[우리문화신문=유용우 한의사] A cold is an appearance in which an external fraud (evil qi, virus) invades and the body’s defenses are exposed. Since most colds progress as airborne contaminants enter the respiratory tract, most symptoms appear from the nose. The primary gateway to defend against the invading virus is the adenoids, which we call the tonsils. Therefore, when the virus is rampant in the process from the entrance of the nose to the adenoids, the runny nose often increases, showing symptoms of a cold and starting a cold, which is also called acute rhinitis.
Usually, if we defeat the invasion of the virus early and lightly with the defense action of adenoids, there is no burden or change in our body. If the symptoms that appear when you catch a cold are not too severe and are cleared up within 3 days, the cold will end as a passing phenomenon. However, if the severity of the cold is severe and it progresses for more than 3 days and symptoms are revealed beyond the adenoids, various physiological phenomena are changed and various symptoms are revealed as the body’s defense system is overloaded. From this point on, it becomes a disease rather than a symptom of a cold.
1. Acute sinusitis
The typical symptoms are pain and pressure in the face, runny nose, nasal congestion, and the like. When a runny nose or stuffy nose continues due to a cold, the mucous membrane of the nose swells and inflammation progresses. In addition, as the passage of the turbinate leading to the sinuses is narrowed, the discharge of the sinuses is obstructed.
Symptoms that appear during upper respiratory infection include nasal congestion, nasal discharge (runny nose), fever, malaise, and drowsiness. In severe cases, it may be accompanied by tenderness in the face and headache. When pus forms, it flows down the nose, and some goes from the nose to the back of the throat, and when it is spit out, the pus may turn yellow or green. If your nose is blocked, you may not be able to smell, or you may have a strange smell. In some cases, the patient complains of coughing without any other symptoms.
2. Acute pharyngitis
The typical symptom is a severe cold condition in which foreign body sensation in the throat, difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), and pain appear. Inflammation of the pharynx caused by a viral or bacterial infection is called pharyngitis. It is mainly caused by fatigue and overwork, heat-related illnesses, excessive temperature differences, and diseases that reduce constitutional weakness and immune resistance.
In acute otitis media, various general inflammatory symptoms such as fever, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, indigestion, anorexia, lethargy, anxiety, and nervousness appear gradually or suddenly depending on the severity of the inflammatory condition or the symptoms of the disease. It may be accompanied by acute symptoms of the ear, such as fever, ear pain, hearing loss, tinnitus, and otorrhea (a disease in which pus comes out of the ear). In the case of otitis media with effusion, acute symptoms disappear, but conductive hearing loss with ringing in the ears, ear fullness with a feeling of fullness in the ears, and magnetic tonic hallucination with one’s own voice ringing loudly appear.