Experts suggest that particular positions can help or hinder sleep when you have a cold. When you sleep on your back, it can make congestion even worse. Try sleeping on your side, and prop up your pillows so you're sleeping at a slight angle to help prevent congestion from disrupting your sleep.
Choose the best sleeping position
Lying on your back may also worsen a postnasal drip – experts suggest sleeping on your side instead and if you wake up with one side of your nose blocked, try switching positions.
Elevating your head during the night makes it easier for your nose and sinuses to drain. This is important because at night mucus pools in the head, making it harder to breathe and potentially causing a sinus headache in the morning. Try elevating the head on a few pillows to help the sinuses drain more easily.
Raise your head: Use an extra pillow to prop your head up a bit higher than normal. This allows your sinuses to drain, and should help prevent that horrid feeling of congestion around your eyes and ears.
Make sure you don't elevate your head too much, as that may cause neck pain. And if you're dealing with a dry cough, sleeping on your side instead of your back can help minimize irritation. For whatever kind of cough you have, lying flat on your back can worsen postnasal drip.
According to Dr. Leann Poston of Invigor Medical, “Elevating your head before bed can increase drainage and decrease congestion.” That's why the best position to sleep with a stuffy nose is on your back with different types of pillows elevating your head and neck.
Lying prone can improve breathlessness and help get more oxygen into the body. Lying prone can also help your cough to be more effective. This helps with clearing out any secretions that are in your chest.
Research shows that the immune system follows a circadian rhythm and that the cells involved in healing and inflammation tend to rev up in the evening. Some evidence suggests that more white blood cells (WBCs) are sent to your tissues to fight off infection during the night compared to the day.
Some symptoms, especially runny or stuffy nose and cough, can last for up to 10 to 14 days. Those symptoms should improve over time.
Rest : This is the time to recharge your body's immune system. Rest and sleep are the best ways to do that. Make sure you're sleeping between eight to 10 hours at night. This is also a great chance to take a break from strenuous exercise for two to three days.
If symptoms get worse, rather than better, after 3-7 days, you may have acquired a bacterial infection. These symptoms can also be caused by a cold virus other than a rhinovirus.
Days 3 to 5: Cough and More Nasal Congestion
Nasal symptoms continue to develop, peaking during the third and fourth days. You may notice that mucus from your runny nose has become thicker, with a yellow or green tinge.
Mucus in the lungs is known as phlegm or sputum. It is a common symptom in chronic lung diseases such as COPD (including chronic bronchitis and emphysema), cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, NTM lung disease or asthma.
“Cool air from an open window can help people breathe better, unless the air is very dry,” Dr. Benninger says. Fans also can dry the air, but the soothing white noise may lead to better sleep.
Hold your breath for 3 to 5 seconds. Then—as you let that breath out [coughing]— cough 2 or 3 times. Push on your belly with your arms as you cough. [coughing] Breathe in slowly and gently through your nose, and repeat the coughing if you need to.
Elevate Your Head and Neck
If your cough seems to worsen once you lie flat, try propping up your head and neck. Use a wedge pillow or multiple bed pillows to make yourself comfortable while lying in a position that keeps your head elevated above the rest of your body.
Cold symptoms will go away on their own over time and rest is one of the best ways to help your body heal, so in a sense, you can sleep off a cold. Sleep helps boost the immune system and can help you recover from a cold more quickly.