Cough

Coughing is the body’s way of removing foreign substances and mucus from lungs and upper airway passages or of reacting to an irritated airway. In simple words, coughing is an attempt by the body to protect the lungs. Coughs can have many causes ranging from allergies, cold or flu, asthma, weather or seasonal changes, respiratory infection, pneumonia, tuberculosis, bronchitis to lung cancer. Some people have a nervous cough that becomes a habit. A cough may be simply dry, and irritating (dry cough), or it may bring up mucus (productive cough). Some prescribed drugs can also cause coughing.

Cough Symptoms

• Dry cough: Simply dry, and irritating .
• Productive cough: It may bring up mucus .

Home Remedies for Cough

• Eucalyptus oil: Inhale essential oil of eucalyptus. Add a few drops of the oil to a vaporizer and breathe in, make sure your eyes are closed. It has a soothing and calming effect on the respiratory system, which can help alleviate a cough.
• Honey and lemon: Take honey and lemon which will ease cough and encourage healing.
• Licorice: Boil 2 tablespoon of licorice root in 2-3 cups of water for 10 minutes and drink the decoction several times a day. Licorice decoction helps to alleviate coughs, especially a dry hacking cough which produces phlegm with a postnasal drip.
• Cloves: Place 2-3 cloves fried in ghee and suck.

For dry cough

• Banana with honey and black pepper: Eat a ripe banana with 1 teaspoon of honey and 2 pinches of ground black pepper, twice or thrice a day.
• Turmeric: Boil 1 cup milk with teaspoon turmeric and teaspoon ginger and drink this at night. This will relieve the cough due to pharyngitis or laryngitis.
• Carom (Ajwain): Try chewing ajwan mixed with 1 teaspoon natural organic sugar.

For productive cough

• Honey and black pepper: Mix 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper with one teaspoon of honey, and eat it on a full stomach two or three times a day for 3 to 5 days.
• Ginger and cinnamon: Drink a tea made from 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder, plus a pinch of cinnamon powder in a cupful of boiled water.
• Honey and clove: Take 1 teaspoon honey mixed with a pinch of clove powder, 2 or 3 times a day.

For child

• Pomegranate and ginger: Give a half cup pomegranate juice with a pinch of ginger powder and a pinch of long pepper (Pippali) powder.

Do’s for Cough

• Include warm drinks such as soup and herbal tea.
• Take barley soup to help reduce the phlegm.
• Eat chicken soup mad with onions, garlic and ginger to decrease inflammation, help raise immunity and dispel toxins.
• Drink 8-10 glasses of fluid a day. Drink a glass of water every hour to thin and dispel mucus.
• Raising the head of the bed or sleeping on extra pillows may help ease a cough at night.

Don’ts for Cough

• Eliminate foods that increase mucus production such as dairy products.
• Avoid smoky or dusty environments. If you smoke, stop.
• Do not take cough suppressants in the day, it is important to allow yourself to cough to expel the phlegm from your chest.
• Avoid soft drinks, candies, ice-cream, and all products made from sugar and white flour.
• Avoid tea, coffee, refined and processed foods.

See Doctor

• Cough persists for more than a week.
• Chest pain or breathing problems.
• Fever, sweating, or weight loss.
• Becoming exhausted by coughing.
• Mucus becomes green, yellow, or blood-stained.

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