Beyond Chicken Soup- What Helps the Common Cold?

This week I've been talking about colds and the role of vitamins can play in treating them. We know that the common cold is caused by a virus, so therefore antibiotics (which kill bacteria, not viruses) do NOT help. What DO I recommend for my patients?
Much of what your parents may have offered you works well, by the way...

1. Oral decongestants- phenylephrine or pseudoephedrine- work well to relieve nasal stuffiness, but can have significant side effects of raising blood pressure, causing palpitations/jitteriness or insomnia
2. SHORT TERM (3 days) use of nasal decongestant sprays; also relieve nasal congestion with less side effects
3. Nasal saline sprays and washes often relieve congestion as well as the medicated versions
4. Aromatic oils (menthol, camphor, and eucalyptus) used topically provide subjective improvement in nasal congestion- don't forget about the topical "vaporub" or the forms of these oils that you add to a warm bath!
5. Analgesics: acetaminophen (tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil/Motrin) help with headache and body aches
6. HYDRATE! Remember chicken soup? ANY liquid helps, but drinking warm broth often has the double benefit of sore throat relief along with hydration. The more you hydrate, the less headaches and looser mucus (so it will de-congest) you will have.
7. Salt water gargles ease sore throats as well; repeat several times a day for the first day or two, and don't be shy with the salt: use 2 tablespoons per 8 oz of water- it wont even all dissolve, but that's how much you really want to increase effectiveness.
8. Cough suppressant: try OTC products with "DM"- dextromethorphan. More on this tomorrow...

BOTTOM LINE: Symptomatic relief of the COMMON COLD is important, but antibiotics are NOT part of the equation.

Terrific Toenails

Okay, I'm definitely a fan of old-fashioned remedies that actually WORK, such as the old Vicks Vaporub on your neck/chest to help you breathe when your nose is stuffy from a cold or allergies. How wonderful that it doesn't make you sleepy or hyper while it works (unlike many of our decongestants and antihistamines.)
However, there is another use for this favorite product. Would you believe that putting vaporub on your yellow, thickened toenails will often cure the fungus causing this discoloration? Now, it does literally take months to see results, but even our expensive antifungal pills used for the same purpose take that long.
I read about this off-label use of vaporub over a decade ago, in the AAFP (American Academy of Family Physicians) journal. It was not a controlled study, and I know of no excellent evidence-based trials. I DO know that I have been recommending this benign treatment for more than ten years, and I estimate my patients' success rate around 80%!
The very best result I have seen was on my mother's toes, which had severe thinkening/discoloration, and they actually became almost normal in four months. I believe the trick was that she refrained from using any nail polish that whole time, and she was religious about putting on a smear of vaporub on her nails every night before bed.
BOTTOM LINE: Summer will be here in a few months, so consider an old home remedy for yellow toenails starting now!