Why Are You Coughing?
There are many potential underlying reasons for a cough. A short-term cough lasts for 3 weeks or less. Colds and flu are some of the more common causes for these short-term coughs. Symptoms resolve on their own within days to weeks. Irritants like dust in your throat may make you cough. Postnasal drip from allergies can do it, too. Certain more serious medical conditions and medical side effects may also cause coughing. Regardless of what is making you cough, there are many remedies to help you feel better.
If you have a cough, there are several home remedies that can help ease your symptoms. Drink lots of fluids to thin mucus and make it easier for you to clear it out of your system. Use a vaporizer or cool-mist humidifier to soothe an irritated throat. There is some evidence that honey decreases the frequency and severity of a cough without side effects. Have some tea with honey before bed to ease your cough. Honey should not be given to young children under the age of 12 months because there is a risk that the baby could be sickened by botulism.
Other home remedies that may be effective include gargling with salt water or sipping on hot water with lemon juice. Add fresh ginger to boiling water. Let the mixture cool and add honey before sipping to soothe a cough or a sore throat. To make another remedy, add turmeric powder and black pepper to boiling water. Allow the drink to cool before sipping. Turmeric with black pepper is reportedly a good at-home, anti-viral cold remedy. If your cough is caused by a cold, take extra vitamin C during cold and flu season to reduce the duration and severity of cold symptoms. Vitamin C boosts the immune system. Chicken soup is an excellent home remedy that has several anti-inflammatory properties to ease cough and cold symptoms.
Try an Expectorant
If you have a "wet" cough, otherwise known as a productive cough, try taking an over-the-counter expectorant medication to help you expel mucus. Expectorants are not appropriate for every type of cough. If you have emphysema, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, or asthma, do not take an expectorant. Ask your doctor which type of over-the-counter cough medicine is right for you. Children under the age of 4 years old should not take cough and cold medicines. Check with your child's pediatrician before administering any remedy to your little one.
Try a Cough Suppressant
Sometimes you want to suppress a cough if it is caused by breathing in irritants like smoke, dust, or allergic particles. This kind of cough result when you have an annoying tickle in the back of your throat. Over-the-counter cough suppressants can help suppress the urge to cough. Another name for cough suppressants is antitussives. Cough suppressants may be available as either a liquid or as a cough drop. Cough drops are a choking hazard for young children under the age of 4. Do not give cough drops to young children. Ask your child's pediatrician what kind of remedy is safe to use. VapoRub is a topical cough suppressant with medicated vapors that may be appropriate for children ages 2 and up.
A Warning about Cough Medicine and Young Children
Cough medicine should never be given to children under the age of 4 because it may be associated with serious side effects, or even death. Some cough and cold medications may be used in children between the ages of 4 and 6, but talk to your child's pediatrician first. For young children who cannot have cough syrup, give them 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of honey in some warm water to help soothe a bad cough (however, do not give honey to children under 1 year of age due to potential for botulism). Honey may provide instant relief as a natural cough remedy.
Are Antibiotics Appropriate for a Cough?
Antibiotics treat bacterial infections, so they are not cough remedies. Antibiotics are not effective for treating coughs that are caused by cold or flu viruses. These kinds of coughs usually resolve in about a week if an underlying viral infection is causing the cough. If you are still coughing after one week, see your doctor. You may have 