What are the Differences between Cold and Flu Symptoms?

 

When you wake up with an achy throat, coughing, wheezing or a feverish feeling, how do you find out if these are cold symptoms or you have the flu? It is essential to know the difference between flu and cold, before taking flu relieving capsules or any common cold treatment.

Basic Difference between Flu and Cold

What It Is?

Cold is a respiratory disease, but it is milder than the cold. Although cold symptoms can make you feel sick for quite a few days, flu can also result in serious health repercussions, such as hospitalization and pneumonia.

Symptoms

Cold symptoms include a sore throat that continues for a day or two, accompanied by congestions, nasal blockages, runny nose and coughing that persists to the fourth and fifth day. Adults can also get a slight fever, but children are much more likely to develop a high fever with the cold.

When you have a cold, the nasal cavity fills with watery nasal secretions that get thicker as well as darker within a few days. It is not a cause for concern as dark mucus is natural and doesn’t mean that you have a bacterial infection like a sinus infection.

Flu on the other hand, is much more severe than a mere cold. And while flu relieving syrup may seem like the ultimate answer, it is necessary to understand its symptoms. The flu symptoms include fever, muscle aches, headaches, sore throat, sore muscles, cough and congestion. Some strains of flu such as swine flu also results in diarrhoea and vomiting.

How Long Does It Last?

Cold symptoms can last roughly for about a weekend if they don’t seem to improve within a week you will need antibiotics to get better. During the first three days of having a cold, you remain contagious, meaning you can pass on the cold to others. Therefore, it is better to stay at home and have as much rest as necessary.

Flu gradually improves within 2-5 days, but it is not uncommon for a flu patient to feel run down even after taking flu relieving capsules. If a flu gets severe, patients, especially the elderly or patients with lung or heart problems, can develop pneumonia and shortness of breath.

Take Your Temperature

Before deciding between cold and flu powder as common cold treatment or treatment for flu symptoms, understanding and identifying the difference is very important. According to most exerts, taking your temperature will help.

Flu symptoms usually mimic the cold symptoms like malaise, coughing, aches and congestion. However, a common cold will rarely have a fever above 101 degrees, while flu will initially start with a fever.