Upper Respiratory Tract Infection – Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment & Prevention

Upper Respiratory Tract Infection – A human can catch thousands of different diseases. Many of these diseases are self-treatable, where you just have to let your body treat itself. On the other hand, some diseases are not even curable or treatable.

Self-treatable diseases are general diseases, and they are very common in our society. Our family members and I catch these diseases regularly and get better without any medication.

One of those self-treatable diseases is upper respiratory tract infection. It is among the most common diseases in the United States, and the Centers for Disease control and prevention will leave the United States to officially record more than 3,000,000 cases of upper respiratory tract infection.

Today, we will discuss everything related to the upper respiratory tract in effects so that you can treat yourself much faster to get better.

Symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection

Before we move ahead, let’s first discuss some symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection. These symptoms are pretty common, and they will help you diagnose the disease.

We are not going to discuss every symptom as an upper respiratory tract infection can have a huge list of symptoms, and there is a probability that you might not develop other than one symptom at one time.

• coughing
• discomfort in the nasal passages
• a mild fever
• excess mucus
• nasal congestion
• pain or pressure within the face
• a runny nose
• a scratchy or sore throat
• sneezing

These symptoms are not going to last more than one or two weeks at a time, and most of the time, people do not require any medical attention that is better from these symptoms.

Several times your doctor might ask you to use over-the-counter pain medication if you are experiencing any pain while coughing or sneezing. To get better at a faster pace, you should make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids and hydrated all the time.

The best way to check your hydration levels is to check your urine. If your urine is clear or light yellow, it means you are fully hydrated.

Diagnosis of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection

Diagnosis is very important for any disease, including upper respiratory tract infection. Even though most people do not require any specialized diagnosis for upper respiratory tract infection, in some cases, your health expert might ask you to go for a specialized diagnosis.

Most of the time, health experts can detect any kind of upper respiratory tract infection while they are doing a physical exam and taking a look at your symptoms. Usually, they take a look at your nose, ears, and throat to determine the cause of respiratory tract infection.

Under some conditions, you might be asked to go for a higher diagnosis where you might have to go for:

• chest X-ray
• lung CT scan
• lung function test
• Nasal swab
• Throat swab

Even if you are under-diagnosis or under treatment, you should take every precaution as it can infect others also. Upper respiratory tract infections are contentious, and they can pass from person to person through respiratory droplets.

Treatment of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection

Before we move ahead and talk about prevention or anything else, let’s first discuss the treatment options for upper respiratory tract infection.

Health experts usually do not suggest anything to treat these infections as your body is well capable of treating itself without using any additional medicine.

Without any medication, you might get better after one or two weeks, and with each passing day, the intensity of symptoms will get lower.

In some situations, these symptoms might become severe, and you have to get medical assistance. Your doctor might ask you to take three different types of medicine.

• Pain relief medication
• Decongestants
• Antihistamine

Home Remedies for Upper Respiratory Tract Infection

Apart from medicine, some home remedies are one of the best treatments for upper respiratory tract infections. 

Even every study and survey related to upper respiratory tract infection has successfully concluded that the affected person gets more comfortable by relieving their symptoms. Home remedies are well capable of lowering the intensity of these symptoms and helping you get better.

• You should try green tea as it is known to be among the best home remedies.
• Apart from that, you can also use essential oils such as peppermint to get better from upper respiratory tract infections. 
• You can also consume root ginger in hot water.
• Garlic is also among the best home foods to treat upper respiratory tract infections.

Prevent Upper Respiratory Tract Infection

It is always going to be a wise decision to prevent any disease. You never know when a simple or common disease will take your life. Similar logic also applies to upper respiratory tract infections. Health experts suggest some things which can help you prevent the infection.

• You should always cover your mouth or nose while you are coughing and sneezing.
• You should not smoke used cigarettes.
• You should avoid crowded and enclosed spaces as much as possible during the flu season.
• Kindly try not to share any drinking glasses over utensils with anyone. 
• You should have a balanced diet that includes a good amount of protein, carbohydrates, and fats.
• Keep washing your hands at regular intervals.
• Exercise regularly to improve your immunity.

Major causes of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection

Before we wrap up our session, let’s take a look at some of the major causes of upper respiratory tract infection. There could be hundreds of different causes, but we are going to discuss a few frequent and common causes of upper respiratory tract infection.

There is a high probability that you will get an upper respiratory tract infection from one of the below-given causes.

• Not washing your hands frequently.
• Smoking or secondhand smoke
• Getting in contact with an infected person
• Going to crowded places.
• Time spent in clinics or hospitals.
• Damage to the Airways or nasal cavity
• Stress and other problems
• Changes in the weather