# How to fight off a cold.



## Globalti (27 Feb 2014)

This really does work!

Cold viruses transmit themselves mostly when you pick them up on your hands and then rub your eyes or pick your nose, giving them a direct route to the nasal lining where they multiply in the warm damp conditions. This is why you should always wash your hands first thing on getting into your house especially from shopping and public transport.

I've tried this three times now and it really works: as soon as you get that heady dizzy feeling, sore throat and mild fever and you start sneezing, you need to take urgent action to prevent the virus from multiplying.

First get a bottle of Corsodyl mouthwash. It's expensive in Boots, cheaper in supermarkets and even cheaper in places like Bodycare Toiletries. Gargle with this four times a day, covering your mouth with a tissue because it's very bubbly. At the same time get a small bottle of Vicks First Defence or the Boots own equivalent. This is a solution of saline with carrageenan gel to make it gooey. It works by mimicking the body's own defence: snot. Follow the instructions and spray it up each nostril, it isn't too bad and what it does is to trap the viruses in a hostile gooey solution and carry them away down your throat where you swallow them and your stomach acid deals with them. I also take zinc tablets because there is evidence that zinc reinforces the ability of the nasal mucosa to resist infection. Don't bother with vitamin C, this particular fallacy has grown up because researchers discovered that your ability to absorb vitamin C is reduced when you have a cold; there's no medical evidence that taking it helps stave off a viral infection.

Keep gargling and squirting and stay warm. I also think a good sweat in a hot bath raises the body's temperature and helps kill off viruses but I may be wrong on that one.

It works!


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## classic33 (27 Feb 2014)

Ice Cream.


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## ianrauk (27 Feb 2014)

Lucozade in a big bottle wrapped in orange cellophane.


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## Colin B (27 Feb 2014)

Don't know all I know is I just had a virus like a cold accept I lost a full day and some sleeping I think my wife said 29 hours total


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## Hacienda71 (27 Feb 2014)

Gargle with TCP


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## Colin B (27 Feb 2014)

Interesting read I'll for sure give it a go next time I have man flu which we all know is worse than milaria a and the plague rolled together


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## Rob3rt (27 Feb 2014)

Don't forget to stick your toe in a jar of mustard and say "shaminy" 3 times over!


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## Colin B (27 Feb 2014)

Dijon or Coleman's ?


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## Rob3rt (27 Feb 2014)

Whichever one would make your face sting the most if you ate a tablespoon full!


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## wheeliebin (5 Mar 2014)

Globalti said:


> This really does work!
> 
> Cold viruses transmit themselves mostly when you pick them up on your hands and then rub your eyes or pick your nose, giving them a direct route to the nasal lining where they multiply in the warm damp conditions. This is why you should always wash your hands first thing on getting into your house especially from shopping and public transport.
> 
> ...


This is really interesting. No, really....I was thinking about posting my own tale of woe about long-term sinus infection and resultant chronic cough when I saw this post. I'm convinced enough to give it a go (I am a bit desperate though currently off the bike with the cough and suffering cycling withdrawal symptoms).


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## Peteaud (5 Mar 2014)

I find Jim Beam works well.

The minerals in the spring water they use do something, as does the ageing process and well i am talking utter bull but after a few good shots, what cold!!!


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## Pat "5mph" (5 Mar 2014)

Only read half of the op before going  ...   
Blokes and their flu 
Haven't had a cold or similar since starting cycle commuting in all weathers, getting rained on daily.
Go figure!


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## wheeliebin (6 Mar 2014)

Pat "5mph" said:


> Only read half of the op before going  ...
> Blokes and their flu
> Haven't had a cold or similar since starting cycle commuting in all weathers, getting rained on daily.
> Go figure!


I was like that, commuted in all weathers for 3 years with barely a sniffle - then bang, 2 colds in quick succession and 8 months later I'm still suffering the after effects to the point where I'm not cycling.


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## wheeliebin (6 Mar 2014)

wheeliebin said:


> This is really interesting. No, really....I was thinking about posting my own tale of woe about long-term sinus infection and resultant chronic cough when I saw this post. I'm convinced enough to give it a go (I am a bit desperate though currently off the bike with the cough and suffering cycling withdrawal symptoms).


I've now started on the Globalti regime, I hope to report back on the success or otherwise to the thousands of interested readers. Or I might not.


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## Joshua Plumtree (6 Mar 2014)

Personally, I find a flu jab works a treat!


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## SatNavSaysStraightOn (6 Mar 2014)

Much prefer the hot toddy treatment (preferably a double) with 2 paracetamol. guarantees a good nights sleep.


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## welsh dragon (6 Mar 2014)

MR D swears by southern comfort. Lots of it and then going to bed and sweating the cold out. (It doesn't work) but at least it keeps him quiet for a while


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## Jason.T (6 Mar 2014)

Some of the older generation around here (I'm talking the hard core old fashion farmer type, the ones who believe that if you don't work 20 hours a day until your hands are bleeding with only 4 hours sleep then you haven't done a days graft)......use detol by rubbing it on their lips hands and under their nose, I honestly don't know a farmer around here.....and I know a lot of them that's ever had a cold


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## Sham69 (6 Mar 2014)

Maybe catching the common cold is a necessary part of life - it gives our immune system a workout and keeps it healthy. As we grow older, our colds are generally milder and less frequent because our immune system has grown stronger for being constantly challenged over the years by our most common contagious disease.

Let's face it, if it wasn't for the common cold, our immune system wouldn't get a workout.


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## Globalti (7 Mar 2014)

Pat "5mph" said:


> Only read half of the op before going  ...
> Blokes and their flu
> Haven't had a cold or similar since starting cycle commuting in all weathers, getting rained on daily.
> Go figure!



Nobody said anything about 'flu! So many people say "I've got 'flu" when all they've got is a cold. I had genuine 'flu once in my life and stayed in bed for five days and felt as weak as a kitten for a couple of weeks after that. A cold is not the same thing but I dread getting one especially before an overseas trip because my eustachian tubes get blocked and I'm in absolute agony when the 'plane descends to land, yawning and gurning like an idiot trying to equalise the pressure in my ears. Not to mention trying to perform in five or six presentations a day and keeping fresh and alert. Nightmare.

(Posting with no cold thanks to my treatment, from my hotel room in Jo'burg after four flights and three countries this week.)


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## buggi (7 Mar 2014)

i normally find i only get a cold if I'm either forced, for some reason, to keep off the bike, or going on annual leave. I think cyclists in general get less colds and flu. I personally think this is bcoz our germs are trapped in snot and end up in the road (i know you do it!). The natural movement of the human body gets rid of crap off the chest (this is why paralysed people get chest infections a lot coz they don't get rid of any and so it stands to reason that cyclists produce a lot of stuff that's get ejected into the road).
having used First Defence a couple of times i can honestly say i think it does work. And this is the second time this week I've heard of using zinc.
it also stands to reason that colds are psychological bcoz they only happen to active cyclists when they are due annual leave, which is why I've been up all night and will be going to the health shop later. Injury forced me off the bike last winter which resulted in a cold which turned into 2 consecutive chest infections followed by bronchitis, the worst month of my life in recent memory. I don't need that on the first proper block booking of annual leave I've had in 3 years.


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## Shut Up Legs (7 Mar 2014)

My flu-avoidance strategy is to out-ride it . Beats the hell out of taking the _Flu Express_***. When I must sit at work surrounded by my overweight, unfit, non-cycling colleagues, I tactfully avoid breathing anywhere near them .

*** aka train/tram/PT.


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## HorTs (7 Mar 2014)

I heard good things about pineapple and pineapple juice with regards to colds.


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