Translations:Common cold/22/en

Symptomatic

Various treatments for the common cold - liquid and pill cold medicine, tea, throat lozenges, and over-the-counter decongestants.

Treatments that may help with symptoms include simple pain medication and medications for fevers such as ibuprofen and acetaminophen (paracetamol). However, it is not clear whether acetaminophen helps with symptoms. It is not known if over-the-counter cough medications are effective for treating an acute cough. Cough medicines are not recommended for use in children due to a lack of evidence supporting effectiveness and the potential for harm. In 2009, Canada restricted the use of over-the-counter cough and cold medication in children six years and under due to concerns regarding risks and unproven benefits. The misuse of dextromethorphan (an over-the-counter cough medicine) has led to its ban in a number of countries. Intranasal corticosteroids have not been found to be useful.