Sniffling, sneezing, itchy, scratchy, achooo! Yes, we’re talking about cold season. It seems almost inevitable that we’ll get at least one cold this year. Especially if you have little kids in the house who seem to bring home germs and spread them everywhere they go, we’re bound to find ourselves reaching for the tissues more often than we’d like.

Sure, there are many over-the-counter cold medicines at the pharmacy that can make cold symptoms more bearable, but most of them don’t actually make your cold go away any faster. If you happen to be pregnant or breastfeeding, a lot of these products are off limits as well.

We’ve been looking into old school, tried and true cold remedies that not only make you feel better but actually make you better. We’re talking about boosting our immune systems so that we can fight colds and make them go away as quickly as possible.

One DIY we like involves making our own cold-soothing shower bombs that effectively loosen mucus and relieve congestion.

For a scratchy throat, we’ve found an adults-only nightcap that’s a super effective cough syrup. It almost tastes too good to drink only when you have a sore throat.

Dr. Anthony Balduzzi says, “So folk remedies, they’ve been around forever because the fact of the matter is, they work.” Dr. Balduzzi recommends three cold-relieving folk remedies that we’re adding to our list of favorites.

The first cold remedy involves putting cold, wet socks on your feet – yes, really. Dr. Balduzzi says, “This is maybe one of the craziest but most effective folk remedies out there.” He says this remedy is effective for the “a cold, the flu, head congestion.”

Another folk remedy Dr. Balduzzi recommends is a DIY cough syrup that Grandma probably used. It involves mixing three cold-fighting ingredients – honey, onions and garlic. It sounds weird, but apparently really works (and doesn’t taste too bad either).

Dr. Balduzzi’s third recommendation is a cold-fighting tea that we’re going to make sure we have on hand all winter.

These remedies don’t sound so bizarre when you hear Dr. Balduzzi explains how to use them and why they work in the video below:

 

We’re definitely up for trying any natural remedies when it comes to fighting the common cold. Wet socks, here we come!

Are you going to try these natural cold remedies? What’s your favorite natural way to relieve the common cold?