Cough and cold arrives mostly with seasonal changes and exposure to microorganisms in the air. You can have either productive cough or dry cough. However, dry cough is more an irritant than productive cough. It keeps you and your family members awake at night.
Babies are more prone to such seasonal afflictions, and they suffer the most from cough and cold. However, you can get rid of cough with some simple home remedies. There are a lot of home remedies for cough. Let us discuss a few of them.
Home Remedies For Cough
Ginger
This household spice is not only a great culinary additive, it is an excellent remedy for cough too, especially dry cough. Ginger is anti-inflammatory and antibiotic in nature. This means that it can render a soothing feeling in your throat and fight the microorganisms responsible for the cough.
The soothing feeling can sedate the throat muscles and prevent the reflex action of the muscles that make you cough. You can take ginger tea for helping with dry cough. Take two cups of ginger tea a day to have the desired benefit.
How To Take
Just add some ginger juice in your cup of tea and take it sip by sip. You can also keep chopped ginger pieces in your mouth. It will give you a warm feeling in the throat and reduce the spasms of cough.
Lemon And Honey
Lemon juice contains a lot of vitamin C which is helpful in boosting the immune system and fight microorganisms. The ascorbic acid present in it also helps to clear some of the mucus that has deposited in your throat.
Adding some honey to it will make the mixture a potent antibiotic and anti-inflammatory potion. This is because honey is anti-inflammatory and antibiotic in nature. So a combination of lemon juice and honey has a strong effect on both dry and wet cough.
How To Make
Make a potion by mixing two parts of honey with one part of lemon juice
How To Use
Take one teaspoon of mixture frequently throughout the day. You will get relief from both wet and dry cough.
Black Pepper And Honey
This hot spice has been used for centuries to treat cough, both productive and dry. It has been seen that black pepper has a natural tendency to stimulate mucus flow as well as blood circulation. This helps to reduce congestion and boost up the defense mechanism. Honey is a natural cough reliever due to its anti-inflammatory, soothing as well as antibiotic properties. So a combination of black pepper and honey can fight both kinds of cough effectively.
How To Make
Prepare a cup of tea and add some black pepper to it so that it is just tolerably pungent. Now add one teaspoon of honey to it.
How To Use
Sip the tea so prepared slowly so as to touch the deeper areas of your throat. You will feel relieved with just one cup. Take at least two cups daily.
Garlic
Here is another spice that has been counted for centuries to be amongst the best for treating cough and cold. It is known to be a very good antimicrobial agent. However, what is known less is that it is also a very good expectorant, meaning that it helps you to throw up phlegm and clear the throat.
Scientific studies have inferred that garlic may be able to lessen the symptoms of cough and even prevent cough from precipitating in the first place. So if you are suffering from productive cough then you can chew on two cloves of garlic every day.
How To Use
You can also sauté some peeled cloves of garlic with some butter in a pan. The smell itself will help you to get relief from the spasms of cough. Munch on the cloves and get further relief.
Throat Lozenges
Throat lozenges are available over the counter in pharmacy stores. These are especially useful for suppressing dry cough. These lozenges contain zinc and other ingredients such as cough suppressants, anesthetics, and soothing elements such as honey, menthol, eucalyptus oil etc.
It has been seen in studies that frequent intake of zinc lozenges can cure cough quite easily. If you suck on a throat lozenge every two to three hour you will get a soothing feeling in the throat and the irritation of dry cough will come down.
