Symptoms of Common Cold

Cold symptoms follow a familiar script - they arrive gradually over a day or two, peak around days 2-3, and exit within 7-10 days. Knowing the script helps you recognize when an illness is not following it.

The usual sequence

• Day 1: scratchy or sore throat, sneezing, a vague heaviness - the warning shots
• Days 2-4: the nose takes over - running and blocked by turns, sneezing, nasal voice; mild headache, low energy, mild body ache; adults usually have no or low fever
• Days 5-7: discharge may thicken and turn yellow or green - this is normal immune cleanup, NOT automatically a bacterial infection needing antibiotics
• Days 7-10: steady clearing; a dry cough can linger 2-3 weeks after everything else is gone

The full symptom list

Runny or blocked nose, sneezing, sore or scratchy throat, cough, mild headache, slight body ache, low-grade fever (more common in children), watery eyes, reduced smell and taste while blocked, general tiredness.

In children

Higher fevers are normal in small children with colds. Watch feeding, playfulness and breathing rather than the thermometer alone. Ear-pulling with fussiness can signal an ear infection joining the cold.

When it is NOT just a cold - see a doctor

• Fever above 102 F (39 C), or any fever lasting beyond 3 days
• Difficulty breathing, wheezing, or chest pain
• Severe sore throat with no nose symptoms, or white patches on the tonsils
• Ear pain, or face pain with thick discharge beyond 10 days (possible sinusitis)
• Symptoms worsening after initial improvement - the "double worsening" pattern
• Any cold in an infant under 3 months with fever - assessed promptly
• Symptoms stretching beyond 10-14 days without improvement

One-line summary

A cold plays out as sore throat, blocked-running nose and sneezing peaking at days 2-3 and clearing by day 10 - high persistent fever, breathing trouble, ear pain or the double-worsening pattern mean it is no longer just a cold.