Post your "old wives tale" style cures for a cold.

[PeachyKleen]

1 Clove Crushed Garlic
Nubbin of Crushed Ginger
1/8 Tsp of Cayenne
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
all in a shot glass, and chased with Vodka.

Take it down, turn around 3 times and wish the cold goodbye!

 

[expatCanuck]

...Nubbin of Crushed Ginger...

Had to look that one up.

 

[ScottS]

Plenty of Water or hot fluids. Try to avoid decongestants-- bounceback can be bad. Aspirin/Tylenol for muscle ache. Avoid the "night time" formulations of anything, and go for blackberry brandy if you need a little something to help you sleep. Zinc might speed things up a bit, especially the nasal swabs.

 

[daddybear]

Simple.

chicken soup.

hot tea.

All day every day til you feel better.

The only old wives tail that ever worked...

cheers and feel better. I think I got the wife's cold and I'm not happy about it.

-db

 

[adamk222]

its worked for me for a long time.
step 1. drink 1-1.5 pints of bourbon.
step 2.take 2 motrin or generic ibuprofen with 2 8oz glasses of water
step 3.take a multi-vitamin
step 4.pass out early and git like 12 hours of sleep then wake up feeling great if not do it again lol.

 

[labrat_333]

While not and "Old" home remeady I accidently found a good cure for a stuffy nose the other day.

If you shave with Proraso as you shave spread a little lather around your nostrils and ignore it for a while. After a few minutes that menthol and Eucalyptus start to tingle and really work. Like Vics-Vapor-Rub but Prorasoier.

 

[AACJ]

Oh, has anyone tried a Neti Pot during a cold? I've tried one before for congestion but not for a cold. If anyone listens to Eliot in the Morning on the radio in Balt/DC/Richmond, he had a discussion about it and said it works.

 

[Chango]

I had to read through this thread because I'm home sick today. Miserable. The only thing worse than being sick is being sick on a hot sunny day.

I think I'm going with the adding ginger to green tea remedy.

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Jordan:
For the cold / flu, some old fashioned advice (Mom's tales), would be toss down 3 - 4 shots of whisky or cognac (with some hot Lemon Tea w/ honey),...take a couple of aspirin, go tot bed and turn the heat up a bit and add a few blankets to sweat it out and use liquid Vicks and a steam vaporizer...works for the Mrs. and I when every we get the flu or the cold.

Hope you feel better!!!

"There is one consolation in being sick; and that is the possibility that you may recover to a better state than you were ever in before". Henry David Thoreau

 

[Doc4]

A couple years ago I had the opportunity to talk to a real-to-goodness Old Wife about cold cures. She had a long history of working as a cook in a logging camp out in the wilderness. Whenever one of her "boys" would show the first signs of a cold, she'd cut them off sugars and starches totally ... basically just eating meat/fat ... and sure enough they'd get better ASAP.

 

[docholliday77]

My grandpa always swore by drinking a glass of wine when someone else in the house had the pukes. Doesn't take much of an excuse for me to down a glass of wine.

 

[martym]

My grandmother on my father's side would always rub our feet with Vicks and then put socks on our feet.

 

[cleanshaved]

Rum & Stones Green Ginger Wine.

 

[Storch4]

Blackberry brandy straight or Grand Marnier in tea. Nothing beats chicken soup, however

 

[Mad Hatter]

My goto cure has always been a cup of hot black tea with a shot of whiskey and a dash of honey. I can't ever remember being sick for long.

 

[oldtree]

this my family hand down 5th gen. 1 fifth favorite whisky , use 1/2 the whisky, 8 oz honey, 1 whole lemon juice and rind, and a small piece ginger diced . place all in whisky bottle shake twice daily for 1 week, then use a tablespoon when needed

 

[deafficianado]

Cold-eeze oral spray and/or Emergen-C powder. Also drink lots of fluids and get plenty of sleep.

 

[FarmerTan]

My dad made us swallow a bit of Vicks Vaporub. And he'd tie a handkerchief soaked in Vicks around our necks. We all lived, lol.

 

[Ricksplace]

Hot Finnish sauna.
Rub snow (carefully -that stuff is sharp!) on face and head and other various body parts
Make loud whooping noises and jump around like you're standing on hot coals
Return to sauna
Repeat
Post sauna -lots of water/tea to replenish fluids (a beer or two works well, I find)
Out cold for 8-10 hours.

 

[Snappy Lunch]

I'll second the vote for BC powder, even over my previous rediculous advice. Those not living in the south may not know about BC's or goodies, but they are ehadache heaven....

A powdered form of aspirin and caffeine, they cure sicknesses FAST. Your head will feel like it is going to explode for about 30 seconds after you take it, but 5 minutes later the cold is gone. Well worth the the initial pain and time.... BC's is the best way to fix a headache.

The powder form seems to work quick for me, but I use Goody's. I have tried the liquid form of Goody's and it works even better.