Recently my doctor suggested that I use inhaled steam to get
rid of my cold symptoms. Does this work?
The common cold is annoying and makes life miserable. There
are 1000s of therapies for the cold; this fact alone should tell you that
nothing works well. The cold is often associated with a sore throat, congested
nose, cough, sneezing, running nose and so on.
For decades, scientists have reported that the common cold
virus is sensitive to heat. At the same time, many doctors also recommend steam
inhalation for patients with the common cold-the belief is that the warm air will
kill the virus in the nasal passage and upper airways.
Unfortunately, clinical studies on inhalation of steam have
shown that the common cold virus is much more hardy and not easily killed by
steam. There was no decrease in symptoms or the duration of the cold. Another
grandma’s therapy down the toilet. So the next time your doctor suggests buying
steam inhalation equipment, you can tell him/her where to shove them
