Like cough and fever, a cold is a symptom. This means that it is an underlying cause of an illness. Nevertheless, for you to actually stop the illness, you may have to get rid of the symptom first. Fortunately, you are bombarded with several methods in treating colds:

1. Sip an onion broth. If you cannot afford a chicken soup, then might as well have an onion broth. This practice of curing colds began in ancient Rome. What they would usually do is to soak onion into the warm water. The sick person should drink the entire broth. The number of glasses he needed to gulp will depend on how fast he wants himself cured.

2. Pick up plants along the way. On the other hand, colonial America was abundant with different kinds of plants that may have some medicinal properties and can be used to treat colds. These included the buckthorns, goldenseal, bloodroot, coltsfoot, as well as yarrow, to name a few. You can boil them and sip them as if they are your tea. They do not taste really good, but you would rather do so than suffer from a bad running nose and sneeze.

3. Drink alcohol. Now, there seems to be a silent argument as to whether alcoholic beverages will do you anything good when you have running nose. If you are going to ask the Germans, then most definitely they are on the affirmative side. They would usually just spice up their rum with cinnamon and paired with chamomile tea. The logic revolves around the fact that the cause of cold is actually a virus. Cinnamon is well-known in preventing the development of E. Coli and can also increase insulin in your body.

4. Take Echinacea. This functions like vitamin C, which you know is very excellent in treating colds. Latest news, though suggest, that it does not really do much for your colds or even flu. But if you believe in its power, you can still make it work for you. You just need to be careful as you may experience some allergic reactions to it or symptoms of gastrointestinal problems. When you do, avoid drinking any other medicine and consult your doctor.

5. Practice Qigong exercises. Another new but popular method of curing cold is the traditional Chinese medicine. It combines herbal medicines, Qigong, and acupuncture. The main principle of TCM is to allow the proper flow of your universal or vital energy, which is called Qi (pronounced as chi). It is the belief among Chinese that a person gets sick when he experiences imbalance in his ying and yang. There should also be harmony among the basic five elements such as the earth, water, fire, metal, and wood.

When you are drinking too many glasses of water does not work, or when you have already rested for several days, it may be time to think about using other methods, such as the ones mentioned above. Who knows, it may be the cure you are looking for.