Signs your cold is getting better

The common cold usually goes away in less than a week. How long a cold lasts depends largely on your age, general health, and the type of cold virus you get.

Cold infections, which affect the upper respiratory tract (nose, sinuses, and throat), progress through four stages: incubation, early symptoms, peak symptoms, and recovery.

Worst day of common cold

You may develop different symptoms at each stage.

Various home remedies and over-the-counter medications may help ease these symptoms, However, there is no cure for the common cold,

How to Tell a Cold From the Flu

What Causes a Common Cold

A cold is a type of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) that can be caused by hundreds of different respiratory viruses, including:

Rhinovirus is the most common cause, accounting for between half and two-thirds of all colds.

All of these viruses follow a pattern from the time a person is infected to when the immune system gets the infection under control.