Physician Assistant Dan Moore at McLaren-Greater Lansing Internal Medicine has been seeing a lot of patients with upper respiratory infections this week.
The symptoms he's treating are: nasal congestion, runny nose, sore or scratchy throat, sneezing, coughing, fatigue, headache, and itchy, watery eyes. Sometimes kids will have a fever.
Take acetaminophen or ibuprofen for fever control and pain relief. Try over-the-counter antihistamines, decongestants and cough medicines.
You may want to use a vaporizer or humidifier to help with congestion.
See a doctor if you have a high fever or increased pain in the face or upper teeth, or if your symptoms get worse over the first week.
Viral upper respiratory infections usually last a week or two.
