The common cold might cause annoying symptoms, but you can easily manage these through natural cold remedies instead of over-the-counter medicine. In general, you can shorten the lifespan of a cold by getting enough sleep, drinking enough liquids, and eating the right food. While the worst of the symptoms might be gone after five days, it can take up to two weeks to fully recover. If you happen to have a secondary infection, your recovery might take even longer! While it might be annoying, it’s important that you take it slow and take care of yourself even when you start feeling better. Remember, your body isn’t fully recovered so you’ll be more prone to catching another cold while you’re still healing.

While your natural immune system should be able to fight off most infections, there might be times where you should see a doctor. If your symptoms aren’t getting better after a week or two, start to feel worse, or you develop serious symptoms (persistent high fever, shortness of breath, extreme weakness), go see a doctor. While there’s no cure for the common cold, you can and should get antibiotics for things like Strep or Pneumonia.