The INSIDER Summary:
- There's no cure for the common cold. The only thing you can do is wait it out.
- But certain habits could make you feel even worse when you're sick, like not getting enough rest, not staying hydrated, drinking alcohol, and smoking.
- Certain popular treatments — namely vitamin C and antibiotics — also won't help.
The worst thing about the common cold isn't the sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, or fatigue: It's the fact that, for the most part, there's nothing you can do to make it go away faster.
There is no cure for the common cold, partly because it's caused by more than 200 different viruses, according to the Johns Hopkins Health Review. That means that the only course of action is to wait until the infection runs its course.
But there are some habits that could make you feel worse while you're riding out a cold. Plus, some of the strategies you think will help aren't actually making you feel better. Here's what you should know.
1. Skimping on rest
It seems obvious but it's always worth repeating: Rest is crucial if you want to feel better during a cold, Dr. Michael Roizen, chairman of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic and member of the True Health Initiative, told INSIDER. Pushing yourself to keep up your normal schedule — like going to work — won't help you feel better. Besides, it puts other people at risk of catching your virus.
If you can't skip work, always cough or sneeze into a tissue or your elbow, and make sure to wash your hands frequently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes. It's an important courtesy for your coworkers.
Getting your sleep may also help prevent colds in the first place: A 2009 studyfound that people who got less than seven hours of sleep were about three times more likely to catch a cold than people who got eight hours or more.
2. Not hydrating properly
A cold with a fever could leave you dehydrated, Roizen said, so it's important to drink enough fluids when you're sick.
How do you know if you're adequately hydrated? First, you should know that the old eight-glasses-of-water-a-day advice is a myth. Instead, experts say, just check the color of your urine. If it's the color of pale lemonade, you're good. If it looks like apple juice, you need more fluids.
3. Drinking alcohol
Though Roizen said he doesn't know of any data showing that alcohol can make a cold feel worse, the Johns Hopkins Health Review does note that alcohol is dehydrating. That's not ideal when you may need to drink more water than usual.
It's also good to remember that alcohol can interact with over-the-counter cold medicines, causing symptoms like drowsiness and dizziness and increasing the risk of overdose, according to the NIH.
4. Smoking (or being around smokers)
The CDC says you shouldn't smoke or even breathe secondhand smoke when you're sick. According to the American Lung Association, doing so can irritate your throat and worsen your cough. Just add it to the very long list of horrible things that smoking does to your body. (For free help quitting, check out smokefree.gov.)
4. Stressing out
"Stress impedes immune system function by number of mechanisms," Roizen said. Broadly, he explained, it compromises your body's ability to both identify and kill off foreign microbes that could infect you.
Chalk it up as another reason to rest and take time away from work when you're feeling sick.
4. Asking for antibiotics
Antibiotics cannot cure the common cold, according to the CDC. Taking them during a cold won't help you feel better, either. That's because antibiotics can only kill bacteria, and the common cold is caused by a virus.
There's a bigger threat to consider, too: Overuse and misuse of antibiotics contributes to the frightening rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These bugs kill roughly 23,000 Americans a year, the CDC says. It's always best to limit antibiotic use to situations where they're truly needed.
5. Taking tons of vitamin C
Vitamin C supplements claim to "support" and "boost" your immune system, and many people take them because they believe the products will shorten a cold. Scientists have actually studied the vitamin to see whether is has such an effect. The results show that — once a cold has started — vitamin C works no better than a placebo.
"After the cold is running its course, [vitamin C] doesn't have any effect," dietitian Andy Bellatti, MS, RD told INSIDER back in July. "If you do have a cold, stay hydrated and get enough rest. Don't go to work and pound [vitamin c]."
And if you overdo it, you may even hurt yourself. Large doses (think 2,000 milligrams or more) might raise your risk of painful kidney stones, and could give you digestive issues like diarrhea, bloating, and cramps. You don't need any of those things adding to your misery while you have a cold.
There is, however, one supplement that can actually help — zinc.
"[You can] take more than 75 milligrams of zinc a day, only while you have a cold," Roizen said. (Taking doses higher than 40 milligrams when you're not sick can be toxic, he explained.)
Research shows that zinc can shorten the length of a cold and reduce the severity of symptoms, possibly because it interferes with the replication of cold-causing viruses. In studies, the supplements have worked best in doses of at least 75 milligrams a day. But stick to lozenges, not sprays: Some people have reportedlosing their sense of smell after using zinc spray products.
