"Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion..."
Remember Eurythmics? That's my favorite group. I am not very familiar with the English music since I come from a different cultural background, but I remember them because of the lyrics that are so easily understood even for someone like me. But, the subject here is in a totally different context. When the rain comes it brings common colds and with the colds come the stuffy noses, scratchy throats, watery eyes, coughs, chest congestion and finally the fever. Sometimes it doesn't have to be rain. It could be the windy weather, cold season, just plain old wet hair from the shower. Different people get colds from different sources but the bottom line is every body suffers from it the same way. The extent of suffering and types of symptoms can be different but a cold is a cold. Colds bother us more than any fever or illnesses in the sense they make us restless and feverish.
Symptoms of colds usually start with a sneeze or runny nose. Body pains start right after that followed by chills and then we feel hot. The temperature of the body doesn't rise but we feel like we have a fever because of the struggle the body is going though in order to fight off the germs. When the congestion increases we get a stuffy nose which makes us try to breathe through our mouth. This make the throat dry and it starts itching which eventually leads to a dry cough and scratchy throat. Sneezing makes us feel dizzy sometimes and gradually it becomes a headache with head congestion. Chronic colds lead to shortness of breath, chest heaviness and sometimes could lead to bronchitis. When the runny nose turns into thick, yellowish phlegm, we don't have an alternative but to stay in bed with all the blankets and antihistamines at the bedside. What we don't realize is that this condition eventually has to subside by itself no matter what we do to cure it. All the cold medicines in the world don't do any good unless we take preliminary precautions at the beginning of the colds.
The reason we catch a cold are usually related to hygiene and compromised immune systems. People with illnesses such as diabetes catch common colds very easily because of the susceptibility of the body. Some kinds of colds are contagious while others come with weather and temperature variations. Environmental factors other than temperature changes are pollution from vehicles, detergents, perfumes, cleaning liquids and certain cold foods such as ice cream. The most common cause for getting colds remains the lack of practice in keeping up with simple hygiene such as hand washing. Allergens in the air during spring and fall seasons are next to hand washing in starting the colds and coughs. Sometimes the kinds of materials that we use in clothes like synthetic and polyester could start a sneeze and if your immunity is not high could lead to cold and eventually becomes a cycle that could go on. Common colds usually last anywhere from three to seven days and some times longer to subside.