A pharmacist has shared his expertise on which products work best in battling cold and flu - and which ones he's deemed as a "waste of money". Abbas Kanani, the superintendent pharmacist at Chemist Click, understands that Christmas can be prime time for infections to spread around.
People coughing, spluttering and sneezing in close quarters over the festive season can be a recipe for disaster - and if you do pick up a bout of the cold or flu, it's likely you'll want to treat it as soon as possible so you can get back to celebrating.
Thankfully, Abbas has shared his expertise on which cold and flu products aren't worth the money - and which ones actually do work. Speaking to the Mirror, he explained that the most important thing you can do before buying medicine is to identify your symptoms first.
According to the pharmacist, there are three key ingredients that work the best, depending on what you're feeling. The first is a decongestant (also known as a vasoconstrictor) for a blocked nose, the second is a cough expectorant, for mucus coughs, and the third is a cough suppressant, for dry, tickly coughs.
Abbas said: "Lemsip Max capsules for example have paracetamol which will help bring down your temperature if you have a fever, it's also got Phenylephrine Hydrochloride which is a vasoconstrictor that helps to reduce the swelling of blood vessels in your nose and relieve nasal congestion and it's got Guaifensensin which is what's known as an expectorant and it helps cough out phlegm from the airways.
"So when you have cold and flu, you need to know what kind of cough you have. If you have a dry cough and you've got nasal congestion and you took Lemsip Max, it wouldn't help because it would be encouraging you to cough and if you have a dry cough there's nothing for you to clear.
"What you'd need is another ingredient for your dry, tickly cough which is a cough suppressant like Dextromethorphan, and this works in the opposite way to Guaifensensin. It helps to suppress the cough reflex. So by the same token, if you have a chesty cough and you take medicine for a dry cough, essentially you're not helping get rid of what's on your chest and this can increase your chances of having an infection."
Abbas then explained that if you're pregnant and develop the cold or flu, you should avoid products that contain Phenylephrine as it can raise your blood pressure. If you can't take this ingredient, he suggests using steam inhalation and vaporubs which can help you breathe better.
If you have been told that you cannot use a nasal decongestant, this is likely to rule out all nasal decongestants such as oxymetazoline, as they act in a similar way.
"I actually find these things more effective than tablets," Abbas added. "That's because they're local as opposed to systemic so they're a lot more potent and have a direct action and work quite quickly. If you're bunged up and you use one before bedtime it will clear your nasal passage."
Speaking about which cold and flu products are a "waste of money", Abbas highlighted that there are a few things to look out for. Immune boosters, vitamins and supplements aren't always effective at battling colds, unless you're already deficient in the nutrients. He also said Vitamin C doesn't help speed up the recovery time, as many people believe.
The expert adds that when it comes to a cold or the flu there is no way to "nip it in the bud" as once it's started it will simply run its course, no matter when you start taking any of the medications - and this could be for as many as 10 days.
However, if you still have symptoms after three weeks, such as a persistent cough, Abbas recommends seeking medical advice from a GP.
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