Clear up your cold fast: the trick to recovering from your cold quickly is to let your symptoms run their course. Here's how to take the edge off while you wait - Do-It Yourself Cures

CONVENTIONAL OVER-THE-counter cold medicines merely mask symptoms and, when fighting a cold, that's a crucial mistake. Symptoms like congestion, fever, and sore throat happen for a reason--they help rid your body of the cold virus. When you let your symptoms run their course, holistic doctors say, you'll end your cold sooner and strengthen your immune system in the process.

But refusing to mask your symptoms doesn't mean you have to feel exhausted and remain bedridden. Here's a symptom-by-symptom guide to finding gentle relief that won't interfere with your body's healing process. Use as many remedies as you need.

Sore Throat

WHAT'S GOING ON: The cold virus often enters your body through your mouth. When virus cells become lodged in your throat, virus-fighting antibodies build up in that tissue. Those antibodies cause inflammation and soreness, but the symptoms are usually a sign that your immune system is doing its job.

HOW TO FEEL BETTER FAST: Give your antibodies a hand. Zinc helps fight the virus on contact, explains Dina Khader, R.D., a nutrition consultant in Mt. Kisco, N.Y. As soon as you feel a sore throat tingle, suck on a 15 mg zinc gluconate lozenge. Continue twice a day until you're symptom-free for 24 hours. Zinc throat sprays can also be effective, though they carry less scientific proof than zinc lozenges do. Don't exceed 50 mg a day because too much zinc will actually damage your immune system. If your throat pain persists longer than 48 hours and is accompanied by a fever, see a health care practitioner. That's a sign of a bacterial infection rather than a cold, and you may need a treatment better suited for that type of infection.

Aches and Fatigue

WHAT'S GOING ON: While your immune system fights a cold virus, your body becomes depleted of nutrients, white blood cells, and immune-boosting T cells. The result: achy muscles and low energy. This is a sign that you need to nurture yourself so your body can recharge, explains Judith Hanson Lasater, a physical therapist and yoga instructor in San Francisco and co-author of Living Your Yoga (Rodmell Press, 2000).

HOW TO FEEL BETTER FAST: First, make sure you get seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Rest your body further by doing the Basic Relaxation yoga pose at least 20 minutes a day. Lie down on the floor on your back with your arms by your sides. Use rolled blankets or pillows to support your neck and knees. Close your eyes, pay close attention to your breathing, and visualize your body being healthy, says Lasater. This pose helps your body relax, which, according to studies, will strengthen your immune function.

In addition to getting more rest, strengthen your antibodies with a multivitamin; take a powdered form (mixed in water) because your weakened body can absorb and use it more easily than pills. If you already have multivitamin capsules on hand, open those up into your drink. And take 1,500 mg of the enzyme bromelain three times a day between meals. This anti-inflammatory supplement helps relieve aching muscles.

Nasal Congestion

WHAT'S GOING ON: Your sinus cavities produce mucus to help expel viruses, so a runny nose is actually desirable. It becomes a problem, though, if thick or dried mucus blocks your nasal passages, causing new mucus to build up and your tissue to become inflamed.

HOW TO FEEL BETTER FAST: One of the best ways to keep nasal mucus flowing is with a neti pot, says Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., medical herbalist in Wilmington, Del., and co-author of The One Earth Herbal Sourcebook (Kensington, 2001). Use this teapotlike Ayurvedic device to flush your nasal cavity with warm salt water and to keep mucus thinned out. Follow the directions that come with your pot and perform the process when needed. After each treatment, dab a few drops of a solution made with 5 teaspoons of sesame oil and 10 drops of sandalwood essential oil (Santalum album) just inside your nasal passages.

If your sinuses become blocked, use the neti pot and take 500 mg each of ginger (Zingiber officinale) and cayenne (Capsicum annuum) capsules twice a day. These two herbs stimulate circulation in sinus tissue, which helps drain the mucus, says Khader.

Because bacteria thrive in mucus, see a doctor if your nasal congestion lasts for more than two weeks.

Cough

WHAT'S GOING ON: When your body senses the presence of a virus, it produces mucus to trap the virus and carry it out of your body. Viruses in your throat or chest also stimulate your cough reflex, which helps your body expel the mucus and the virus, says Tillotson.

HOW TO FEEL BETTER FAST: Because mucus helps sweep the cold virus out of your body, spit it out if you cough it up--don't swallow it. To thin mucus so it's easier to expel and to soothe inflammation in your throat and chest, take i teaspoon of honey loquat syrup (available in Chinese grocery stores and some natural food stores) every two hours until your cough disappears, recommends Tillotson.

Fever

WHAT'S GOING ON: When you come in contact with a virus, your body temperature rises to keep the virus from replicating. However, if you take medicine too early to reduce your fever, you lose the power of this important virus suppressor, explains Tillotson.