There is no cure for the common cold. That is all I could think about in my discussion today, as three girls took turns coughing their lungs out at different intervals. It was like a symphony, but roughly 3,000 times less enjoyable.
Ah, yes, it's that time of year: The branches of trees are twisty and bare, the sky is gray, it takes less than 20 seconds of being outside for your ears to go numb, and people everywhere are plagued with stuffy noses and scratchy throats. I just can't even begin to understand why winter isn't everyone's favorite season.
Although there isn't much we can do about the weather, there are precautions we can take to avoid the nuisance of being sick.
According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in the United States, people suffer from about one billion colds per year. With numbers like that, it's no wonder that it is difficult to avoid catching one, especially during a time of year when everyone is confined inside buildings, breathing the same air and touching the same doorknobs.
More than 200 viruses can cause the symptoms of a cold. The most common is rhinovirus, of which there are more than 110 types. On top of all this, 30 to 50 percent of colds are caused by unknown viruses. They're tricky little buggers -- so it's understandable that there isn't a cure for the common cold.
The best advice to keep from getting a cold? You've probably been hearing it since preschool. Wash your hands! Rhinoviruses can survive for up to three hours on your skin or other objects (like doorknobs, telephones, and railings).
The reason that everyone, from your preschool teachers to me right now, have been telling you hand-washing is the best way to go is because it will benefit both you and everyone else. If you touch something that a sick person has touched or shake the hand of someone who's infected, hopefully you'll wash it off before it infiltrates your system. If you're sick, washing your hands on a regular basis will help prevent the rest of us from catching whichever version of the virus you happen to have.
The easiest places for germs to enter the body are through the eyes and nose, so it's best to avoid putting your hands near them to facilitate a cold-less season for yourself.
If you're one of the unlucky ones (unfortunately, this is most of us) who end up with a cold, the best treatment is to rest and drink plenty of fluids. If your throat is particularly scratchy, gargling salt water or using throat sprays can be helpful. Vitamin C is important too, so drink your morning orange juice. I also find there are few things more soothing when you're feeling sick (or even just chilly) than a hot bowl of soup.
There are a lot of things about winter that are fun -- for example, when the meteorologists predict snow and snow actually falls. But building a snowman or getting into a snowball fight is somewhat difficult to enjoy if your head is so congested that it wants to explode and your throat is raw from coughing.
And that, my friends, is precisely why everyone should wash their hands and take care to cover their noses and mouths when they sneeze or cough. It's doubly helpful if you can manage to cough into the crook of your arm instead of your hands, since not many people open doors with their elbows. It doesn't take much effort, but it definitely makes getting through the difficulties of winter much easier.
Katelyn is a Cavalier Daily Health and Sexuality columnist. She can be reached at kkiley@cavalierdaily.com.
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