I love that website. It was the spray, not the swabs, and there is nothing proven. that sight is the first place I go when I hear something that I want to know if it's true or not.
My grandma and my mom made a hot toddy for us kids when we were little..it consisted of honey,lemon juice,whiskey, and small peppermint stick.(red and white kind)
They use 1/3 cup of each liquid. Put all in a saucepan and just enough to make it warm on the stove.Then they took a peppermint stick and stirred one end of it in the toddy until the red stripes are gone..each one of us kid(3 of us) got 1/3 cup of the stuff and chewed on the rest of the peppermint stick..After that we were sent to bed.
I still do that stuff along with any kind of menthol rub on feet covered with socks and on my face....I can't take stuff over the counter since I am allergic to most chemical etc in cold stuff..
Yup, I love my neti pot. I got it at a Walmart Pharmacy and looked at it for 3 days before I got up the courage to use it. A friend saw it in my bathroom and was so enthusiastic about hers that I tried it and LOVE it.
My Chinese acupuncturist had me make a tea of the white part and roots of scallions and fresh ginger root. Sounds nasty but it is quite tolerable. It was for a phlegmy cough, and works great. Simmer for a few minutes and strain. I make extra and store it in a glass jar in the fridge so I only have to make it once while I am sick.
The green parts of the scallions are GREAT in chicken soup, BTW.