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Breathe Better E-Newsletter>
When Your Cold is Not a Cold
April 25, 2008
Simple Tips To Help You Prevent, Treat and Avoid All Your
Cold Symptoms This Year
Many of you probably know that hand washing is one of
the best line of defense for a cold. But what do you do if
the cold medications and herbal remedies don’t work? What
if nothing you do alleviates that incessant cough and sore
throat you’ve had for weeks, if not for months? If you’ve
ever had these symptoms or if you’re suffering now, know
that help is available but it may not be something you’re
used to. Instead these are remedies for a “cold” when it’s
not a cold.
When All That You See Is Not Gold
At a lecture I recently gave at the Hearst Corporation
about colds, flus and allergies, a member in the audience
asked me whether or not you can tell if you have a sinus
infection based on the color of your mucous. To this I
answered, maybe yes and maybe no—it really depends on what
you’re looking at.
For some people yellow can be green and for others,
green can look yellow. Similarly, many illnesses both major
and minor, on the surface may present very similar symptoms
but be two entirely different things. Take the common
everyday cold for instance. The typical symptoms of a cold
are: runny nose, nasal congestion, and itchy watery eyes
accompanied either by sneezing, coughing, sore throat along
with body aches and sometimes a slight fever. In most
cases, the majority of symptoms symptoms coincide.
That is, sometimes it’s difficult, just based on these
symptoms alone, to distinguish if you have a cold or an
allergy or even the flu if all you have to go on are the
signs and symptoms. That’s why, no matter how basic your
symptoms may seem, a review of your medical history along
with a thorough examination is a prerequisite for finding
out what’s ailing you.
First Sign That Your Cold Is Not A Cold
One of the most frequent complications of a cold or flu
and even some allergies are ear infections. Oftentimes
patients will have used ear drops or antibiotics already
with no success and think that what they have is a sinus
infection due to the tenderness around their eye area or
pain radiating along one side of their cheek.
These patients will also exhibit many of the signs and
symptoms of a flu or a migrane but without any significant
signs of a fever. Although by all appearances, the symptoms
are very similar to that of a sinus infection, it’s not.
What these patients actually have is a jaw/joint muscle
tension problem called: temporo-mandibular joint disease
or TMJ.
What’s TMJ?
TMJ is a very common condition responsible for many
cases of ear pain, jaw pain and headaches. There are many
different explanations for why this happens, but the
general explanation is that your muscles that close the jaw
go into spasm, and due to extra pressure on your jaw joint,
produces ear pain, which can radiate up or down the side of
the head.
Various conditions can aggravate this condition, such
as stress, teeth grinding or clenching, recent dental work
(producing an uneven bite), or even after you’ve had a bad
cold or other viral infection. Sometimes, TMJ can occur for
no obvious reason. The pain can be sharp and throbbing, or
it can produce a dull ache. Sometimes chewing can makes it
worse.
What You Can Do To Treat TMJ
For the most part, treatment for TMJ is conservative.
In many situations, going on a soft diet, using warm
compresses on the side of the head, and using NSAID
medications such as ibuprophen or naproxen as an
anti-inflammatory medication will help.
The problem is, many cases of TMJ are treated like an
ear or a sinus problem. So the next time you opt for an
antibiotic for your ear pain, think again. Avoiding
unnecessary antibiotics will help you fight off any
bacterial infections when and if you develop one later on
and many of the side effects from taking these medications
can upset your stomach, not to mention compromise your
immune system.
Feed A Cold, Starve A Throat Pain?
I bet that many of you have been told at least once,
that you should feed a cold but starve a fever. What I bet
you haven’t heard though, is that sometimes, feeding a
“cold” can have some negative consequences. That person who
has the “cold” may be suffering from laryngopharyngeal
reflux disease (LPRD), another condition that exhibit
throat problems much like a colds’.
Many of you have probably heard about GERD or
gastroesphogeal reflux disease or acid reflux. Similarly,
LPRD happens when the stomach contents produced during food
digestion travels back up the upper esophageal sphincter
and into the back of the throat causing irritation and even
damage to the voice box or vocal chords. Unlike GERD, where
most of the problems reside in the patient’s stomach, LPRD
affects your throat and esophageal tissues and the symptoms
mimic those of sore throat or infection. Common symptoms of
LPRD are:
• chronic or intermittent throat pain
• hoarseness
• chronic cough
• frequent throat clearing
• excessive throat mucus
• feeling of “lump” in the throat
• post-nasal drip
• burning or tightness in the throat
• difficulty swallowing.
Since these throat problems closely resemble those of a
cold or allergy, LPRD is one of the most common throat
problems that’s usually overlooked and misdiagnosed by many
people if not by many health professionals as well.
Diagnosing LPRD
Just like TMJ, symptoms of LPRD can vary from
individual to individual. Recent studies have implicated
this type of acid in aggravating ear and sinus infections.
One study even found stomach enzymes in middle ear
infection fluid. Another study linked chronic nasal
congestion or runny nose (not due to allergies) to LPRD.
Further studies are needed to determine the real-life
applications of these preliminary findings, with throat
cancer being one of them.
Also, if you snore and have LPRD symptoms, this may be
an early sign that you may have obstructive sleep apnea
(OSA). About 2/3 of patients with OSA will have significant
reflux symptoms. The reason why this may be is that when
those with OSA stop breathing intermittently throughout the
night these repetitive pauses create a type of vacuum
effect forcing acids from your stomach into your throat.
These are the reasons why a thorough physical
examination coupled with a review of the complete medical
history by a qualified physician is necessary to correctly
differentiate LPRD from many problems that may or may not
be bacterial or viral in origin.
Tips On Avoiding LPRD
Although you may find it difficult to do, if you have
LPRD, you should avoid or significantly reduce the intake
of foods that are fatty or spicy or acidic. Some specific
types of foods to avoid are alcohol, coffee (including
decaf), chocolates, tomato products, and mints. This is why
feeding a “cold” in this particular instance may not be all
that beneficial.
Quitting smoking can also significantly reduce your
chances of having this condition (for more information on
how you can do this, click here).
Stress reduction activities like yoga, or meditation
along with some breathing exercises can alleviate acid
production. But most importantly, you should avoid eating
late, especially eating right before you go to bed. Wait at
least 3 hours after meals before reclining, and eat small
meals frequently throughout the day to reduce the tendency
to overeat.
Avoid the Stress, Avoid The Colds
LPRD and TMJ, although relatively easy to treat once
you know what you’re looking for. Yet, the best way to
avoid these and really most illnesses altogether is to
address the triggers behind these problems—namely the
stress coupled with poor diet and insufficient sleep. Fix
these first and your immune system will benefit all that
much more from the frequent hand washings.
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