Cough also known as khansi (Hindi/Urdu), khokala (Marathi), irumal (Tamil), cough (Chinese), tos (Spanish), tosse (Portuguese), kasi (Bengali), kashel (Russian). Types of cough: Dry, productive cough, cough with yellow mucus, cough due to acidity.
Cough Home Remedies
- Onion: Onions are often used in the treatment of coughs. Add a peeled onion to 500 ml of water and simmer for 15 minutes. Sweeten this brew with brown sugar or honey and drink this cough remedy hot. OR roughly chop a small onion, put it in a glass jar and cover with honey. Seal the jar and leave overnight. The next day you have a strong onion honey of which you take 1 tablespoon several times a day. Not the best taste, but very effective. OR Take a juice of medium size onion and juice of 1 lemon. Mix together and add 1 cup of boiling water to it. Add honey to taste. Take this 2-3 times a day.
- Banana: For a dry cough or a cough without much mucus, eat a ripe banana with 1 teaspoon of honey and 2 pinches of ground black pepper. You can eat this 2 or 3 times a day.
- Pippali: For kids cough try giving the child a drink of 1/2 cup pomegranate juice with a pinch of ginger powder and a pinch of pippali powder. OR Mix together bay leaf ½ teaspoon and pippali 1/4 teaspoon both in powder form. Take this mixture in 1 teaspoon honey 2 or 3 times a day.
- Sitopaladi Churna: Mix 1/4 teaspoon of sitopaladi powder with 1 teaspoon of honey as an effective cough remedy for children. Honey is antibacterial and moistening. It reduces nighttime cough in children more effectively than a placebo, antihistamines, and the cough suppressant dextromethorphan. However, if the mother is sensitive or allergic to pollen, the child may be allergic to honey. In that case, instead of honey, use maple syrup.
- Herbal Tea: For productive cough with mucus try herbal tea made of equal proportions of sitopaladi and maha sudarshan poeder. Use ¼ teaspoon of the mixture to make a tea, and drink it 3 times a day with honey. OR Make herbal tea with talisadi powder 1/2 teaspoon and licorice powder 1/2 teaspoon. Add a little honey to taste. This tea is quite effective. OR If a cough brings up mucus, take one and half teaspoonful of ginger powder, one pinch of clove, and one pinch of cinnamon powder in one cup of boiled water as a tea.
- Ginger Tea: Ginger has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antiviral properties. Ginger tea can soothe throats made raw by coughing. Add about a tablespoon of freshly grated, peeled ginger to a cup and fill with just-boiled water. Steep 10 minutes, strain, and sweeten, if desired. As an alternative, try thyme tea. Also a tea made from ½ teaspoon ginger powder, plus a pinch of clove and a pinch of cinnamon powder in a cupful of boiled water, can offer relief from your cough.
- Garlic: This is helpful remedy for chronic cough. Peel the cloves and gently squash each one with the flat of the knife. Drop the cloves into a clean glass jar. Add enough honey to completely cover the garlic. Stir with a chopstick. Cap the jar. Let it sit for four to six weeks in a cool, dry place. If you already have a cough, you can dip into the honey pot in two days. You can eat the garlic cloves along with the honey. Garlic is antimicrobial and an expectorant. Some of its chemicals are excreted across the lungs. Although that may give you garlic breath, the good news is some of garlic’s beneficial chemicals are coming into contact with your lungs. For a stubborn cough chop a clove of garlic, and boil it in a cup of milk. Then add 1/4 teaspoon turmeric. This creates a golden yellow milk that tastes like garlic soup. This garlic-turmeric milk is effective for soothing and healing most types of cough.
- Almonds: For dry cough almonds are very useful. Soak 7-8 almonds in water at night. In the morning peel almonds and grind. In this paste at 20gm of fresh butter and 20gm of sugar. Eat twice a day.
- Lemon + Honey: Mix 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice with 1 tablespoon honey. Heat gently until warm. Take 1 teaspoon every hour, as needed. Lemon packs flavonoids and vitamin C for fighting infection. You can also try 1 teaspoon honey mixed with a pinch of clove powder, 2 or 3 times a day.
- Mustard + Ginger Powder: Take ground mustard ½ teaspoon and ginger powder ½ teaspoon in a bowl. Mix together into 1 teaspoon of honey, and eat slowly. Ginger relieves congestion, and mustard has a heating action. You can use this mixture 2 to 3 times a day for as long as the cough persists. Mustard contains irritating chemicals that stimulate blood flow.
- Potato Water: An old treatment for a dry cough is to use warm, unsalted potato water. This the water in which potatoes have been boiled. Sweetened with honey as a kind of cough syrup. It does not taste very nice but is said to be very effective.
- Trikatu Powder: For a chronic cough mix 4 parts of garlic powder to 1 part of trikatu. Add a little honey. Take this twice a day.
- Essential Oil: Chest rubs can help loosen congestion. Essential oil of eucalyptus works against a range of bacteria and viruses. It also favorably alters immune function and helps clear excess respiratory mucus. By breathing in through your mouth, you allow the essential oil steam to come in direct contact with your throat. Mix 5 drops eucalyptus essential oil with 2 teaspoons almond oil. Rub some of this mixture on your chest and cover with a hot water bottle or a heating pad wrapped in flannel or a soft thin towel. Leave on 20 minutes. Repeat once or twice a day. Coughs can also be treated by inhaling the steam from the infusion or soaking a cloth in the hot infusion and applying it directly onto the chest. But be careful not so hot as to burn yourself.
- Fennel Seeds: Fennel loosens phlegm and eases cramping. A tea made from fennel seeds is a traditional remedy to ease chesty colds, coughs and tummy troubles in children. Make the tea with a teaspoon of freshly crushed fennel seeds and a cup of almost boiling water, cover and leave to steep for 5 minutes. Sip tea throughout the day. It’s also popular with children to warm the seeds in milk instead of water.
- Turmeric: Dry cough or irritation in the throat may be due to slight congestion in the tonsils, or a congestive condition in the throat such as pharyngitis or laryngitis. To relieve this condition, boil 1 cup milk with ½ teaspoon turmeric and ¼ teaspoon ginger, making a golden yellow milk. If you drink this at night, it will relieve the irritation in the throat and take care of a dry cough.
- Ajwan Seeds: Try chewing ¼ teaspoon of ajwan mixed with 1 teaspoon natural organic sugar. To open blocked node due to cough, take a thick pan. Heat and add few ajwan seeds. Inhale fumes coming out from pan. Be careful while handling hot pan. You may also try “Ajwain Potli”. To make ajwain potli, take handful of ajwan seeds. Put seeds into hot pan. Once seeds got hot but be quick do not burn. Tie into clean muslin cloth. Try to inhale warm vapors coming from potli. This is very useful to open blocked airways.
- Grapes: Take 1 cup of fresh grapes juice and 1 tablespoon of honey. Mix together and drink. This helps to reduce mucus and gives strength to lungs.
- Slippery Elm: Slippery elm is very popular folk remedy to treat coughs and other respiratory ailments. Slippery elm contains mucilage, a substance that, when mixed with water, becomes a slick gel. Slippery elm lozenges can soothe irritated throats and dry coughs.
- Thyme: Thyme has a long history of use in Europe as an herbal treatment for coughs. Place 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaf, in a cup. Cover with just-boiled water and let steep 10 minutes. Strain and sweeten with honey, stevia, or maple syrup, if desired.
- Coltsfoot: Coltsfoot stimulates the appetite and works as an expectorant, particularly for a hoarse cough. Add 1 teaspoon of dried coltsfoot leaves to 1 cup of almost boiling water. Cover and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain and sweeten if you like. Drink up to two cups per day, as hot as possible.
- Black Pepper: For a productive cough, mix ¼ teaspoon of black pepper powder with 1 teaspoon of honey, and eat it on a full stomach. If your voice is hoarse, use 1 teaspoon of ghee instead of the honey. The heating quality of black pepper helps relieve congestion and drives out the cough. Take 2 or 3 times a day for 3 to 5 days.
- Clover: Suck a whole clove with a piece of rock candy (mishri).
- Apple Cider Vinegar: For a tickle cough try equal parts of honey and apple cider vinegar. When it strikes, let a small amount sit and slowly melt in your mouth.
- Horehound: For a productive cough, try old-fashioned horehound drops. The bittersweet herb has expectorant properties.
- Linden Flowers: Linden flowers are well known to induce perspiration and ease muscle aches. Linden flower tea has long been used in the treatment of cold and flu, it also helps ease a sore throat and coughs. Apart from that it is often drunk because it tastes great. Add 1 teaspoon dried linden flowers to 1 cup of almost boiling water, cover and leave for 10 minutes to infuse. Drink twice daily.
- Spruce Needles: The needles of the spruce make a good expectorant cough treatment. To make a cough syrup alternate layers of young shoots with layers of sugar. Fill a glass jar this way right to the top, seal and leave near a sunny window. The syrup will be ready when all the plant material has broken down. Strain through a cloth, bottle and store.
- Vicks: Put dabs of Vicks on the sole of each foot. Massage into your soles for about a minute. Cover your feet with clean socks to keep the Vicks contained and help it soak in. The cough-calming plant essential oils in Vicks (camphor, eucalyptol, menthol, and thymol) are absorbed across the skin. Try both chest and foot rubs to determine which is most effective for you.
Tips to Prevent Cough
- Spend time in a warm, steamy shower. Steam loosens mucus and clears air pas- sages. A side benefit is that it also gives you a facial.
- Drink a lot of fluids. Staying well hydrated thins respiratory mucus, making it easier to expel. But avoid sour juices.