Home Remedies and Herbs for Cough

A cough is a natural reaction produced by your body when there is something obstructing or irritating your throat or airways such as smoke or mucus. When the irritant occurs, it stimulates nerves that instruct your brain to cough. The cough helps to push air from your lungs in order to get rid of whatever is irritating your throat. A cough can happen involuntarily or on purpose to clear your throat. ^1,2 Coughing is a good thing because it’s helping your body get rid of negative particles. However, if it persists, a cough can be the sign of a more serious condition. Additionally, vigorous or forceful coughing can cause sore throats, urinary incontinence and even broken ribs.¹ A cough can be either dry or productive. A dry cough usually causes itchiness in the throat. A productive cough brings up mucus or phlegm into the mouth. A normal, acute cough should only last 2-3 weeks at the most. If a cough lasts longer than 4 weeks, then it is considered chronic.

What Causes Cough?

There are several different cough causes and some are much more serious than others. Some of the possible cough and cold causes include:^1,3

• Respiratory infection such as cold, flu, pneumonia, bronchitis or sinusitis
• Postnasal drip from allergies or a cold
• Asthma
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• Heart failure
• Lung cancer
• Lung failure
• Cigarette smoke

Cough Symptoms

The following are the most common cough and cold symptoms in adults:^2,3

• Mucus coming up upon coughing
• Runny nose
• Congestion in nose and airways
• Wheezing or feeling out of breath
• Heartburn from GERD
• Fever chills or sweats if caused by an infection
• Coughing up blood - a serious condition and sign of possible lung cancer

You may experience one or more of these symptoms occurring along with a cough. Cough symptoms in adults may be different than cough symptoms in children. Cough symptoms in adults tend to be milder, whereas children may suffer more severe symptoms including a loud and noticeable productive cough. This may indicate whooping cough, which can be a serious condition in children.

Natural Remedies and Herbs for Cough

The following are cough natural remedies to try at home:

• Apple Cider Vinegar - Apple cider vinegar has natural antibacterial health benefits which can help treat the causes of cough such as an infection.
• Honey - Honey can be used as a cough natural remedy because it can help to soothe the throat and treat dry cough symptoms in particular.
• Turmeric - Turmeric has natural anti-inflammatory health benefits that can help to ease dryness and soreness in the throat that may cause coughing.
• Cayenne Pepper - Like turmeric, cayenne pepper also has natural anti-inflammatory benefits that can help treat sore throats from coughing.
• Salt and Warm Water - Gargling with salt and warm water is a traditional home remedy used to treat a number of ailments including alleviating cough symptoms.
• Ginger - Ginger is another cough natural remedy because of its number of health benefits including being able to help fight underlying infections that may be causing a cough.

References

1. http://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/cough/basics/definition/sym-20050846
2. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/cough
3. http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/cough