Care of Colds and Flu - University Health Service (2024)

• Wash your hands often with soap and water.
• Don’t have soap? Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze.
• Throw your used tissues in the trash. Then wash your hands.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth.
• Do not share towels, utensils, cups, straws, etc.
• Get a flu shot every year in the fall.

• Drink fluids such as water, soup, fruit juice, tea, warm, or broth.
• Suck on cough drops to moisten your throat. Gargle with warm salt water every few hours (1/4 tsp of salt).
• Avoid alcoholic /caffeinated drinks.
• Use acetaminophen (Tylenol®) or ibuprofen (Advil®) as directed for pain or fever. DO NOT USE ASPIRIN.
• If you have a fever, place a cool washcloth over your forehead and/or behind your neck.
• Use a decongestant (to alleviate or dry up mucus in the head, nose, and throat).
• Do not bundle up in heavy clothes.
• Elevate your head with extra pillows at night.

For a productive cough(i.e., a cough that brings up mucus or phlegm)

• Drink plenty of liquids and use a vaporizer or hot shower steam to loosen congestion and thin mucus.
• Take an expectorant, such as Robitussin. Do not take a cough suppressant to suppress a cough so much that you are no longer bringing up mucus.
• Stop smoking and stay away from places where people are smoking.
• Drink 8 oz. of fluids (fruit juice, water, soup, or other replenishing liquids) every few hours to replace fluids lost through “invisible” perspiration.

For a non-productive cough(i.e., a dry cough that does not bring up mucus)

• Drink plenty of fluids. Hot beverages with honey soothe the throat.
• Take an over-the-counter cough suppressant with dextromethorphan.
• Take a decongestant, such as Sudafed, if you have a post-nasal drip.
• Suck on cough drops, lozenges, or hard candy to soothe and moisten a dry, irritated throat.