There's no cure for the common cold, but people have spent thousands of years trying to come up with ways to help ease the symptoms. Some folk remedies are as common as mom's chicken soup and have scientific backing. Others may sound a bit strange and have yet to prove effective.
Echinacea
The University of Maryland Medical Center describes the Native American medicinal plant echinacea as one of the most popular herbs in America today. It says people may have used the plant as a general "cure-all" as long as 400 years ago. People now turn to echinacea in the hopes of shortening the duration of colds and flu and treating cold symptoms such as sore throats and coughs.
Vitamin C
Many people take Vitamin C in the hope of warding off colds, but the Mayo Clinic reports that it probably won't prevent colds in most people. However, if you're taking Vitamin C before you develop cold symptoms, the vitamin may help to shorten the duration of the cold. The clinic suggests that the vitamin could be useful for people who often encounter cold germs, such as children who attend group child care in the winter.
Humidifiers
According to the Mayo Clinic, cold viruses thrive in dry conditions, and dry air can dry out mucous membranes and worsen cold symptoms. Adding moisture to the air can help. Long ago, people held their heads over steaming bowls of water. Today, they may be more likely to plug in a humidifier in their bedroom. If you do choose to use a humidifier, the Mayo Clinic advises to keep the unit clean and change the water daily to prevent buildup of mold, fungi or bacteria.
Chicken Soup
Sometimes mother does know best. If your mom whipped out a bowl of chicken soup every time you caught a cold, she was doing the right thing. According to the Mayo Clinic, this remedy acts as an anti-inflammatory and temporarily speeds up the movement of mucous, easing congestion.
Tea
The University of California Los Angeles keeps an online archive of American folk remedies. While it provides some background on these remedies, it doesn't research their effectiveness. Two teas made its list of cold remedies--hot ginger tea and horehound tea. Folks in North Carolina believed hot ginger tea taken at bedtime "is fine for colds." The recommendation to use horehound tea stems from Utah.
Plasters
The UCLA folk remedy archive also lists several plaster treatments that people believed helped to ease cold symptoms. A remedy collected in North Carolina calls for putting "mustard plasters on the feet if the cold is in the head." In Utah, there was a belief that you should "wear an onion plaster on your chest to cure a cold."
