# Would you go to see a doctor for a case of the common cold? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2013, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006 "2013-04-06T11:12:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/41 "2013-04-06T23:12:31Z")
> [@Queen\_Tonya](#): > > I have in the past, embarrassed as I was to do so. Not that I thought they could help, but I’ve worked some places with draconian attendance policies. So you’re sick, know you’re contagious, don’t have the energy to drag yourself into work but you’re going to get in trouble without a doctor’s note? Because some places can’t allow adults discretion over their own sick time, so yeah at times I’ve wasted my money and their time for just a common cold. I ran into a similar situation at work some years ago. I told them that I refused to waste my doctor’s time, and the health system’s money, by visiting a doctor because they thought some people were lying whem they said they were sick. I did a quick informal poll at work and 100% of the many people I asked agreed that they had visited a doctor, at some time, to get a certificate for no other reason than to placate HR. Some even said thet they always got a certificate. So I wrote to the health minister suggesting that millions of dollars could be saved by making it illegal for employers to discriminate on sick leave based on whether a doctor approved it. The practice is simply a cost shifting exercise for HR regimes to assist in their compliance efforts. If they think people are cheating on their sick leave entitlements - they should deal with it. I didn’t get a reply but, having sent a copy to HR, I was left alone at work after that. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/42 "2013-04-06T23:13:03Z")
Yes. Bombard it with antibiotics. That’s what everybody in my family has always done whenever any of us gets the sniffles. Or any type of sickness, actually. It just makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/43 "2013-04-06T23:16:49Z")
I’ll go if it develops into a sinus infection or my little “reactive airway” issue, in which case I just need a doc-in-a-box to give me an inhaler. ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/44 "2013-04-07T00:44:43Z")
If it’s just a cold, which is what you asked in the OP, a Dr can’t do anything, as it’s a virus. I’ve been taking 1000 mg of vitamin C daily for as long as I can remember, and the only time I had a cold in years was when I didn’t take it for a few days. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/45 "2013-04-07T02:26:46Z")
C’mon people, when you get a common cold, the place for you is not a doctor’s office but your local emergency room, where your sniffling and sneezing take precedence over trauma victims and heart attack patients. > [@Doggo](#): > > I’ve been taking 1000 mg of vitamin C daily for as long as I can remember, and the only time I had a cold in years was when I didn’t take it for a few days. The latest Cochrane Review evaluating clinical trials on this subject indicates that while there may be limited benefit in certain populations relating to reduced length of colds\* and less severe symptoms (and even these benefits are contradicted by therapeutic trials), the bottom line is that if you take high-dose C to prevent colds, [you’re wasting your money.](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23440782) _“The failure of vitamin C supplementation to reduce the incidence of colds in the general population indicates that routine vitamin C supplementation is not justified”_ \*average reduction of the length of colds over some trials was a whopping 8%. So if your colds normally last 7 days, they might only last 6 1/2 days if you chug down enough vitamin C. And even that benefit is debatable. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/46 "2013-04-07T21:37:02Z")
I actually did go to a doctor for the common cold three weeks ago. It’s about 38 miles away one-way, but the doctor seems excellent. The cost was only $5 or so including meds. I did learn something new: that doctor considers pseudephedrine to be contraindicated for older people, especially those with heart problems. Even though I was 75% certain it was just a common cold, I went because I feel fragile and wanted it treated properly before it complicated – I often develop sinusitis or bronchitis. In fact, about a week later I caught a sort of flu, attended to it (with a different doctor), and am now feeling much better. I need rest, water, etc, and especially coolth. It is unbearably hot right now where I live in Thailand and I’m spending most of my time in our air-conditioned room, the thing, I think, saving me from fatigue and poor health. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/47 "2013-04-07T23:07:12Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > My answer, before reading the list of choices, was “Are you f’ing kidding? Is there _anybody_ who would answer yes?” > > Given that going to the doctor is time-consuming, annoying, possibly scary, and could expose you to the more dangerous germs of other people there; and given that, even if insurance pays for it, a doctor visit still costs somebody something; and given that there’s nothing a doctor can do for a common cold that I can’t do for myself—why on earth would anyone but a hypochondriac go to the doctor for a common cold? There is one reason I visit my doctor for a bad common cold: to obtain a doctor’s note for sick leave. (my employer wants one for absence of more than one day; is’s mandatory in Germany for sick leave of more than two days). My doctor and I agree on rest being the only effective cure, and rest is what I obtain at the doctor’s. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/48 "2013-04-07T23:10:27Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > C’mon people, when you get a common cold, the place for you is not a doctor’s office but your local emergency room, where your sniffling and sneezing take precedence over trauma victims and heart attack patients.The latest Cochrane Review evaluating clinical trials on this subject indicates that while there may be limited benefit in certain populations relating to reduced length of colds\* and less severe symptoms (and even these benefits are contradicted by therapeutic trials), the bottom line is that if you take high-dose C to prevent colds, [you’re wasting your money.](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23440782) > > _“The failure of vitamin C supplementation to reduce the incidence of colds in the general population indicates that routine vitamin C supplementation is not justified”_ > > \*average reduction of the length of colds over some trials was a whopping 8%. So if your colds normally last 7 days, they might only last 6 1/2 days if you chug down enough vitamin C. And even that benefit is debatable. You are one of my favorite posters. The Dopes official “woo debunker” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/49 "2013-04-07T23:27:56Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > _“The failure of vitamin C supplementation to reduce the incidence of colds in the general population indicates that routine vitamin C supplementation is not justified”_ Interesting selective quoting there. The rest of it reads: > [@](#): > > …yet vitamin C may be useful for people exposed to brief periods of severe physical exercise. Regular supplementation trials have shown that vitamin C reduces the duration of colds, but this was not replicated in the few therapeutic trials that have been carried out. Nevertheless, given the consistent effect of vitamin C on the duration and severity of colds in the regular supplementation studies, and the low cost and safety, it may be worthwhile for common cold patients to test on an individual basis whether therapeutic vitamin C is beneficial for them. Further therapeutic RCTs are warranted. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/50 "2013-04-08T00:54:39Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Interesting selective quoting there. Only if you’re not paying attention. My post specifically referred to evidence of limited benefit of high-dose vitamin C on duration and severity of colds, noting that effects on duration were nothing to write home about, and that therapeutic trials did not back up these findings. The quote you’re objecting to was _the study’s bottom line on using vitamin C for **cold prevention** _, for which “routine vitamin C supplementation is not justified”. “Selective quoting” my ass. > [@Ambivalid](#): > > The Dopes official “woo debunker” That’s why the Giant Pharma Lizards pay me the big bucks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/51 "2013-04-08T02:08:39Z")
I chose the “complications” option, although I can see the point of view that says if you have “complications,” you’re not just seeing the doctor for a cold. If I had to produce a doctor’s note to miss work, I’d probably go if my cold was bad enough. As it is, although I have excellent health insurance with a low co-pay, I don’t make unplanned visits to the doctor unless I think my life or long-term health is in danger. If I feel like crap, I’d rather stay in bed with my OTC remedies and my humidifier than get up, get dressed, and drag myself out to sit in a waiting room with other sick people for half the day. ---
**Author:** ![Nuveena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a587f6/32.png) [@Nuveena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuveena)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/52 "2013-04-09T00:24:17Z")
I’m surprised more people aren’t going in for the good cough syrup. I will go to the docor for the common cold if I have a cough that keeps me up at night. Isn’t it fairly well established that OTC cough syrups don’t really work? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/53 "2013-04-09T00:47:38Z")
> [@Nuveena](#): > > I’m surprised more people aren’t going in for the good cough syrup. I’ve never, not ever, found a doctor who would give us “the good cough syrup”. This past winter, even, my daughter literally did not sleep more than 5 minutes at a time for a week, running 102+ fevers with a constant, and I mean constant cough. We were in the ER twice in three days I was so worried about her, and I am usually hospital averse. The best they would finally do, after the second visit and much pleading from myself (registered nurse) and my husband (retired paramedic), was to give her a single dose of Lortab syrup just as we were walking out the ER to take her home. That did a beautiful job of knocking out the cough overnight so she could get a solid night’s sleep, which broke the cycle and allowed her body to heal. But to take home? Oh, \*hell \*no. You’d have thought I was trying to score morphine. Now, maybe that was ‘cause she’s a kid, and we’re terrible about researching kid’s colds, so we’re not entirely sure if giving them cough syrup is a good idea in the first place. But as an adult, I’ve not been offered “the good cough syrup” as an option for my own illnesses, and I’ve never seen it in my patients’ medicine lists, either. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Like\_Pie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I\_Like\_Pie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Like_Pie)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/54 "2013-04-09T00:51:20Z")
US. I would see a doctor is a high fever or severe symptoms presented for longer than 5 days or so. In that case, it would more than likely not be a common cold. I’ve also had a common cold turn into pneumonia…But for a case of sinus pressure, aches and sniffles, no I would not see a doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/55 "2013-04-09T00:51:29Z")
> [@Nuveena](#): > > Isn’t it fairly well established that OTC cough syrups don’t really work? **No** cough suppressants work. For anything except making me momentarily hopeful. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/56 "2013-04-09T01:03:06Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > **No** cough suppressants work. For anything except making me momentarily hopeful. :mad: I’m a fan of benzonatate, myself. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/57 "2013-04-09T01:10:06Z")
In Australia, no I wouldn’t. It would cost me to attend my GP, but that’s not the reason. Why would I spend time sitting in a waiting room to see someone who can’t do anything to help me? Cold and flu tablets from the pharmacy, maybe cough lollies and if crook enough to stay home from work go to bed with Vicks Vaporub on the chest and a mug of hot milk, whiskey and honey. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/58 "2013-04-09T01:16:49Z")
I have. As it stretched into a fourth week, I went in case it was something more than just a cold, desperate for a remedy. I thought perhaps it was a chest infection that antibiotics could help. Alas, it was just a cold and I had to suffer on. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/59 "2013-04-09T01:47:15Z")
[QUOTE=;16175159] I’m surprised more people aren’t going in for the good cough syrup. [/QUOTE] I always have a little codeine stash. Robitussen and a Tylenol 4 and I’m cough free. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-go-to-see-a-doctor-for-a-case-of-the-common-cold/655006/60 "2013-04-09T01:54:05Z")
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