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Does "sweating out" a cold really help at all?

My friend swears by this:

When he feels a cold coming on, he drinks 4oz. of warmed up whisky (seriously), then bundles up in several layers of PJs and socks, lots of blankets, and sweats like crazy all night. He swears he wakes up healthy every time. What do you think?

11 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    I was raised on that remedy and have to say it has merit. Our "hot toddy" was a mixture of hot tea, lemon, and a shot of whiskey or rum. While we are both very healthy so we don't get colds much now, I have used it on my husband and myself when we do get colds, and IT WORKS!

    There is some scientific logic behind sweating out a cold. A fever is merely your body's way of creating an environment unfavorable to viruses which can only survive in a very narrow temperature range. By artificially raising the body's temperature, you are creating that same environment...only more so.

    Source(s): Health/Wellness writer and consultant
  • Tones
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    There is a certain truth to that. That is why a doc tells you to drink a lot of fluids.

    Staying warm helps because your body's temperature rises and this drowns and overheats the "bug" so to speak.

    I know that when I am sweating, I'll wake up the next day feeling better.

    Source(s): My experience having colds and flus.
  • 1 decade ago

    My dad swears by Over Proof Rum and I will always have a big swig before going to bed if I have a bad cold or flu and it seems to feel better in the morning. It works for me. He even gave it to me when I was a little kid but in a drink of hot lemon.

    There's no harm in trying it, what works for some doesn't work for others.

    Source(s): me
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    I wouldn't drink the whisky, but a cold is really a sign that the immune system needs rest and rejuvenation.

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  • ?
    Lv 4
    4 years ago

    Sweating it out is basically letting your chilly run it truly is course. maximum persons take drugs for a chilly, yet they don't honestly eliminate it. they basically alleviate the indicators. one of it is fever, sweating, and relax. some people discover sweating it out comforting, me, I want establishing all the homestead windows so the room is chilly, then masking up in a blanket. keeps me cool, yet no longer too chilly.

  • ?
    Lv 4
    4 years ago

    1

    Source(s): Hyperhidrosis Treatment http://stopexcessivesweating.teres.info/?w6UB
  • 1 decade ago

    Your friend Is Absolutly Right.

    Your body is trying to fight the germs in your body when you are sick.

    So if you Keep yourself hot it helps your body work on that and when you sweat at night its the body releasing the bad germs out of your body.

  • 1 decade ago

    Short & simple..NO. Seven days from now you will not have a cold!

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    Yupp. I believe it.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    I think it does

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