Coryza is a word describing the symptoms of a head cold

Common cold

The common cold is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system, caused primarily by rhinoviruses and coronaviruses. Common symptoms include a cough, sore throat, runny nose, and fever...

. It describes the inflammation

Inflammation

Inflammation is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process...

 of the mucous membranes lining the nasal cavity

Nasal cavity

The nasal cavity is a large air filled space above and behind the nose in the middle of the face.- Function :The nasal cavity conditions the air to be received by the other areas of the respiratory tract...

 which usually gives rise to the symptoms of nasal congestion and loss of smell, among other symptoms. Coryza may not always have an infectious

Infection

An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease...

 or allergenic etiology

Etiology

Etiology is the study of causation, or origination. The word is derived from the Greek , aitiologia, "giving a reason for" ....

 and can be due to something as innocuous as a cold wind, spicy food or tender points in the muscles of the neck such as the sternocleidomastoid

Sternocleidomastoid muscle

In human anatomy, the sternocleidomastoid muscle , also known as sternomastoid and commonly abbreviated as SCM, is a paired muscle in the superficial layers of the anterior portion of the neck...

. It is also a symptom of narcotic withdrawal. Coryza is classically used in association with the "four Cs" of measles

Measles

Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...

 infection: cough

Cough

A cough is a sudden and often repetitively occurring reflex which helps to clear the large breathing passages from secretions, irritants, foreign particles and microbes...

, conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis

Conjunctivitis refers to inflammation of the conjunctiva...

, Koplik's spots

Koplik's spots

Koplik spots are a prodromic viral enanthem of measles manifesting two days before the measles rash itself. They are characterized as clustered, white lesions on the buccal mucosa near each Stenson's duct and are pathognomonic for measles...

, and coryza.

Etymology

This word may have its roots in the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 Koryza, which is likely to be compounded from "kara" and "zeein". which are the noun for head and the verb, to boil. Coryza would therefore be a boiling over of the head. According to another source, coryza was an ancient Greek word denoting a fool. According to physician Andrew Wylie, "we use the term for a cold in the head, but the two are really synonymous. The ancient Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

advised their patients to clean their nostrils and thereby sharpen their wits."

Treatment

Treatment of coryza depends on etiology. Coryza from any allergic causes usually gets relieved if contact with the allergen (dust, pollen, cold wind,etc) is avoided. Nasal sprays, antihistamines, decongestants are beneficial.But if it is due to any virus it usually take 3-7 days to improve.Symptomatic treatment can be obtained from saline nasal irrigation, nasal sprays, decongestants. But antihistamines are of little value.If coryza is due to bacterial or fungal infections(rarely) then appropriate antimicrobial therapy may be required in addition to the symptomatic treatment.