of the other nostril and your mouth. It might hurt a little bit, but it really works.”
Creating your own, relaxing steam room is another way to help relieve cold symptoms, said 19-year-old Margaret Bender, a freshman international affairs major.
“If you take Vicks and mix it into a humidifier and use a large golf umbrella as a sort of canopy, you can make a personal mini- steam room,” Bender said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jillian Fox at Jillian.t.fox@colorado.edu.
