Home Remedies For Beating the Common Cold – Do They Really Work?

It started last Friday with a sore throat, which I'm happy to say has since gone away. But I'm still really tired, feel half frozen, and am constantly wiping a nose that runs like a faucet. And it sounds like I'm not alone. There must be something going around.

Since I've been dealing with a cold all weekend, I thought I'd do a Google search for home remedies. A lot of the results suggest many of the same cures: lots of water, lots of rest, lots of chicken soup. I already knew all of these things.

I was more interested in finding some unique, off-the-wall ideas. Someone once told me to cut an onion in half and put it on the nightstand while I slept. All I ended up with the next morning was a dried out onion. A remedy I heard about recently, but have not yet tried, is a mixture of honey and cinnamon. Maybe that will be my next experiment.

Even though I'm open to trying out new "cures" for the common cold, I can't help but notice that almost all home remedies claim to knock out a cold "in two to three days." Isn't it possible (maybe even probable) that the cold will just naturally run its course in two to three days? If that's the case, I should be back to top shape any minute now.

Do you know of any great home remedies for fighting the common cold? Are there any secret recipes that your family uses? I'm willing to try just about anything, within reason. No more onions on the nightstand, though.