Patient Basics: Common Cold (Viral Rhinitis)

The common cold (viral rhinitis) is a viral infection of the nose and throat that is usually mild. Adults catch two or three colds a year on average, and young children catch more. A cold clears up without treatment in about 7 to 10 days. Antibiotics don’t help, but simple home care can make you more comfortable while it runs its course.

Key points

• More than 200 different viruses can cause a cold. Rhinoviruses are the most common.
• Typical symptoms are a sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, sneezing and cough. Adults rarely have a fever.
• Rest, fluids and over-the-counter medicines ease symptoms. Antibiotics only treat bacteria, so they won’t help.
• Don’t give cough and cold medicines to children under 4, and never give honey to a baby under 1.
• Washing your hands and staying home when you’re sick help keep colds from spreading.

How the common cold spreads

Cold viruses travel in tiny droplets when someone coughs, sneezes or talks. The virus can also sit on a doorknob, phone or hand. You pick it up there and carry it to your eyes or nose when you rub them.

Being cold or going outside with wet hair doesn’t give you a cold. Colds are more common in fall and winter because people spend more time indoors together and children are back in school.

Symptoms of viral rhinitis

Symptoms start 1 to 3 days after you catch the virus. They often begin with a scratchy throat, followed by:

• Sneezing
• A runny nose, with mucus that may turn thick, yellow or green after a few days
• A stuffy nose and pressure in the face
• Postnasal drip (mucus running down the back of the throat), which can make you cough
• Cough
• Mild aches and tiredness
• A low fever, mostly in children

Green or yellow mucus is a normal part of a cold. It doesn’t mean you have a bacterial infection. A cough can last 2 to 3 weeks after the other symptoms are gone.

Cold, flu, COVID-19 or hay fever?

• Flu tends to start suddenly, with high fever, body aches and exhaustion.
• COVID-19 can feel just like a cold. A home test can tell you. Losing your sense of taste or smell is a clue.
• Hay fever (allergic rhinitis) causes sneezing fits, a clear runny nose and itchy eyes, nose or throat, without fever. It lasts as long as you’re around the trigger, such as pollen, dust or pets.
• Strep throat causes a very sore throat and fever, usually without a cough or runny nose.

Doctors diagnose a cold from your symptoms. Tests are only needed to check for flu, COVID-19 or strep.

Treating viral rhinitis at home

Nothing cures a cold, but these steps can help you feel better:

• Rest and drink plenty of fluids. This is what people mean by nursing a cold. Warm drinks and soup can soothe a sore throat and loosen mucus.
• Saline nose spray or rinse. Salt water clears mucus. If you use a rinse bottle or neti pot, use distilled, sterile or boiled and cooled water, never straight from the tap.
• Honey can calm a cough in adults and children over 1 year old.
• A cool-mist humidifier can ease a stuffy nose. Clean it often.
• Salt-water gargles and throat lozenges can help a sore throat in older children and adults.

Over-the-counter medicines

• Pain and fever relievers. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) ease aches, sore throat and fever. Don’t give aspirin to children or teens, because it can cause Reye’s syndrome, a rare but serious illness.
• Decongestants. Pseudoephedrine pills, kept behind the pharmacy counter, can relieve a stuffy nose. They can raise blood pressure, so check with a doctor if you have heart disease or high blood pressure. Phenylephrine taken by mouth does not work well. In 2023, an FDA advisory panel found it no better than a sugar pill for stuffiness.
• Decongestant nose sprays, such as oxymetazoline, work fast. Use them no more than 3 days in a row, or your nose can get more stuffed up when you stop.
• Antihistamines that cause drowsiness may dry a runny nose a little and help you sleep.

Many cold products combine several drugs. Read the labels so you don’t take a double dose of acetaminophen or another ingredient. For children, ask a doctor or pharmacist before giving any cold medicine.

Zinc lozenges started in the first day may shorten a cold a little, but they can upset your stomach and leave a bad taste. Don’t use zinc nose sprays, which can cause a lasting loss of smell. Vitamin C doesn’t prevent colds in most people.

Lowering your risk

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, or use hand sanitizer.
• Try not to touch your eyes, nose and mouth.
• Cough or sneeze into a tissue or your elbow.
• Stay home when you’re sick, and keep sick children home from school or child care when they have a fever.
• Clean shared surfaces such as phones, keyboards and counters.
• Get enough sleep and don’t smoke.

When to see a doctor

• Symptoms last more than 10 days, or get better and then worse again
• Fever lasts more than 3 days, or is 103°F or higher
• Ear pain, sinus pain or a very sore throat
• Wheezing with a cold, or your asthma or COPD flares up
• A baby under 3 months old has a fever of 100.4°F or higher. Call right away.

Get emergency care if

• Breathing is hard or fast, or the lips look blue or gray
• There is chest pain or pressure
• Someone is confused, very sleepy or hard to wake
• A child shows signs of dehydration, such as no tears, a dry mouth or very little pee

Common questions about the common cold

How long is a cold contagious?

You are most likely to spread a cold in the first 2 to 3 days of symptoms, but you can pass it on for about a week, sometimes longer. Washing your hands, coughing into your elbow and staying home while you feel sick all lower the chance of giving it to others.

Can a cold turn into a sinus infection or pneumonia?

Sometimes. A cold can lead to a bacterial sinus or ear infection, or less often pneumonia, especially in young children, older adults and people with lung disease. Watch for symptoms that last more than 10 days, get worse after getting better, or come with high fever or trouble breathing.

Should I go to work or school with a cold?

Stay home if you have a fever or feel too sick for your usual tasks. Once you have gone 24 hours without a fever, without fever medicine, and are feeling better overall, it is usually fine to go back. Keep washing your hands and covering coughs for a few days.

Why is it called a cold?

The name goes back hundreds of years, when people believed that getting chilled caused the illness. The shivers and stuffy nose also feel like being out in cold weather. We now know viruses cause colds, though colds are more common in the colder months, when people gather indoors.

Why have I had a cold for a month?

A cough can linger for weeks after a cold, and young children often catch one cold right after another. Symptoms that last a month may also come from allergies, a sinus infection or asthma. See a doctor if a stuffy nose isn’t improving after 10 days or a cough lasts more than 3 weeks.

Questions to ask your doctor

• Could this be flu, COVID-19 or strep instead of a cold?
• Which cold medicines are safe with my other medicines and health conditions?
• What can I give my child for symptoms?
• When should I worry about a cough that won’t go away?
• What should I do if colds set off my asthma?

Learn more

• About common cold (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Common cold (MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine)

This guide is general information and doesn’t replace advice from your own doctor. Last updated October 2026.