cure for a runny nose?
Question:
Answers:
Treatment
I am appalled whenever I ask my patient what they have in the medicine cabinet. Thanks to the 12 billion dollars spent on medicine advertising each year, each of my patients have a minimum of 3 “cold” remedies in the cabinet.
Not that some aren’t fine. But this idea that the advertisers have promoted that the moment you have a sniff or snort, you must spray your nose and take their pills is stupid.
For most common colds, just resting, hot tea, chicken soup will do it. Some of the nose sprays rebound and you get addicted. Some of the sprays have preservatives such as benzalkonium that can make you worse. Some of the pills that dry the nose dry things too much and make you worse.
Notice that no one advertises hot tea and chicken soup, and plain resting! What they advertise are products that MIGHT shorten the cold by one day in SOME persons. Unfortunately, later on you learn about the side effects of some of these products that are the most advertised.
The worst cases are those who panic the moment the nose feels stuffy – immediately they use all kinds of sprays and pills. And then they get anxiety because of the “congestion”. If they would just relax, rest, give their body a chance, in most cases the symptoms are over in a day or less. Instead, they have used so much medication that the medicines are making them jittery and nervous and they feel worse.
Of course it the symptoms persist or get worse, then its time to seek relief, but not within the first hour.
Rx
1. Lots of fluids. Especially tea, lemon and Chicken Soup
2. Avoid ice drinks. Avoid getting chilled.
3. Dress correctly. Don’t sit in a draft
4. Rent a comedy video. Happy white cells are stronger.
5. Drink enough so your urine turns light.
6. Don’t blow your nose hard! Be gentle. Don’t force air if your ears get blocked. It's OK to open your mouth widely, but forcing the ear open can push pus into the ear.
7. Warm compresses to the sinus area
OK, you say, all this is lovely theory, but I’ve got to go to work, take care of the kids, etc. what can I do?
Sudafed is a decongestant that helps many persons. Read the label carefully.
Many patients claim to do well with vitamin C. If the stomach tolerates it, 500 mg is the maximum dose. Over this amount can cause you to lose calcium.
Many patients get relief with the Tylenol type “cold remedies” and “flu remedies”. These are reasonable formulas and can be helpful.
Benadryl is useful. Dries you out and puts you to sleep. I have recommended liquid Benadryl for kids who have colds to help them sleep and help prevent colds going into the ears.
You can be sure that what works for one person may not work for another and your doctor is the best source of information.
Prevention
If you only get a cold once a year I don’t see any point in bothering about it.
For those who get frequent colds, there is a chemical called ICAM – 1 in the nose that is the portal of entry for the common cold virus. For years my patients insisted that by using the Hydro Pulse® irrigation daily they prevented getting a cold. Frankly, I never paid attention. Then research started coming out that verified this claim. Now I believe them.
If you are prone to frequent cold infections, during the cold season, consider daily Hydro Pulse irrigation. This removes the ICAM –1 and may reduce the number of colds you get.
If you are stuck behind a diesel bus/truck and inhale the fumes, consider rinsing the nose when you get home to remove these products.
If you are in car with an air bag blowing up, that powder tends to stick in your nose and should be washed out. I have seen persistent symptoms from this powder.
If your workplace has bad fumes, check with OSHA to see if these fumes are dangerous for you. If it is a new product that is upsetting you, have the doctor measure your nasal cilia to see if there is a problem due to those fumes.
For some reason I can’t figure out, OSHA tells you to wash your hands when you are exposed to certain chemicals to remove them from your hands. They may even advise always washing your clothes. But they never tell you to rinse your nose with saline to remove chemicals from your nose! Many of my patients in certain industries have been helped by simply rinsing the nose to remove these chemicals.
runny nose can be irritating and, if there is no tissue to hand, inconvenient - but scientists know what causes it and how to stop it.
Runny noses can be triggered by colds, eating spicy foods, exercise or even stress.
The biological process behind a runny nose could be linked to the autonomic nervous system, scientists say.
It can be quite an embarrassment
Professor Ron Eccles, Common Cold Centre
This controls involuntary actions such as breathing.
From there, nerves connect to the nasal glands, using a chemical neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, and this leads to a runny nose.
Embarrassing
Doctors can give a drug called ipratropium bromide which blocks the effect of the acetylcholine, and therefore stops noses running.
Professor Ron Eccles of the Common Cold Centre in Cardiff told BBC News Online: "In the early stages of a cold, it can be good.
"But after that, runny noses are due to weeping because of inflammation."
He said a runny nose was not just a minor inconvenience for some people.
"When they are reading, it can be dripping on to their book.
"It can be quite an embarrassment, though that is quite rare."
Two squirts of ipratropium bromide 45 minutes before skiing or eating spicy food will be effective, say US doctors.
Clifford Bassett from the New York University School of Medicine told New Scientist magazine patients were astounded when they used the drug for the first time.
"They say 'Oh my God, I can't believe I've let my nose run for 10 years and didn't do anything about it'."
William Silvers, an allergy specialist from Vail, Colorado, has taken a keen interest in why noses run, and how people cope with the problem.
In 1991, he surveyed skiers in a resort and found 96% complained of a runny nose in winter, and half said the problem was moderate to severe.
See also:
18 Dec 02 | Health
Echinacea 'does not cure colds'
13 Dec 02 | Health
Christmas parties trigger colds
16 Feb 02 | Health
Colds at nursery 'a good thing'
11 Jan 02 | Health
'Feed a cold' is good advice
08 Sep 98 | Health
Men KO'd by common cold
Internet links:
Common Cold Centre
New Scientist
New York University School of Medicine
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
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The difference between a viral cold and an allergy is length of time. A cold is a runny nose &/or cough that lasts for a few weeks, and an allergy lasts for a month or more. The treatment is the same. Give a cough/cold medication for the symptoms. These medications do not cure the problem, nor prevent complications like ear infections, bronchitis, pneumonia. All these medications do is slow down the symptoms "so you can rest medicine". They decrease cough, congestion, and mucus for the 4, 6, or 12 hours but if you are going to have a cold/allergy for a month, then you will have it for a month. The medicine does not make it go away quicker. So there are a series of questions you have to ask when talking about treating the cold/allergy. Is it bothering the child or the parent? If the runny nose or cough is not bothering the child, we would just as soon not treat the symptoms and just wipe their nose. (How do you make a Kleenex dance? You put a little boogy in it.:) I would rather they be alert and learning, instead of drowsy on the antihistamines. If the cold is bothering the child, then the next question is which medication. A certain medication may help this child but not that one. And that medication may make this child drowsy and that child hyper and not sleep. So everyone is different in how they react. We cannot tell you the best one for any certain child or adult. It is a trial and error. If the mother down the street brags about her medication and how it helps her child, borrow a teaspoon and see if it helps your child. Treat only when the child has the symptoms. You may only have to treat it at night. You also can sleep the child with the head elevated; especially the infants can sleep in their carriers, swings, or car seats all night.
Lets talk about the ingredients of medications. There is only one decongestant over the counter and that is "Sudafed". Sudaphedrine or Ephedrine is "Sudafed". This is the decongestant in all preparations. There is only one cough suppressant and that is Dextromethorphan (DM). I do not think that expectorants are useful and they taste terrible. So the only difference in most of the medications is the antihistamine that dries up the mucus. Look for a medication that is for cough (dextromethorphan), and stuffy nose (Ephedrine), and runny nose medicine (these other medications will be the antihistamines). If it covers all the symptoms, then you can use it for most illnesses. There is Triaminic, Pediacare, Tylenol Cough and Cold, Dimetapp, or generic drug store brand and many others. It still boils down as to which one will help your child. Then there are prescription ones that are different but are not stronger. If the child is 6yr or older, we can give Claritin or Zyrtec. Also Allegra for teens. These are long acting antihistamines that last 12 to 24 hours. You can give a decongestant Sudafed with them ( or get Claritin-D which has the Sudafed in it). But these will not help the cough most of the time and they are for allergies and not colds. If the cough is severe at night and none of the cough medications like Nyquil or Vicks 44 are helping, then call for prescription cough medication that has Hydrocodeine (Endal HD) and it will help decrease the cough so everyone can sleep.
Get the cough/cold medicines that are liquid for children and dose it:
¼ tsp. for 11-22 lb.,
½ tsp. for 22-33 lb.,
¾ tsp. for 33-44 lb.,
1 tsp. for over 44 lb. and Grade school,
1 ½ tsp. for Jr. High(middle) school,
2 tsp. for High school & adults.
There are nose sprays of steroids and they are safe. You have to use them all the time and not just when you are symptomatic. Discuss them with the doctor if you are not helped out by the oral medications. They are for 6 yr. and older.
The cough can sound deep and congested, but if the child is happy, playful, and has not fever, then treat the cold as above. If the child has fever 101 rectal or more, is lying on the couch not playing, is screaming several times at night, or has continuous green mucous runny nose plus irritable all day, then make an appointment. One cannot tell it is bronchitis by the sound of the cough. If the child gets pneumonia or bronchitis, the cough will sound the same and the child will start having fever and lay around. So watch how the child acts, not go by the cough. If the cough makes a seal-bark honk sound, it is "croup". It is helped by a vaporizer, or take them into the bathroom and steam it up like the London fog, or actually put them in the car and drive around in the cool night air. It treats the stridor. If they are in severe respiratory distress, then go to the ER. If they do OK for the night, then see your doctor for a short course of steroids to open up the airway and keep them out of the Hospital. See them in the AM even though they are better for it is more severe on the second and third nights. Coughs that are severe, and cause them to gag and even throw up, should be seen by the doctor.
Allergy testing and shots are generally not recommended till 4 yr. or older and then I am still not crazy about them unless there is asthma. The night only cough is usually allergy. To see if it is anything in the bedroom causing it, sleep the child out of the bedroom or out of the entire house at Grandmas or neighbors. The child will be fine that night and the next morning. Then it is something in the bedroom or house (pillow, mattress, stuffed animals, cat, dog, smoking, etc.)
"Who is it bothering, you or the kid?"
blow it many times!
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