How to Get Rid of Cough and Runny Nose: Remedies That Work

Most coughs and runny noses from a common cold resolve on their own within seven to ten days, but several remedies can genuinely shorten that timeline or make you more comfortable while you wait. Honey, zinc lozenges, saline rinses, and a handful of over-the-counter drugs have real evidence behind them, while other popular options perform little better than a placebo. Knowing which is which can save you money, side effects, and the frustration of taking something that does nothing.

Why You Have a Cough and Runny Nose in the First Place

When a cold virus lands in your nose, it doesn’t directly damage much tissue. Instead, it triggers your immune system to flood the area with inflammatory chemicals, including interleukins, bradykinins, and prostaglandins.¹ Those chemicals dilate blood vessels inside your nasal lining, cause glands to pump out mucus, and irritate nerve fibers that set off cough and sneeze reflexes.² Your symptoms are mostly collateral damage from your own defense system, not from the virus itself. That matters because it explains why the most effective remedies either calm the inflammatory response or help clear the mucus it produces, rather than killing the virus directly.

Honey

Honey is one of the best-supported remedies for cough, especially if you want to avoid medication. A systematic review pooling data from multiple trials found that honey reduced cough frequency and cough severity compared to usual care, and it also improved overall symptom scores.³ A separate Cochrane review looking specifically at children found that honey probably reduces cough frequency better than no treatment or placebo, and may work about as well as dextromethorphan, the active ingredient in many cough syrups.⁴

One to two teaspoons of honey before bed is the typical approach. It coats the throat, and some researchers suspect it has mild anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties as well. The one hard rule: never give honey to a child under one year old because of the risk of infant botulism. For everyone else, it’s cheap, widely available, and unlikely to cause harm.

Zinc Lozenges

Zinc is one of the few supplements with consistent evidence for shortening colds once they’ve already started. A meta-analysis of seven trials found that people who took zinc lozenges had colds that were roughly a third shorter than those who took a placebo.⁵ The effect held whether the lozenges contained zinc acetate or zinc gluconate, and whether the daily dose was moderate or high.

Looking at individual symptoms, zinc acetate lozenges shortened the duration of cough by close to half and cut the duration of nasal discharge by about a third.⁶ In one randomized trial, people taking zinc acetate had an average cold duration of about four and a half days versus eight days for placebo, with cough lasting roughly three days instead of six.⁷

Timing matters. The benefit appears strongest when you start the lozenges within the first 24 hours of symptoms. The main downside is taste: zinc lozenges can leave a metallic flavor and occasionally cause nausea. But for the size of the effect, that tradeoff is reasonable for most adults.

Saline Nasal Rinse

Flushing your nasal passages with salt water is about as low-tech as it gets, and it works well for a stuffed-up, drippy nose. A multicenter study found that patients who added saline spray to their treatment had significantly better outcomes for both nasal congestion and runny nose compared to those who didn’t, with effective rates for runny nose jumping from about 61% to 86%.⁸

You can use a squeeze bottle, a neti pot, or a simple saline spray can. The mechanism is straightforward: the salt water physically washes out mucus, virus particles, and inflammatory debris from the nasal lining. Use distilled, sterile, or previously boiled water to avoid the rare but serious risk of introducing bacteria. You can rinse several times a day without the rebound effects that come with medicated nasal sprays.

Hot Fluids and Steam

The advice to drink hot tea or broth when you’re sick has real science behind it, even if the effect is modest. A study measuring nasal mucus velocity found that sipping hot water increased the speed at which mucus moved through the nose, and hot chicken soup increased it even more. Cold water, by contrast, actually slowed mucus movement.⁹ Faster mucus clearance means less buildup in your sinuses and less dripping down the back of your throat. The effect was temporary, fading within about 30 minutes, so frequent sipping throughout the day makes more sense than one big bowl.

Steam inhalation follows the same logic. Breathing in warm, moist air can ease the feeling of congestion and was found in one trial to improve cold symptoms and nasal openness more than placebo.¹⁰ A practical approach is hovering over a bowl of hot water with a towel draped over your head for five to ten minutes. Be careful with children, though, because of the burn risk from hot water.

Menthol and Vapor Rubs

Menthol doesn’t actually open your airways, but it makes you feel like it does. It activates a cold-sensitive receptor in the nasal lining, producing a cooling sensation that the brain interprets as easier breathing. Studies confirm that menthol inhalation significantly improves the perception of nasal openness even though objective airflow measurements don’t change much.¹¹ That might sound like a trick, but when you’re lying in bed at 2 a.m. unable to breathe through your nose, the subjective relief is exactly what you need to fall asleep.

Vapor rubs containing menthol and camphor have been shown to improve cough, congestion, and sleep quality in children with colds compared to petrolatum or no treatment.¹² They should be applied to the chest and neck, never under the nose or near the nostrils, as the concentrated ingredients can irritate mucous membranes directly.

Over-the-Counter Medications Worth Knowing About

The pharmacy cold aisle is overwhelming, and not everything on those shelves does what the box claims. Here’s what the evidence actually shows for the major categories.

Decongestants

If your nose is completely blocked, pseudoephedrine (sold behind the pharmacy counter in the U.S.) is one of the few oral options that reliably works. In a controlled crossover study, pseudoephedrine significantly improved nasal congestion scores compared to both placebo and phenylephrine.¹³ Phenylephrine, the decongestant in most products you can grab off the shelf without asking the pharmacist, performed no better than a sugar pill.¹⁴ The FDA actually revisited this issue in 2023 and agreed that oral phenylephrine lacks evidence of effectiveness. So if you’re reaching for a decongestant, read the active ingredients label and look for pseudoephedrine specifically.

Nasal decongestant sprays containing oxymetazoline or xylometazoline do work and act fast, but they should not be used for more than three consecutive days. Longer use can lead to rebound congestion, where stopping the spray makes your nose feel more blocked than it was before you started.¹⁵

Antihistamines

Older, sedating antihistamines like chlorpheniramine and brompheniramine can modestly reduce sneezing and runny nose during a cold. A Cochrane review found small improvements in rhinorrhea and sneezing on day three, though the effects were described as clinically insignificant.¹⁶ Their main practical benefit may be the drowsiness they cause, which can help you sleep through the worst of your symptoms at night.

Newer, non-sedating antihistamines like loratadine and cetirizine, the ones most people think of when they hear “antihistamine,” have not been shown to help with cold symptoms at all. Trials in both natural and experimentally induced colds have consistently found them no better than placebo for sneezing, runny nose, or cough.¹⁷ This makes sense once you understand that cold symptoms are driven mostly by inflammatory mediators other than histamine. Save your cetirizine for allergy season.

Cough Suppressants

Dextromethorphan (DXM), the ingredient labeled “DM” on cough syrup, has mixed evidence. One trial in children aged 6 to 11 found that DXM reduced total coughs over 24 hours by about 21% compared to placebo, with bigger reductions in daytime cough frequency.¹⁸ But a systematic review of adult trials found that only one of two dextromethorphan studies showed a benefit over placebo.¹⁹ So DXM probably helps somewhat, but don’t expect it to eliminate your cough entirely.

Guaifenesin (Expectorants)

Guaifenesin is supposed to thin mucus and make it easier to cough up. Lab studies show it can reduce mucus production and viscosity in airway cells.²⁰ But in actual sick people with acute respiratory infections, a clinical trial found that the recommended dose had no measurable effect on sputum volume or properties.²¹ A comprehensive review noted that despite its FDA monograph listing, published evidence for guaifenesin’s clinical effectiveness is limited.²² Guaifenesin is unlikely to hurt you, but don’t count on it to dramatically change your congestion.

Why Children Need a Different Approach

Most of what’s on the pharmacy shelf is either untested or demonstrably ineffective in young children. A study of antihistamine-decongestant combinations in kids found that about 67% improved with the active drug, while 71% improved with placebo, meaning the placebo group actually did slightly better.²³ Beyond the lack of benefit, these products carry real risks in small bodies. Reviews have confirmed reports of serious adverse events including rapid heart rate, seizures, and even deaths linked to over-the-counter cold medicines in young children.²⁴

For children over one year old, honey before bed is the best-supported option. Saline drops or spray can help clear a baby’s stuffy nose. A cool-mist humidifier in the bedroom adds moisture to the air. And keeping the child well-hydrated with age-appropriate fluids covers the basics. Avoid giving any over-the-counter cough or cold medicine to children under six without a doctor’s guidance, and be cautious with children under twelve.

Why Symptoms Are Worse at Night and in the Morning

If your cough and runny nose feel dramatically worse when you lie down, you’re not imagining it. Research on experimentally induced colds found that nasal secretion was greatest in the morning, decreased through the day, and then rose slightly again in the late evening.²⁵ Lying flat also allows mucus to pool in the back of your throat, triggering the cough reflex more frequently. Propping yourself up with an extra pillow, running a humidifier, and applying a vapor rub before bed can all help you get through the night. Many people find that timing their honey or zinc lozenge for the evening gives the most noticeable relief where they need it most.

The Placebo Factor in Cold Remedies

One reason so many unproven cold remedies feel like they work is that colds get better on their own and anything you take gets credit. But there’s also a genuine placebo component. A randomized trial found that people who received pills (regardless of what was in them) reported illness that was slightly shorter and less severe than those who received no pills at all, though the differences weren’t statistically significant.²⁶ In a study of honey for children’s cough, all groups improved significantly from one night to the next, including the placebo group.²⁷

This doesn’t mean you should do nothing. It means that the act of caring for yourself, resting, sipping something warm, and taking a remedy you believe in, contributes a small real boost to your recovery on top of whatever the active ingredient does. But it also means you should be skeptical of any remedy that hasn’t been tested against a placebo, because natural improvement and the placebo effect together create a powerful illusion.

When to Suspect Something More Than a Cold

Most coughs and runny noses are viral and will clear up without medical intervention. But a few patterns should prompt you to see a doctor. Bacterial sinusitis complicates a small percentage of upper respiratory infections and shares many of the same symptoms: congestion, facial pressure, thick nasal discharge. The distinguishing signs are symptoms lasting beyond seven to ten days without improvement, or what clinicians call “double sickening,” where you start to feel better and then worsen again, often with purulent (thick, colored) nasal discharge and facial pain.²⁸

A fever above 103°F (39.4°C), difficulty breathing, chest pain, or symptoms that persist well beyond ten days also warrant a visit. And if your cough lingers for three or more weeks after other symptoms clear, that post-infectious cough is common but worth mentioning to a provider to rule out other causes.

Why Antibiotics Won’t Help Your Cold

Colds are caused by viruses, and antibiotics kill bacteria, so antibiotics do nothing for a standard cold. Yet antibiotic prescriptions for upper respiratory infections remain common. Research found that doctors were over five times more likely to prescribe antibiotics when they thought the patient expected them, even though they correctly identified only about a quarter of patients who actually held that expectation.²⁹ The pressure runs in both directions: patients ask because they think antibiotics will speed recovery, and doctors prescribe because they think patients will be unsatisfied if they leave empty-handed.³⁰

Taking antibiotics you don’t need doesn’t just fail to help. It disrupts your gut bacteria, can cause side effects like diarrhea and allergic reactions, and contributes to antibiotic resistance at a population level. If your doctor says your symptoms are viral, trust the assessment. The remedies described above will give you more genuine relief than a Z-pack would.

A Less Familiar Option: Pelargonium Sidoides

An herbal extract from the South African geranium plant, sold under names like Umcka or Umckaloabo, has a growing but still uncertain evidence base. A randomized trial found that adults taking the extract had nearly double the improvement in cold symptom scores compared to placebo by day five, and about 79% were clinically cured by day ten versus 31% in the placebo group.³¹ A Cochrane review concluded that it may be effective for symptoms of the common cold in adults, but rated the overall evidence quality as very low and noted that doubt remains.³² It’s worth knowing about if you’re looking for alternatives, but the evidence isn’t in the same league as honey or zinc.

Putting a Practical Plan Together

If you’re currently dealing with a cough and runny nose, a reasonable approach based on the evidence would combine several of these strategies rather than relying on any single one:

• Start zinc lozenges early: within the first day of symptoms if possible, and continue for several days.
• Use honey before bed: a spoonful of honey (for anyone over age one) to ease nighttime cough.
• Rinse your nose: saline spray or irrigation two to three times a day to clear congestion and reduce runny nose.
• Drink hot fluids often: tea, broth, or soup throughout the day to keep mucus moving.
• Apply a vapor rub at night: on the chest and neck to improve the sensation of breathing while you sleep.
• Use pseudoephedrine if needed: for severe nasal blockage, ask the pharmacist for the real thing rather than grabbing phenylephrine off the shelf.
• Skip the guaifenesin: it’s unlikely to provide meaningful relief for an acute cold.
• Prop yourself up to sleep: an extra pillow reduces mucus pooling in the throat.

None of these will make your cold vanish overnight. But stacking several evidence-backed approaches together gives you the best realistic chance of shorter, more bearable symptoms without unnecessary medication or a wasted trip to the doctor for antibiotics you don’t need.