Chronic cold: can hypnosis help?
Sneezing, sniffling, watery eyes, a chronic cold is no fun. If you have a chronic cold, it can have a lot of impact on your life, because it is simply difficult to function with the symptoms that come with a chronic cold.
Chronic cold symptoms
Like a normal cold, a chronic cold also involves sneezing and having a runny nose.
In addition, you may suffer from:
- A stuffy nose
- A sore throat
- Many coughs
- Snot sliding down your throat (so more of an internal runny nose)
- Crowed/watery eyes
- Fever
Generally, a cold goes away within two weeks, but if you suffer from it for a longer period of time you often speak of a chronic cold. This does not mean that the cold will bother you forever, but rather that it will last a little longer.
A chronic illness is often also an illness that lasts longer than three to six months, but so a chronic illness can sometimes pass.
See a doctor if symptoms persist for too long[1].
A prolonged cold can indeed be a problem, especially if you suffer from respiratory conditions such as COPD[2].
You may also not be suffering from a chronic cold, but rather a chronic cough after you’ve already recovered from your cold[3]. In that case, you may sometimes need antiviral medication to get rid of the cough[4]. This is because your immune system is reacting very strongly to the virus causing your cold.
What to do for chronic colds
One of the first things you can do with a chronic cold is to see your doctor to check if there may be more to it and if you need medication to stop the virus.
In addition, there are steps you can take on your own. For example, did you know that prolonged stress often causes a cold? This is more often the cause than a single stressful event. This can include unemployment, having a job that isn’t a good fit, and long-term problems with family and friends[5].
Along with this, there is also evidence that chronic stress causes your immune system to not respond properly, which can cause you to suffer from certain symptoms for a long time[6].
This also gives clues right away about what to do if your cold doesn't go over well.
Take plenty of rest
It’s important to get enough sleep so your immune system can function optimally. Therefore, try to get at least seven hours of sleep per night. Ideally, you should aim for eight hours of sleep per night.
Hydrate Yourself
For example, drink extra water, eat soup or prepare a pot of tea for yourself. Especially if you have (had) a sore throat or have (had) a fever, you may suffer from dehydration. It is then important to get your fluid levels back to normal.
Stop exercising for a while
Playing sports is very healthy when you are in good health, but when you are sick your body needs the energy to fight the illness. In that case, stop exercising for a while. Do you still feel the need for exercise? Then go for a walk for half an hour a day.
As long as you don't exercise intensively for a while.
The exercise you can have during a cold can be done in your normal clothes and you don't have to shower afterwards.
Tackle your stress
Prolonged stress is one of the main factors for a long-term cold. Therefore, it is important to do something about that prolonged stress.
The annoying thing with long-term stress, however, is that if you could have done something about it, you probably would have done it already. So there is often something blocking you from doing something about it.
For example, you might find it difficult to tell your employer that you can no longer work overtime, or you might struggle to resolve your family problems.
In cases like these, hypnosis can help you look at your problems and deal with them in a different way. In fact, that often already helps you to get a sense of relief and to be able to stand up for yourself better, for example, or to talk out the problems with your family.
For example, research shows that one hypnotherapy session can already reduce stress levels[7].
Stress is, in fact, your reaction to certain events. Something happens, and you have certain thoughts about it. If those thoughts or feelings indicate that something is wrong or even dangerous, then you may experience stress.
During hypnotherapy, for example, you can discuss issues that cause you stress. Then, together with the hypnotherapist, you can figure out why those issues cause you stress. Often, the focus is on the beliefs you hold that lead you to think something is wrong or scary, which in turn causes you stress.
Next, you can think in terms of solutions. Is it simply a matter of changing your behavior? Or is there a deeper problem?
In the case of a simple issue where changing your behavior would be a solution, a hypnotherapist can often do a lot for you with visualizations.
That visualization by itself can also be used to achieve greater relaxation and deeper hypnosis, but that often does not solve the problem.
You can also visualize how you’ll handle certain situations in the future. For example, how to say “no” to extra work. How to discuss problems directly with your family instead of keeping them bottled up inside, which only makes the problem persist.
Are you not succeeding? Or that the idea that you can change your behavior makes you feel less stressed? Then there may be more to it.
In that case, regression can be used. With regression, you examine the emotion that is currently bothering you. Whatever is causing you stress triggers a certain feeling. You then mentally go back to the moments in your life when you previously experienced that feeling. Eventually, you’ll arrive at the moment when you first experienced that feeling.
You will "fix" this moment in your mind. In fact, often these are moments from your childhood, but then you didn't know what you have now. But in that moment you did think of something about how life works, and that thought - or belief - has been in your subconscious ever since. Usually then that's just what it is and you don't consciously look back at it any further.
With regression, you do and you start fixing that thought - or belief. For example, you can empathize with other people who were there at the time and get whole different explanations of why they do what they do. This can change your idea of how the world works again, making your blockade to say "no" to working overtime or talking things out with your family, for example, go away.
Sometimes more than this is needed because, for example, you have had a traumatic childhood. In that case, a conversation with your inner child can help you see the world as less hostile and therefore reduce stress.
All this - in addition to taking adequate rest and hydration - can ensure that that chronic cold finally passes.
Hypnosis against stress and thus to normalize your immune system again can therefore help you with relaxation, behavioral change and changing beliefs that cause stress.
Want to know how hypnosis works? Then join the free online masterclass on hypnosis.
Or sign up for one of our seminars or training courses. The courses are taught online from a professional studio and include ample support to ensure one-on-one attention, allowing you to fully absorb the material.
During a seminar, yes also get to work already on techniques to help people relax and spread good feelings.
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