Cold
A common cold is an infection of your upper respiratory tract — your nose and throat. It’s usually harmless, although it may not feel that way. If it’s not a runny nose, sore throat and cough, it’s watery eyes, sneezing and congestion — or maybe all of the above. In fact, because any one of more than 200 viruses can cause a common cold, symptoms tend to vary greatly.
Symptoms of a common cold usually appear about one to three days after exposure to a cold virus. Signs and symptoms of a common cold may include:
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Itchy or sore throat
- Cough
- Congestion
- Slight body aches or a mild headache
- Sneezing
- Watery eyes
- Low-grade fever (up to 102 F)
- Mild fatigue
Nasal discharge may become thicker and yellow or green in color as a common cold runs its course. What makes a cold different from other viral infections is that you generally won’t have a high fever. You’re also unlikely to experience significant fatigue from a common cold.
Flu
Influenza is a viral infection that attacks the respiratory system, including your nose, throat, bronchial tubes and lungs. Although it’s commonly called the flu, influenza is not the same as the stomach viruses that cause diarrhea and vomiting.
Initially, the flu may seem like a common cold with a runny nose, sneezing and sore throat. But colds usually develop slowly, whereas the flu tends to come on suddenly. And although a cold can be a nuisance, you usually feel much worse with the flu.
Common signs and symptoms of the flu include:
- Fever over 101 F in adults, and often as high as 103 to 105 F in children
- Chills and sweats
- Headache
- Dry cough
- Muscular aches and pains, especially in your back, arms and legs
- Fatigue and weakness
- Nasal congestion
- Loss of appetite
- Diarrhea and vomiting in children
Homeopathic treatment plans for the cold and flu have a three pronged approach. First to strengthen an already weakened immune system. Secondly to minimize and eliminate the presenting symptoms ranging from fevers, coughs, fatigue and weakness. Finally, once symptoms are eliminated to continue with immune support for long term maintenance and prevention of future episodes. Long term maintenance will help prevent further inflammation and weakness by constantly boosting the immune system and thereby eliminating all latent bacterial and viral invaders. Vitamin supplementation in such cases is useless and can be easily fortified by proper nutritional support. More about homoepathy……