What to eat when you have a cold, headache, and nasal congestion?

Written by Hu Bai Yu
Pulmonology
Updated on December 11, 2024
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If you have symptoms such as headache and nasal congestion with a cold, it is recommended that in addition to taking anti-inflammatory and anti-infection medications and cold medicine under the guidance of a doctor, you should also eat some foods that have the effect of expelling colds, such as appropriately boiling some brown sugar ginger juice to drink, or frying eggs with ginger and sesame oil. These dietary methods have the effect of expelling cold and stopping cough, and can also relieve symptoms of nasal congestion and headache well. If the pain is severe, you can take pain relief medication and combine it with massaging the temples to alleviate symptoms. Be sure to rest plenty, avoid overexertion, keep indoor air fresh and circulating, and also pay attention to eating more fresh fruits and vegetables to supplement vitamins, enhance your immunity, and promote disease recovery.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
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Cold with nasal congestion, fear of cold, and sweating is what kind of cold?

A cold, also known as an upper respiratory tract infection, often occurs due to decreased immune function, inadvertent exposure to cold, or infection by certain viruses, bacteria, or pathogens, leading to clinical symptoms such as nasal congestion, runny nose, fever, sore throat, and chills. When a patient with a cold has a fever, it invariably causes a sensation of chilliness throughout the body, along with cold extremities. If such patients are given appropriate antiviral, heat-clearing, detoxifying, and fever-reducing medications for symptomatic treatment, usually after the fever subsides, a process of sweating occurs, which is very common in clinical practice, especially in cases of febrile colds. Therefore, in clinical practice, regardless of the type of cold causing the fever or symptoms like nasal congestion, it is essential to provide timely symptomatic treatment with medications to alleviate these uncomfortable clinical symptoms.

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Written by Wang Chun Mei
Pulmonology
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Do you need to take medicine for a cold with nasal congestion?

Nasal congestion due to a cold is very common in clinical practice. The need for medication depends on the type of cold and the patient's own immune function. If the patient has a cold caused by a viral infection and the symptoms are not severe, or if the patient generally likes to exercise and is young, a mild cold may not require medication and can heal on its own within about a week. For children or elderly individuals with weaker resistance, when an upper respiratory infection occurs, it is advisable to administer some medication for symptomatic treatment to prevent the condition from worsening and to avoid unnecessary complications.

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Written by Li Jian Wu
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Changes in cold symptoms

The symptoms and changes of a cold are primarily determined by the infecting virus. Clinically, it is mainly divided into the common cold and influenza. The common cold is mainly caused by infections of rhinovirus, adenovirus, and pharyngovirus, leading to symptoms such as nasal congestion, runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, coughing, and sore throat. The other type of cold refers to influenza, which is caused by influenza virus or parainfluenza virus infections, primarily manifested by muscle soreness in the limbs, fatigue, sore throat, and compared to the common cold, the ear, nose, and throat symptoms are relatively mild.

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Written by Li Jian Wu
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How to distinguish between bacterial cold and viral cold

Bacterial colds and viral colds can be distinguished by a complete blood count. A viral cold, generally caused by a viral infection, is characterized by symptoms such as nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, and mild fever. Bacterial colds, on the other hand, often present with chills and high fever, sore throat, and pus in the tonsils. In viral colds, lymphocyte counts are elevated, and there is no significant increase, or no increase, in the total white blood cell count. Bacterial colds show an increase in white blood cells and neutrophils.

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Written by Qiu Xin Hui
Traditional Chinese Medicine
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The cause of colds and flu

Cold and influenza are what traditional Chinese medicine refers to as 'wind-cold common cold.' The main causes are due to a decrease in the body's resistance, exposure to cold wind, and the inability to expel it from the body promptly. This results in a series of symptoms related to the wind-cold common cold, such as nasal congestion, clear nasal discharge, sneezing, sore limbs, chills, and fever. At this time, active treatment should be carried out, and it is appropriate to eat more warm foods or take medicines for conditioning. At home, you can use ginger brown sugar water, drink more hot porridge, and cover with thick blankets to make the body sweat slightly, which can alleviate the symptoms.