Taking high-dose zinc lozenges when you have a cold can cut down how long your muscle aches last by more than half, which is the biggest improvement for cold symptoms like this.

Taking high-dose zinc lozenges every day might help adults get over colds faster—cutting how long you're sick by more than a third compared to not taking them.

Taking high-dose zinc lozenges right when you start feeling a cold can shorten how long you're sick by almost half, according to studies in adults.

Taking high-dose zinc lozenges can shorten how long you have a cold by about 3 days, especially for adults between 20 and 50 years old.

Taking certain zinc lozenges (not the acetate kind) in high daily doses might shorten how long you have a cold by about one-fifth, but different brands or types seem to work differently based on studies.

Taking zinc lozenges with less than 75 mg per day doesn't seem to shorten how long a cold lasts, based on studies comparing them to fake pills. It might only work if you take enough.