Well, the best advice I can give is to take the OTC homeopathic remedy "Zicam" (available at most drugstores/supermarkets).... I use the one you just spray into your nose every 4 hours, however there are also nose swabs that may work easier. The trick is to start using that at the ONSETof the cold SYMPTOMS. It offers no relief after a cold has started. Anyway, it is supposed to shorten the length and severity of a cold and I find when I take it right away and continue taking it, my colds last my shorter and are usually not too bad.
Aside from that, I find great relief from Alka-Selzer cold. I don't do a whole lot of sudafed, and have only tried afrin once, but it burned so bad I couldn't continue. Plus, there is a risk of becoming addicted (like speed), so you can only use that like 2-3 days, and my colds (when I don't catch them early enough to use Zicam) usually last 1-2 weeks.
I've also heard doing nasal washes with one of those baby nose things (I don't know what they're called, sorry) and saline is very soothing and gets rid of lots of crud from the nose. I still haven't mastered that one, so I don't do them. Others have had success with them though.
I hope this helps a bit. I'll see if I can think of anything else that has helped me. This is a great question though, and I look forward to seeing other posts.
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