Home remedies for cold and flu

While trying to cure a cold or the flu might seem impossible amid your illness, it’s important to boost your recovery with rest. Some home remedies might provide relief, in conjunction with over-the-counter or anti-viral medications.

“Rest and hydration is the biggest thing,” said Dr. Veenadhari Wang, assistant professor of family and community medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. “As the body is fighting off infection, there’s inflammation and you lose a lot of fluid, leading to dehydration.”

To encourage fluid intake, Wang recommends to patients to drink hot tea and hot water. You can also add honey to tea or hot water, which is soothing, coats the throat and helps it feel less irritated from coughing. Children must be over the age of 1 year to eat honey.

Anecdotally, people like to add lemon or ginger to hot tea or water. While there is little data on their efficacy on the immune system, there is no harm in trying them. Ginger also helps with nausea.

Eating soup, such as chicken noodle soup, provides fluids and nutritional benefit. “Chicken noodle soup gives you all the nutrients you still need but in a way that is easier to take down when you’re sick. You get your protein, vegetables and carbohydrates,” Wang said.

A medicated vapor ointment, such as Vick’s VapoRub, helps open the airways. Some might opt to use eucalyptus to open the airways, so if you do not have an allergy to it, you can use it for relief. Humidifiers also help break up secretion. Wang recommends turning on a hot shower and standing in the bathroom as steam can break up secretion as well.

The hyper-salinity of saltwater helps soothe irritation in the throat, so saltwater gargling might feel good. While the data is mixed, individuals can try it if it provides them relief. It’s important to get the right dose: mix about a half teaspoon of salt with 8 oz. of water and gargle.

People often think they need antibiotics to treat a common cold, but colds typically pass within seven to 10 days. Give your body the time to rest and get better by treating and addressing the symptoms.

“A lot of flu and COVID can start as what seems like a common cold. The best time to test for those is within the first two to three days so we can start treatment with Tamiflu or Paxlovid. If you wait until day five, it’s too late for treatment so you wait out the illness and manage your symptoms. It will pass,” Wang said.

If you have flu-like symptoms – high fever, sweats or significant body aches – see your doctor to find out if you have the flu or COVID. For a regular viral illness, your doctor will give you general guidelines and tell you when to follow up with them. With coughing and congestion, manage the symptoms at home and they will pass.

Home remedies Wang and her family use include hot tea or hot water with honey, steam showers for congestion, chicken noodle soup and nasal saline if her child has congestion.

Baylor College of Medicine experts share their favorite home remedies and illness relief for their families:

Dr. Cedric Dark, associate professor of emergency medicine
“Every household needs to some Motrin/Tylenol in adult and kid version so they can handle things like fever, etc. You’d be surprised how many people come to the ER without ever taking a single over-the-counter fever medicine.”

Dr. Stacey Rose, associate professor of infectious diseases and internal medicine
“Chicken or matzoh ball soup really does seem to help! Rest, fluids, Tylenol and Advil are also on my list. When we have a fever, showering always makes us feel better. Saline nasal spray seems very helpful for my kids when they are congested.”

Dr. Angela Catic, associate professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine
“Our favorite go-to remedies at home are ginger tea and putting Vicks on our feet with heavy socks.”

Dr. Saundra Nguyen, assistant professor of general internal medicine
“My favorite over-the-counter-meds that work wonders: Mucinex DM for cough and congestion and an intranasal steroid spray like fluticasone/Flonase.”

“For home remedies: rest and hydration, honey for reducing cough symptoms and severity (do not give to children under 1), saline spray or rinses using sterile or distilled water, zinc lozenges taken within 24 hours of symptoms may shorten cold duration in adults.”

“Vitamin C more for prevention than treatment. Vitamin D for those who are deficient. Flu vaccine for flu prevention.”

Dr. Masih Ahmed, assistant professor of ophthalmology
“If someone has a sore throat or cough, we often do a cup of hot black tea with honey to help soothe it. If our daughter has congestion and is having trouble sleeping, we’ll let her play in a hot steamy shower before bed and that helps open the nasal passages.”

Dr. Tran Locke, assistant professor of otolaryngology – head and neck surgery
“For home remedies for cold/flu, I’m a big fan of warm saline rinses for the nose and warm mint tea with some honey for the throat. For my kid, I’ll use hypertonic nasal saline sprays and give him some apple juice + honey to help with his symptoms.”

By Homa Warren