When your child catches a cold, parents often look for natural ways to help relieve symptoms like congestion, coughing, and discomfort. But with so many cold remedies shared online and passed down through generations, it can be difficult to know what actually works.
For babies struggling with congestion, nasal suction can help remove mucus and make it easier for little ones to breathe.
If you haven’t noticed yet, snot is our specialty here at Dr. Noze Best! Since our company was founded by Dr. Steven Goudy, a Pediatric ENT, we get asked many questions about tackling colds, managing RSV, and how nasal aspiration plays a massive role in helping both.
Educating our customers and community is incredibly important to us, and while we are always trying to set the record straight about various topics, we come across a lot of misinformation. When it comes to natural cold remedies, a lot of these methods have been passed down from generation to generation and proved untrue by modern-day studies.
8 Natural Cold Remedy Myths Debunked
As we are all in the midst of a very challenging cold and flu season, we want to debunk these 8 natural cold remedies so that when it comes to time to nurse your little ones back to health that science and your doctor's advice are guiding the methods you use.
1. Does Gargling Salt Water Help a Cold?
According to Penn Medicine, while gargling salt water can't provide a sore throat with immediate relief, it is great to help you with killing unwanted bacteria in your throat. To use this method, simply mix a half of a teaspoon of table salt with 8 ounces of warm water and gargle.
2. Does Honey Help a Cough?
According to Harvard Health, you lose a lot of fluids when you are sick, so staying hydrated is key - and it also helps break up congestion. Warm fluids, like tea, help to keep your throat moist and can prevent coughing, too. As for honey, we advise not to give this to children under 1, however for anyone over 1, adding it to your warm or hot tea has been shown in studies to reduce symptoms from an upper respiratory tract infection.
3. Can Vitamin C Prevent or Shorten a Cold?
According to the Mayo Clinic, taking lots of Vitamin C doesn't really do much for preventing or shortening colds. However, they do say that, "some studies have found that taking vitamin C before cold symptoms start may shorten the length of time you have symptoms. Vitamin C may benefit people at high risk of colds due to frequent exposure — for example, children who attend group child care during the winter."
4. Does Chicken Noodle Soup Cure a Cold?
Sorry grandma! UVA Health had debunked this one and says that even though patients feel better when eating chicken noodle soup, it doesn't actually do anything to cure a cold. However, it is packed with tons of vitamins and necessary minerals, so it's great to eat for your overall health!
5. Should You Feed a Cold or Starve a Fever?
According to UVA Health, this is only true depending on a person's age and size. The myth is based on the theory that eating while sick creates more body heat so avoiding food may allow it to cool down. The facts are that children and adults with less body fat need to eat more when sick and those with stored energy can eat the same.
6. Does Dairy Increase Mucus During a Cold?
While some believe that eating or drinking dairy can increase mucus when you are sick, this is untrue. Doctors say that as long as you tolerate dairy, there is no need to remove it from your diet when you have a cold.
7. Can Onions Help Relieve Cold Symptoms?
Last but not least, we had to share the latest TikTok trend, encouraging people to chop up onion and put it in cold water to help relieve congestion and cold symptoms, naturally. However, according to NBC Boston, doctors say that there really isn't any science backing up this claim.
8. Can Garlic Treat a Cold, Fever, or Ear Infection?
Garlic is a hot topic! Another viral natural cold remedy is slicing garlic and placing it against the feet, inside of a sock overnight to bring down a fever. While garlic does have wonderful antibacterial and antiviral properties, the Journal of Pediatric Emergency Care advises against this as it can cause unintentional burns to your child's feet.
As for garlic in the ear, Dr. Goudy, Dr. Noze Best founder and a Pediatric ENT has some important thoughts! He says, "putting garlic in your child’s ear is not going to treat an ear infection. Ear infections are typically caused by viruses which will typically get better on their own. There is some evidence that substances within garlic can treat or kill bacteria, which are not viruses. However, to get into the middle ear (behind the ear drum) they would have to be given orally and very, very high doses or through the blood to actually reach the middle ear to treat it."
In addition, putting garlic in your child's ear can lead to a piece of garlic stuck in your child's ear. "It is random and lucky that your child’s ear infection got better when you put a garlic clove in their ear canal. Additionally a garlic clove could get stuck in your child’s ear canal and thus need to have surgery for removal. The only benefit or garlic is that vampires will not be attracted to your child."
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The Nozebot is a battery-powered suction device designed to clear nasal congestion in babies and children.
