Home remedies · Colds, nose & fever
No home remedy here replaces treatment, and none is talked down. What has done good for generations does good — even if no one ever measured it. Where something is well studied, it says so. Where it is only experience, it says that too.
Hang a damp cloth over a chair back or set out a shallow bowl of water, keep the room on the cool side.
Dry heated air makes the lining brittle; humid air keeps it supple and the cough quieter.
It influences neither germs nor the course, only how it feels.
Electric and ultrasonic humidifiers need daily cleaning, otherwise they spread germs. Above 60 per cent humidity encourages mould.
Have it assessed: fever beyond three days without improvement or rising again, breathlessness, pain on breathing, confusion. In infants under three months any fever is a reason. Also a nosebleed that has not stopped after twenty minutes of correct pressure.