Common cold — overall comfort

Elder, small-leaved lime and wild thyme appear in the herbals under 'warming up and sweating it out' — the idea being that the illness is driven out through sweat. Raspberry and lingonberry belong to the set more as a sour, refreshing component.

The catalogue lists thirteen species here and all of them fit the same frame: a warm drink, rest, warmth. It is a description of comfort care, not a claim about acting on the virus.

A cold is a viral illness that clears on its own. Nothing commonly available shortens it reliably, and the notion of 'sweating it out' has no support — sweat is a consequence of fever, not a way out of the illness.

What is documented: fluids, rest and time. Vitamin C does not prevent colds in the general population, however often that is repeated. A herbal infusion is here for the feeling of warmth and for hydration, and that is a legitimate role.

Breathlessness, chest pain, a stiff neck, confusion or a rash that does not fade under pressure need an examination immediately.

Do not delay with a fever lasting more than three days, worsening after an initial improvement, severe ear or sinus pain, and any fever in an infant or in someone with a weakened immune system.