Home remedies for cough
Although coughing is a natural reaction to clear our airways, but a persistent cough is very annoying; Consecutive coughs cause daily fatigue and disturbed sleep at night. In this article, we will explain about home remedies for cough.
All of us have experienced some kind of cough throughout our life without seeking medical treatment, but when it lasts for couple of days then we start to find a way to stop it and find out if there is some thing important beyond that cough or not.
What you will read next:
Causes of chronic cough
when to see a doctor?
Causes of sudden onset cough
Home remedies for cough
Causes of chronic cough
Cough is not a disease in itself but is often a sign of a disorder and disease; the causes of cough are various.
Although they can cause sudden multiple coughs, but frequently they start gradually with single occasional occurring cough.
- Infections (viruses or bacteria)
- Respiratory allergies
- Environmental pollution
- Gastric acid reflux into the esophagus
- Diseases that affect the lung tissue. As:
when to see a doctor?
If you have a recurrent cough for which you do not find a cause and the cough has lasted for more than four weeks, it is best to see a doctor.
Also, if you have a cough that is accompanied by one or more of the following, it is best to see a doctor:
- Fever above thirty-eight degrees Celsius
- Fever that has not decreased after seventy-two hours
- Bleeding while coughing
- Feeling suffocated while coughing
- Decreased appetite
- Weakness and fatigue
- Significant weight loss (especially in prolonged cough in smokers)
- Shortness of breath and inability to breathe deeply
- Having lots of phlegm while coughing.
In the mentioned cases, it is better to see a doctor first and avoid arbitrary treatments.
Causes of sudden onset cough
Sometimes we have recurrent and chronic coughs, but we do not feel sick or unhealthy with these coughs. The reasons for this type of cough are:
- Taking a group of antihypertensive drugs such as captopril, enalapril
- Return of stomach acid to the esophagus
- Discharge from the sinusitis that can drip into airways without knowledge.
Sometimes asthma and chronic bronchitis (any situation in which there is persistent inflammation of small respiratory airways called bronchitis) also fall into this category.
Do not forget that if you have got a severe cold, like what happens in sessional influenza reactive chronic coughs may continue for up to six to eight weeks after the infection has healed.
Home remedies for cough
If you are not one of the high-risk groups described above, you can use the following home remedies for cough. First of all you should keep your surrounding moisty enough in order to reduce the airways sensivity to become stimulated by dry air.
- Eat a teaspoon of honey usually mixed with lemon juice:
Pure honey is the best cough reliever; honey soothes your throat and reduces discomfort. In addition, honey contains anti-inflammatory substances that help soothe inflamed airways.
You can dissolve a teaspoon of honey in a glass of warm water and drink it. adding some lemon juice will increase the anti-cough effect of honey and this drink consider one of most effective home remedies for cough.
You can find some form of honey-lemon supplement in drugstores.
Ginger extract is useful for reducing dry cough and relieving asthma. Ginger contains anti-inflammatory substances to soothe inflamed airways and many antioxidants to strengthen your immune system.
How to prepare ginger tea:
Pour about twenty to forty grams of fresh ginger into a glass of warm water and drink after a few minutes. You can also add honey and lemon to the mixture.
The soothing effects of ginger on the respiratory tract have been proven by medical scientists.
- Drink hot liquids such as simple, soft and spicy-free soups and light tea:
It is very important to keep a person with a cough hydrated. Every single cough you have made, emits lots of water by making small droplets, therefore it is very vital to replace this water by drinking enough liquid.
Research shows that consuming room-temperature fluids can cause coughing and runny nose by itself, so it is recommended that hot fluids be used instead in the treating of coughing patients.
Avoid any stimulant liquids such as thick soups and spices.
It is better not to use industrial and aromatic tea. Natural decoctions are definitely much more suitable than industrial products.
These foods irritate the respiratory tract and aggravate cough.
If you have a wet and productive cough, it is best to breathe in the steam coming out of the vaporizer for a few minutes to relieve your symptoms. You can also use eucalyptus or rosemary extract, which has anti-inflammatory properties, in the vaporizer.
This combination clears the sputum in the throat and is an easy way to heal coughs and sore throats.
Pour half a teaspoon of salt into a cup of warm water and let it warm so that you can swirl it in your mouth. Pour the cooled salt water into your mouth and let it stay behind your throat for a few minutes. Repeat this several times a day.
Do not use this method in the elderly with sensory impairment and children because these people will have serious problems if swallowing salty water.
Pineapple contains a substance called (bromelain) which has proven anti-inflammatory properties. This substance is highly concentrated in the middle of the pineapple.
Currently, pills containing bromelain are available in pharmacies. Drinking pineapple juice or eating pineapple alone cannot get a lot of bromelain in your body, so prepare and take bromelain tablets from your pharmacy at your discretion.
- Stop drinking alcohol
- Do not smoke
- Avoid carbonated drinks
Any type of carbonated drinks like coca will irritate the throat and provoke cough.
Include probiotics in your daily diet like probiotic yogurt. You can find these supplements in drugstores as an OTC drugs.
Thyme has long been a part of cough treatments. Thyme syrup has a significant effect on relieving cough compared to placebos (when comparing to substances that is known for no effect in the body).
Thyme has many anti-inflammatory properties that soothe inflamed lung airways.
Pour two teaspoons of pure thyme powder into a cup of warm water, mix and leave for ten minutes to a quarter, then you can drink this mixture.