The cold is a seasonal ailment that affects, almost in a mild and more severe form, almost all of the Italian population, especially in the months of October and March .

Already the word, cold, gives an indication of the natural remedies to be adopted: if it is true that the cold derives from a cooling, be it internal or external, then the first remedy is to heat.

How to warm yourself against colds

Already at the first symptoms it is possible to run for cover: the first remedy is to heat .

It can be heated in many ways : externally by applying dry hot compresses on the upper part of the body, and internally by adopting a diet that excludes foods from yin (cold) energy and that do not increase inflammation and mucus production.

Miso is a yang food that heats up: miso soup is easy to prepare. Spices also help to warm up: chilli and ginger are a panacea in winter because they increase internal heat.

It is also advisable to eliminate cold foods : raw fruits and vegetables, cheeses and frozen foods. Brown rice is an excellent remedy and allows to balance the internal temperature.

Natural remedies against colds the ginger herbal tea

When the cold is now fully manifest, you can add to the advice given to warm those who suffer in the early stages

also some natural remedies that can act as a home and immediate first aid .

The ginger herbal tea is a natural antiseptic with warming energy. You can use powdered ginger or the root: the latter has better properties than just powder.

Cinnamon can also be added to ginger : even cinnamon has antiseptic properties. Combining the two ingredients allows you to enhance the effects of both.

Home remedy for colds: salt and lemon

Salt and lemon are useful in case of colds and readily available in every home. The lemon juice, made to heat and mixed with a spoon of honey, allows to calm any sore throat associated with the cold, also bringing vitamin C.

On the other hand, salt can be used for nasal washes, in the case of mucus and constipation. Melt a teaspoon of fine sea salt (not iodized, it would be better to complete) in a cup of hot water, let it cool down to the temperature of the body (it is tasted: it must be warm and not hot), then the nasal washes are performed with a small teapot or a lota.

The water must pass through one nostril and come out of the other.

Natural first aid with essential oils

Even essential oils can be used as first aid. They can be used both in fumigations and in diffusers.

Essential oils purify the environment, calm cold symptoms and have a strong antibacterial action.

The essential oils useful in case of a cold are Pine, Tea tree, Eucalyptus and Lavender . You can use them individually or in pairs of two in the diffuser of essential oils, or use one drop each in a liter of water and do fumigations and hot inhalations.

Acupressure and moxa against colds

An immediate first aid remedy for colds and that does not require ingredients or special equipment is acupressure .

Shiatsu acts on the energy meridians of traditional Chinese medicine, balancing the energies that led to the cold.

The points to be treated in case of a cold are the 2 points on the inner edge of the eyebrows, the 2 points on the inner margin of the eyes and the 2 points on the side of the wings of the nostrils.

Light pressure allows the nose to be decongested, decreased to make the sneezing frequency disappear, and relieve cold headaches.

Also moxa, performed with artemisia cones or with moxa cigars, helps treat colds.

Heat is applied on the following points: they all belong to the Governor Vessel channel, one of the eight extraordinary channels, whose points are the meeting place of the yang energies of the body.

The points to be treated start from the nose and run on the forehead and on the head along the midline of the body. They then continue to the nape and are treated from below the occipital area to the middle of the back.

Colds: causes and symptoms

The cold is generally caused by irritation of the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract due to specific viruses. To contract a cold, however, it is not sufficient to come into contact with the virus, which is extremely common in the cold season, but also to present a soil and a transient, or permanent, predisposition to the cold.

Starting from the etymology and the symptoms of the cold valid suggestions for remedy can be taken. Usually the cold promises to be chills, a feeling of general cold, itching and itching in the nose and throat, and brief sneezing, to become overt and only after a few days.

In the acute phase the cold presents with frequent sneezing, nasal constipation and frontal sinuses, feeling cold but without fever, exhaustion and widespread pain. It is sometimes associated with sore throat.

The cold has an incubation time of about a week and of development of about 5 days. It does not require special care: if left running it passes spontaneously and without leaving aftermath.

However, if you do not respect the signals of the body , which require special attention and a minimum of common sense, rest and basic hygiene rules, it can last longer and prepare the ground for more serious pathologies.

Cold: a holistic view

According to analogue medicine the cold can have different readings.

One of these concerns the internal cooling: it is useful to ask ourselves what has cooled inside us, to what we have cooled down .

Another reading concerns the affected body segment and its functionality : the nose is an exchange organ between external and internal.

What do we not want to share about the "air" that we have around us? What do we refuse?

The throat is a phonetic organ and a connection between the head and the heart : what do we not say or what we do not want to bring from the heart to the head or vice versa?

Finally the mucus, so widespread in cases of colds, is a sticky substance that we struggle to get rid of : analogously they can be thoughts, behaviors, relationships, which lead us to stagnate and which we no longer need.