Although a virus that causes the common cold cannot reproduce outside of the human body, it can live on the skin and other surfaces for as long as three hours. These viruses become airborne when an infected person sneezes and to a lesser extent when he or she coughs. The next person becomes infected when he or she inhales the airborne secretions or touches the face after touching an infected person or a surface that they touched. Common cold duration can be as short as two days or as long as two weeks.

Some people are troubled with recurring common cold symptoms or a large number of colds per year. During cold and flu season, typically from September to April, the grocery store aisles that contain the over the counter and some of the herbal remedies for common cold symptoms are crowded with people. You can become infected with a cold virus any time of the year, but it appears that most of the viruses that cause cold symptoms survive better when the humidity is lower. In most of the United States, those are the winter months.

Like other diseases to which human beings are subject, a cold is the result of inappropriate diet. It is nature's way of expelling poisonous humours from the body. We must attack the malady at its source and that is the putrifying mater in the intestines. The patient must fast till the cold is gone'it will not take more than two days-and take a warm water enema followed by a cup of warm water after every two hours.

Honey and lemon tea? Lemon juice is a good source of vitamin C, which is important for proper immune system function. Herbal teas, made from mullein, sweetened with honey and lemon can be very soothing to the throat and can temporarily open clogged breathing passages. Horehound tea can also be used to relieve coughs. Green tea has been the subject of a number of studies and has been shown to effectively increase energy and metabolism. Honey should not be given to small children.

Lady's fingers are highly precious in treating irritation of the throat and a constant dry cough. This vegetable is rich in mucilage and acts as a drug to allay annoyance, swelling, and pain. About hundred grams of lady's fingers should be cut into pieces and boiled down in about half a liter of water to make a decoction. The steam issuing from this decoction may also be inhaled once or two times a day to relieve throat irritation and a dry cough. This a good home remedy for cold.

The common cold usually stems from viral exposure thus there is no definite cure for it. The affected individual must rely on symptomatic treatment which aims to alleviate the symptoms and relieve the effects that come with the condition. Because the upper respiratory tract is inflamed and other parts affected as well like ears and sinuses, herbs act to minimize pain, swelling and mucus.