Healthy Hints – How can I tell if my cold is really The Flu?
Even though both the common cold and the flu are caused by viruses (and can have similar symptoms) there is a difference. The flu can seriously cause someone to be sent to the hospital while ‘death by cold’ is not very likely, which is why it can be a good thing for ‘medically at risk’ people to be vaccinated against a flu outbreak. Without taking a test to see for sure which virus you may have, here is a head’s up on symptom differences.
A flu virus does not usually cause runny or stuffy noses nor sneezing nor sore throats. On the other hand, colds normally do not cause serious joint/muscle aches…plus, a fever in a cold, if there is any at all, will be mild.
So if you feel icky nasal and throat issues slowly creeping up on you over a few days, that’s likely a cold; however, if you get a sudden fever that within hours has you achy all over, that’s probably the flu.
Cold or flu, it is a virus you have in your system and not something bacterial. Therefore, antibiotics will not help you and will not be given to you by a doctor, unless your original viral symptoms have gotten out of hand and have resulted in something worse like a serious respiratory infection. If you want help with viral symptoms, see your acupuncturist, who can help you reduce the severity and duration of what you are going through.