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[Uber dwarf2.0]

One time when I was little, I went to the hospital because my stomach hurt for a very long time,I remember my mum saying something about them using salt water injections/the dripper thing, were as we always used actual meds in our homecountry.

I have a pretty bad cold so I thought if it would help if I drank some salt water with some sugar.

2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 cup of water

Any thoughts?

[Dasleah]

Drinking water fullstop is a good idea when you've got a cold, as you tend to dehydrate quite a bit.

And no, saline itself will not do anything beneficial for you. 2 teaspoons in a normal glass of water is many times more concentrated than the saline solution used in drips in hospitals - the primary use for that is to introduce a constant sterile source of hydration directly into your body where a patient could not normally take fluids orally, and to administer drugs along the saline line.

Having water that is noticeably salty would actually make you sicker and simply dehydrate you more.

[G-Flex]

Just because the hospital puts it in you doesn't mean it's medicine. Like Dasleah said, the saline is for hydration. They use saline because, well, your blood is salty. It's not used instead of "actual meds" at all, and in fact has absolutely nothing to do with the nature or quantity of medication you're given.

And even if it were medicine, why would medicine for one thing automatically help another thing?


At first I thought you were just confused because gargling (not drinking!) saltwater can help debride your throat if it's sore, but this is something else entirely.

[Uber dwarf2.0]

Just because the hospital puts it in you doesn't mean it's medicine. Like Dasleah said, the saline is for hydration. They use saline because, well, your blood is salty. It's not used instead of "actual meds" at all, and in fact has absolutely nothing to do with the nature or quantity of medication you're given.

And even if it were medicine, why would medicine for one thing automatically help another thing?


At first I thought you were just confused because gargling (not drinking!) saltwater can help debride your throat if it's sore, but this is something else entirely.

Ok I kina was thinking about my throat seeing as it solved that.

Edit: Anyone have and Fancy ways of getting rid the Cold?

[Aqizzar]

When I saw this title, it reminded me of grade school.  If you thought you were sick, the school nurse could recommend exactly three treatments - lay down on a lumpy cot, gargle warm salt water, or go home.  I've always wondered why they even bothered with the first two, or needed someone with any training to do such a job.

Yes, I know this has nothing to do with what was being asked, but at least it answers a couple questions for me.

[Uber dwarf2.0]

When I saw this title, it reminded me of grade school.  If you thought you were sick, the school nurse could recommend exactly three treatments - lay down on a lumpy cot, gargle warm salt water, or go home.  I've always wondered why they even bothered with the first two, or needed someone with any training to do such a job.

Yes, I know this has nothing to do with what was being asked, but at least it answers a couple questions for me.

Every school has one useless person ours is an outdoor ed teacher.
Would taking in Sugar do anything?

[Reasonableman]

Makes saltwater go down easier, I'd imagine.

Insofar as colds go, my dad swears by a combination of Zicam swabs, orange juice, and cigars. I stick with preventative cures, myself; IE, total isolation and constant hand-sanitizer use.

[Uber dwarf2.0]

Makes saltwater go down easier, I'd imagine.

Insofar as colds go, my dad swears by a combination of Zicam swabs, orange juice, and cigars. I stick with preventative cures, myself; IE, total isolation and constant hand-sanitizer use.

I drink alot of organe juice but does this acutally do anything and what are Zicam swabs?

[Heron TSG]

Makes saltwater go down easier, I'd imagine.

Insofar as colds go, my dad swears by a combination of Zicam swabs, orange juice, and cigars. I stick with preventative cures, myself; IE, total isolation and constant hand-sanitizer use.

Don't use GermX!

The small amount of bacteria that remain afterwards (The ethanol resistant ones) will have free reign, thus making future infections ten times harder to kill!

[G-Flex]

Makes saltwater go down easier, I'd imagine.

Insofar as colds go, my dad swears by a combination of Zicam swabs, orange juice, and cigars. I stick with preventative cures, myself; IE, total isolation and constant hand-sanitizer use.

Yeah, too bad the nasal Zicam was taken off the market because the FDA found out that they were getting complaints about people LOSING THEIR SENSE OF SMELL from using it.

The moral of the story: When something hasn't been approved by the FDA as a drug because it's marketed as "homeopathic" and otherwise isn't reasonably proven to work, don't use it.

Insofar as colds go, my dad swears by a combination of Zicam swabs, orange juice, and cigars. I stick with preventative cures, myself; IE, total isolation and constant hand-sanitizer use.

I drink alot of organe juice but does this acutally do anything and what are Zicam swabs?
[/quote]

Orange juice has a lot of Vitamin C, which is good for you in terms of preventing this sort of thing, and pretty good for you when you're sick, too. The acid of the orange juice might be harsh on your throat, though, if it's sore.

Zicam is a zinc treatment marketed to make colds go away faster. It hasn't been proven to actually work to any reasonable scientific standard (results seem mixed and inconclusive), taking zinc supplements too often is bad for you anyway for other reasons, and, as I mentioned above, the nasal swab style Zicam has been taken off the market because it turns out there are disadvantages to marketing your product as homeopathic in order to get around FDA regulations.

Don't use GermX!

The small amount of bacteria that remain afterwards (The ethanol resistant ones) will have free reign, thus making future infections ten times harder to kill!

Whoa whoa whoa. There are ETHANOL-resistant bacteria now? That sounds unlikely, but do you have a source on it? I'm interested, because I've never heard of such a thing in my life. Sure you aren't thinking of antibiotics/antibacterial compounds?

[Emperor_Jonathan]

I lost my voice when I had the flu or something about 2 weeks ago. My doctor prescribed Anti-biotics and that I gargle salt water, from the ocean.

[G-Flex]

Yep. When you have a respiratory infection, your throat gets gunked up with dead cells and mucus and battlefield debris. Saltwater helps clear that out. Works for minor wounds in general.

[eerr]

chicken soup for soul!
much better than a saline drip for replenishing lost fluids,
 because theres no needle!

Although I can't remember the last time I was personally sick enough for chicken soup, it does taste good.

[Mr Tk]

I was going to post some useful advice like "Oh drink lemon drinks with honey" or "Get the nice tissues with aloe-vera so they don't rip your nose to shreds" but then I though of something much better to fight your cold with.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Russel Crowe.

[G-Flex]

I lost my voice when I had the flu or something about 2 weeks ago. My doctor prescribed Anti-biotics and that I gargle salt water, from the ocean.

On second thought, this surprises me. Why would a doctor prescribe antibiotics for a viral infection? That seems kind of irresponsible and useless.