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Colds can happen any time of year and leave you feeling miserable. Knowing what causes common colds — and what doesn’t — can help you figure out how to treat it so you can start feeling better.

What Causes a Cold?

The common cold is an upper respiratory illness (URI). Your upper respiratory tract includes your nose, nasal cavity, mouth, throat, and voice box.

Adults typically get about three colds each year, often from September to May, but children get them more frequently. Colds are one of the main reasons people miss work or school.

Colds are highly contagious viral infections. They’re common for a reason: More than 200 respiratory viruses cause a cold and trigger a host of yucky symptoms. Rhinoviruses are the most common cause of the common cold.

Cold viruses spread through air droplets when someone who’s sick coughs or sneezes. You can catch a cold when you breathe in these droplets. You can also get sick if you touch a contaminated surface and then touch your eyes, mouth, or nose.

Colds aren’t bacterial infections. Bacteria don’t cause the common cold.

What Does a Cold Feel Like?

When you get infected with a cold virus, symptoms peak in two to three days. Common viral cold symptoms include:

• Coughing.
• Sneezing.
• Stuffy or running nose.

You may also have:

• Headache.
• Mild body aches.
• Mild fever.
• Sore throat, often caused by postnasal drip.

Can a Cold Turn Into a Bacterial Infection?

Though rare, a cold can turn into a bacterial infection, such as pneumonia, which is an infection of the lungs.

Signs of bacterial infection after a cold include:

• Chest pain when breathing or coughing.
• Confusion.
• Cough.
• Diarrhea.
• Fatigue.
• Fever or chills.
• Nausea or vomiting.
• Shortness of breath.

It’s also possible to develop strep throat, which is a bacterial infection, at the same time as a cold. Your doctor or pharmacist can test you to see if you have strep throat. A sore throat when you swallow is a telltale sign of strep throat.

Cold vs. Flu

Colds and flu share some of the same symptoms, so it can seem difficult to tell them apart.

Influenza A and influenza B viruses are the most common causes of seasonal flu. Symptoms of the flu are much more severe and often come on more suddenly. Flu symptoms include:

• Body aches and pains.
• Chills.
• High fever.

The flu is a seasonal virus. It usually happens from early fall to late spring. December through February are peak months to catch the flu.

A seasonal flu vaccine can help prevent you from getting the flu. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends an annual flu vaccine for everyone ages 6 months and older. For the longest protection, the CDC recommends getting the vaccine in the fall, by October at the latest.

What Makes Cold Symptoms Better?

Cold symptoms often go away on their own, and most colds last about a week. They may last longer in children, older adults, and people with poor health.

Adults can take over-the-counter (OTC) medicine to manage cold symptoms, such as cough, fever, or body aches. You shouldn’t give cough and cold medicines to children younger than 6 years old because they can cause serious and sometimes life-threatening side effects.

When you have a cold, there are things you can do to feel better. Supportive care for colds includes:

• Drinking plenty of fluids.
• Getting a good night’s sleep and rest when you need it.
• Keeping your airways moist by using a clean humidifier or cool mist vaporizer. You can also breathe in steam from a shower or a bowl of hot water. For young children, you can also sit in a bathroom with them with the steam from a running hot shower.
• Sucking on throat lozenges or cough drops for coughs and sore throat. Don’t give lozenges to children younger than age 4 because they’re a choking hazard.
• Taking 2.5 milliliters of honey before bed to ease cough symptoms in children 1 year old and older.
• Using petroleum jelly on the outside of your nose. When you blow your nose, this can help prevent it from getting raw and sore.
• Using saline nose drops or sprays if you have a stuffy nose. For young children, clear mucus using a rubber suction bulb.
• Washing your hands to prevent others from catching your cold.

What Helps Treat the Flu or COVID-19?

Antivirals are prescription medications that work to treat certain viral infections. Right now, doctors have antiviral medicines to treat seasonal flu and COVID-19. But they don’t have medicines to treat colds or other respiratory viruses.

To work well, you need to take these antiviral medications within 48 hours of symptoms for flu and within a week of COVID-19 symptoms.

Why Don’t Antibiotics Work for Viral Infections Like Colds?

You may notice that antibiotics aren’t on the list of ways to treat a cold or other viral infection. That’s because antibiotics only work on bacterial infections. They don’t treat viral infections, and they won’t help your cold.

Risks of unnecessary antibiotics

Antibiotic misuse — taking antibiotics when you don’t need them — can lead to antibiotic resistance. So, when you need to use that antibiotic for a bacterial infection, it may not work as well or at all. When this happens, you may need a stronger antibiotic to treat your bacterial infection.

Other risks of unnecessary antibiotics include:

• C. diff infections. This germ causes diarrhea and colitis, or inflammation of the colon. C. diff infections can lead to severe colon damage and death.
• Mild side effects, such as a rash.
• Severe allergic reactions.

When to See a Doctor for Cold Symptoms

Cold symptoms can sometimes turn serious. You should see a doctor if you or your child has:

• Chronic medical conditions that get worse.
• Dehydration.
• Fast breathing or trouble breathing.
• Fever lasting longer than four days.
• Symptoms that get better, then return or worsen.
• Symptoms that last more than 10 days without getting better.

If you have any symptom that’s severe or concerning, call your doctor right away. They can help figure out what’s going on and how to help you.