Why this cold doesn’t go away?

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It can be the change in weather, the season, or just spending the day in places with sick people. Whatever the reason, it is common for us to suffer from time to time

Maybe in your adolescence, you felt that a cold was a transient thing. Two days of "rest" and the third, you were ready for battle. But now you feel that the symptoms are with you for more days and that it is getting harder and harder to get out of them.

Leer en español: ¿Por qué este resfrío no se va?

In WebMed they explain to us that many times, we do things that make our situation worse:

Do not drink enough liquid. The same medicine that we take to make ourselves feel better can drain the fluid from our bodies, such as fever and mucus production. So it is essential to redouble the intake of liquid that will also help us to release that accumulated mucus in the nose and head. Keep in mind that caffeine, which makes you feel more alert during the day, dehydrates you so you may end up feeling worse.

Short rest and stress. The pace of life we lead merely is accelerated and leaves us short time for rest, which can make your cold worse. Not to mention the stress that directly rages your immune system, causing your body to respond poorly to the viruses that attack them.

Continue with an exercise program. It is good to exercise when the symptoms are only watery nose or sneezing. But once you have chest congestion, muscle aches, and headaches, it is imperative to rest.

Another factor that you have to take into account when those simple colds They last longer than we're used to is that maybe it's something more serious. Maybe we think we need a couple of days off when in fact, there is another disease that can be brewing and that over-the-counter medicines are not going to cure. Everyday Health points out the symptoms to which we should pay attention that can be a warning signal:

High fever: this indicates that your body may be fighting another type of infection.

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Recurrent cold: when the normal cold seems to improve but soon attacks again, leaving you sick for weeks, your immune system may be damaged, and you may be prone to new diseases without having healed well from the first one.

A severe headache: if the pain is so intense that it disables you to concentrate or do your daily defects, you should see a doctor because it can be a more severe infection such as meningitis that attacks your central nervous system.

Another common mistake when we catch a cold, which can make the discomfort simply not go away, is to take the wrong medication. Many people confuse a cold with the symptoms of allergy, for example, and it is important to differentiate them, WebMd re-comments us. While the cold comes little by little to your body and the symptoms go in crescendo , the allergy can appear suddenly when it makes contact with the allergen (like the pollen of the flowers, dust, etc.). You can also have a sinusitis , which is another type of infection and causes pain and pressure on the face, as well as mucus with a sticky and yellowish appearance.

And another factor to take into account is that colds or flu are not treated with antibiotics . In the publication of the Health Service Executive Corporate Plan of Ireland, it informs us that both flu and colds are caused by viruses and antibiotics must be used when we have an infection caused by bacteria. And what we achieved in the long term is that these medicines do not work when we have to fight a more serious infection.

LatinAmerican Post | Clementinea Ramos

Translated from "¿Por qué este resfrío no se va?"