Without taking medicine or injections, 3 ways to 'treat' a cold are effective? How many children have these misunderstandings hurt?

A few days ago, Mr. Li, who lives in Changsha, Hunan Province, found out that he had a cold. Based on his own experience, he decided to stay at home, close all the doors and windows, cover the quilt and start to cover his sweat. That night, the family found that Mr. Li's face was flushed, his body temperature was as high as 40.3°C, and he had a disturbance of consciousness. After being sent to the hospital, he was diagnosed with heat stroke .

Gong Xiaobing, chief physician of the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, pointed out that the practice of covering sweat with fever is not worth advocating, especially for children and the elderly, it is dangerous.

Colds, while common, can be life-threatening if not handled properly, especially if you self-medicate without knowing the type of cold.

1. Colds can be divided into wind-heat and wind-cold, don’t be foolish to be confused

From the perspective of Western medicine, cold is called upper respiratory tract infection , which is a general term for acute inflammation of the pharynx, larynx, and nasal cavity, and is also the most common acute respiratory tract infection. Colds can be divided into common colds and influenza, most of which are caused by viruses, and a few are caused by bacteria.

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, colds are caused by exogenous wind pathogens , which can be divided into different types of colds, such as wind-cold, wind-heat, summer-dampness, and wind-dryness.

So, how do you differentiate between a cold and a cold? Xiaojiu will briefly introduce the difference between its symptoms.

Cold and flu: In addition to general symptoms such as sneezing, nasal congestion, headache, and coughing, there are also low-grade fever, chills, little or no sweat, runny nose, headache and body pain, sore throat, white thin phlegm, Thirsty or thirsty, liking hot drinks, thin white fur, etc.;

Wind-heat flu: severe fever, headache, slight aversion to wind, sweating, cough, nasal congestion, sore throat, red and swollen phlegm, sticky or yellow sputum, runny nose, thirst, constipation, thin white and yellowish fur, tongue tip Edge red and other characteristics.

Second, no injections, no medicine, these methods are not reliable

Regarding the treatment of colds, many people will try "experience methods" without injections and medicines, but these methods may not be reliable.

1. Cover the quilt and sweat to cure a cold?

Covering the quilt and sweating is not suitable for all types of colds. It is only helpful for the initial cold and cold. If you accidentally cover your head, it will be harmful, because a lot of sweating can easily lead to collapse and dehydration , which will reduce the resistance and aggravate the disease.

In addition, covering the quilt and sweating has no effect on colds due to wind-heat. When the body temperature exceeds 38°C, the body's immune system is " indiscriminate ". If you continue to cover your sweat at this time, although the mechanism wants to cool down, the heat cannot If it escapes , it will cause harm to the body.

2, a lot of exercise sweating to cure a cold?

When you have a cold, you also do a lot of exercise and sweating, which is easy to reduce the production of muramic acid in the body, and the body's resistance will be reduced, giving the virus a chance to multiply, which is easy to prolong the cold, and may even cause other diseases, such as bronchitis, etc. .

3. Can drinking ginger water cure a cold?

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, ginger can play a role in sweating, but similar to covering a quilt, drinking ginger water only has a certain effect on wind-cold cold. If it is wind-heat cold, it will only add fuel to the fire and aggravate cold symptoms. From the perspective of Western medicine, there is no scientific research to prove that drinking ginger water can prevent and treat colds.

3. How to deal with a cold more reliably?

Since the methods mentioned above are not reliable for treating a cold, how can we properly deal with a cold?

1. Prescribe medicine based on syndrome differentiation

Traditional Chinese medicine needs to differentiate and prescribe medicine according to the patient’s constitution and different clinical manifestations. For example, wind-cold cold and wind-heat cold have different treatment principles. Resolving the table, clearing the lungs and removing pathogens are the principles of treatment.

Western medicine is mainly symptomatic treatment. According to the patient's symptoms, choose ibuprofen, acetaminophen, cough syrup or other compound preparations for the treatment of colds to help relieve the symptoms of colds.

2. Pay attention to rest

After a cold, you should pay attention to rest and sleep more. In fact, this is the "best cold medicine", and you should ensure 8 hours of sleep every day .

3, pay attention to add water

A cold will cause the body to lose water. During a cold, pay attention to replenishing water, ensure that you drink 2,000 ml of water every day , and you can also drink drinks containing electrolytes to help replenish the lost electrolytes in the body.

4. Diet adjustment

Eating easy-to-digest liquid foods, such as hot porridge, and supplementing with vitamin C , such as oranges, dates, tangerines, kiwis, grapefruits and other fruits rich in vitamin C, can relieve cold symptoms.

It should be noted that if the cold condition deteriorates sharply or the symptoms continue to be severe, such as severe cough, palpitation, oliguria and other symptoms, it is best to seek medical attention in time .

Although the cold is small, it is easy to aggravate the disease if the treatment method is incorrect. Although some methods are popular, they are not reliable. Don't try them lightly.

References:

[1] Zhang Fengqing, Wu Bizhen, Wang Mudan. Identification and treatment of wind-cold cold and wind-heat cold [J]. Inner Mongolia Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2012, 31(8):1.

[2] Wei Chuannan. Is it okay to sweat when you have a cold [J]. Health Care Guide: Health for Middle-aged and Elderly, 2014.

[3] Hou Yanfang. The key to preventing cold complications is good nursing [J]. Family Medicine: Second Half Month, 2022(1):2.

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