Best cold medicine for stuffy nose and sore throat

Caught a nasty cold recently? You're not alone. Every year, millions of people in the United States get sick with the common cold — in fact, adults have an average of two to three colds every single year, and kids have even more than that, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And with every sniffle, you're probably left wondering about the best cold remedies.

“Colds are due to viruses for which we really don’t have any cure or way to truly treat, so what we rely on are various methods to alleviate some symptoms,” Dr. Erich Voigt, clinical associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at NYU Langone Health told TODAY.

Most of the time, the cold will run its course and people will get better all by themselves, without any remedies, said Voigt. “The old statement, ‘If you treat a cold, it’ll go away in a week, and if you don’t treat it, it’ll go away in seven days,’ is reality,” Voigt added. 

There is limited high quality evidence to support specific remedies for the common cold, in particular among children, Dr. Richard Chung, pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist at Duke Health, told TODAY. “Colds will always be somewhat. uncomfortable."

That said, there are things you can do to feel better while your body fights off a cold. We spoke to doctors around the country to find out the best cold remedies — ones that actually work. Always consult your health care provider if you have any questions or concerns about your symptoms or possible treatments.

First, make sure it’s a cold

“The first step in getting over a common cold is to ensure that it’s actually a common cold,” Dr. Stuart C. Ray, vice chair of medicine for data integrity and analytics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told TODAY.

According to the CDC, the symptoms of the common cold are typically a runny nose, sneezing, sore throat, coughing, headaches and body aches, and people usually recover within seven to 10 days.

“A common cold doesn’t cause fever, shortness of breath, severe pain, complete loss of taste or smell, or a rash. … If an illness has one of the features above, it’s probably not a common cold, and medical advice should be considered,” Ray said, stressing the importance of speaking with a health care provider. Allergies, influenza, and COVID-19 can also cause symptoms that may seem like the common cold, Ray added.

“Rapid (COVID-19) testing should be considered if getting together with others when you have cold symptoms,” said Ray. 

Stay home if you feel sick

“If you have a cold, you should stay home until you’re feeling better,” said Voigt. Not only can this help you rest and recover, but it also prevents you from spreading the cold to others. “The contagious part of colds is typically when the person has a runny nose or when they’re coughing and sneezing,” Voigt added. 

“Back in the pre-COVID era, many people went to work sick with a cold and they would spread the cold around the office. … That actually leads to a lot of decreased productivity and a lot of lost time at work,” said Voigt. The common cold is actually the main reason children miss school and adults miss work in the U.S., according to the CDC.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

“My number one advice for getting over a cold is staying hydrated. … We underestimate the importance of this basic strategy,” Dr. Jay-Sheree Allen, a board-certified family medicine physician at the Mayo Clinic, told TODAY. “Whether it’s water, juice, clear broth or warm lemon water with honey, getting over a cold will be easier if we’re not dehydrated,” Allen added.

Staying hydrated can also help loosen up all that mucus causing your congestion, Voigt noted.

“Mucus can start to get very thick in our body and we need hydration to keep it flowing,” said Voigt. “If it gets super thick and dense … that can lead to complications of a cold such as a sinus infection or bronchitis, so you really want to keep yourself well hydrated,” said Voigt.

Use over-the-counter medications wisely

“There are countless cold medicines out there, so when you look at labels, you want to be careful to see what ingredients are in them,” Voigt said. These may include analgesics or NSAIDs for pain, decongestants, expectorants, antihistamines or cough suppressants, the experts noted. “A lot of cold products have a lot of these combined together,” said Voigt.

Over-the-counter pain relievers can help with the aches, said Voigt. “Analgesics like acetaminophen and NSAIDS like ibuprofen … should be used in moderation (according to the label) given their side effects,” said Ray.

Decongestants can help you feel less stuffed up, said Voigt. They are available in spray form (oxymetazoline), but this should only be used for a maximum of three days because rebound swelling can occur, Voigt added. Oral decongestants like pseudoephedrine may also help, but these can raise the heart rate and blood pressure or increase anxiety, said Voigt. “If you have any heart disease or blood pressure problems, then you may want to avoid those,” Voigt added. 

Decongestants with antihistamine "can help if used for just a few days and according to the label," said Ray.

Expectorants like guaifenesin can thin mucus in the sinuses or chest, and cough suppressants like dextromethorphan can help if you're coughing through the night, for example, said Voigt. 

“Infants and young children should generally avoid taking over-the-counter cough and cold medications as there are potential adverse effects but no proven benefits,” Dr. Jason Nagata, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, told TODAY. 

Chung added that over-the-counter medicine can be used in kids to manage pain and fever, but stressed that, in general, parents and guardians should not necessarily manage their children’s cold symptoms in the same way they manage their own. “Children are different and the risks and benefits of specific treatments are also different,” Chung said.

Avoid alcohol and caffeine

Unfortunately, that morning coffee or evening glass of wine should probably wait until you no longer feel sick. “It’s important to avoid alcohol, coffee and caffeinated drinks, which can make dehydration much worse and you are experiencing a cold,” said Allen. 

Try not to vape or smoke

“It would not be advisable to smoke vape or drink when you’re sick because that can just contribute to the inflammation, cough and irritation of the airway,” said Voigt. 

Soothe your throat with honey

“One of the most proven remedies for the cough of a chest cold is honey,”  Dr. Cory Fisher, a family medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic, told TODAY. The more local, the better, he added. 

“The mechanism of cough suppression is not well understood, but honey has been shown to have both anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. ... It may also just be that it coats a sore throat,” Fisher said. According to Chung, honey can be helpful for a cough in kids over the age of 1.

Get enough sleep

Sleep is always important, but even more so when you’re trying to get over a cold. “Get plenty of sleep to keep your immune system fighting, (and) do this consistently for a few days,” Dr. Mike Ren, assistant professor of family and community medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told TODAY.

Try not to lie down in bed all day 

“Let your body rest, but don’t let yourself lie in bed all day, because lying in bed all day can lead to complications from the cold,” said Ray.

“When you have mucus in your lungs and you’re not mobilizing and coughing it out and breathing nice and deeply, you can develop pneumonia (for example),” said Voigt, adding that sitting or lying in bed for too long could also lead to a blood clot in the legs.

Get moving if you can

“Maintain exercise (light to moderate level) rather than daytime bedrest if you're not exhausted to help with recovery,” said Ray. Walking is a comfortable, familiar workout that offers a number of physical and mental health benefits. 

But remember not to go too hard. “You (still) want to let your body recover by resting and not overexerting yourself, so when you’re sick, you should not go and run 10 miles,” said Voigt.

Warm up with hot soups and tea

“The most important things are food, fluids, rest and repeat!,” said Ren. “My go-to is a large bowl of chicken noodle soup with added veggies and a few hard-boiled eggs for extra protein.”

“There’s probably a little bit of help from some hot tea … because the steam from those hot beverages will go up into your nose and sinuses, and the steam is helpful,” said Voigt. 

“Add some ginger, lemon or honey (to the tea) to soothe your throat,” said Ren.

Use a saline nasal spray

“Saline nasal spray can help with congestion and is safe if used according to the label,” said Ray. These sprays can help clear mucus out of your nose, said Voigt, and just help provide some moisture and relief.

Avoid spraying zinc in the nose, because that can cause loss of sense of smell, said Ray.

Try a saline rinse

Saline rinses can also help clear your sinuses. These may come in a small squeeze bottle that allows you to squirt the saline into the nose or a “neti pot” where you pour the saline into your nose then let gravity and movement of the head do the work, said Voigt. 

“However, if the nose is really in that congested stuffy phase, a lot of that saltwater can’t even get in, so you may want to use your decongestants in the bad stuffy phase and then the saline once your nose is opened up to wash out the mucus,” Voigt added.

Crank up the humidity

“I encourage long, steamy showers or a steam inhaler to get steam up into the nose and sinuses into the lungs so that you keep the mucus flowing and keep it fluid,” said Voigt. 

Humidifiers are also a great way to increase the moisture in the air of your room or home while you’re recovering. According to Chung, cool-mist humidifiers are recommended for children.

Don’t take antibiotics

“Unless there is a bacterial infection complicating matters, antibiotics are not needed to treat a cold and can cause unnecessary harm,” Chung added. 

As previously mentioned, the common cold is a viral infection. “Bacteria are very different from viruses,” said Voigt, and therefore so are the treatments.

Bottom line: Listen to your body

“The focus of treatment (if any are used) should be achieving adequate comfort and avoiding unnecessary costs and harms from treatments that aren’t truly needed,” Chung said.

You should also watch for complications (such as a bacterial sinus infection, ear infection, or pneumonia) and communicate with your health care provider if you get concerned, Chung added.

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