Each of us knows firsthand how much trouble colds cause. This is not only physical discomfort from nasal congestion and, but also the sidelong glances of others. If you do not want to take medications, you can try to get rid of the annoying ailment with the help of medicinal herbs. Chamomile for cough has long been widely used in classical and non-traditional medical practice. It is a part of many medicines, medicinal teas and infusions are prepared from it, and inhalation is done.
Why is chamomile useful?
The medicinal value of camilla is due to its rich chemical composition. Among the healing substances found in the flowers of the plant, the following elements can be distinguished:
- chamazulene, which gives chamomile a specific aroma and has antibacterial and antihistamine activity;
- essential oil that has a calming effect;
- quercetin and its derivatives, which have a decongestant effect;
- ascorbic, caprylic, salicylic and nicotinic acids;
- provitamin A, gum, apigenin.
Due to its composition, chamomile has a pronounced anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic and diaphoretic act.
The plant is widely used in complex therapy respiratory diseases... Infusions and decoctions reduce swelling and irritation of the mucous membrane, promote its regeneration. Chamomile is good for sore throat and dry throat, unproductive cough, inflammation of the mucous membranes of the larynx and nasopharynx.
It is recommended to start treatment only after consulting a doctor and making an accurate diagnosis. A cough can be the result not only of acute respiratory infections or ARVI, but also bronchial asthma, pneumonia, tuberculosis, heart muscle pathology.
Chamomile in classical medicine
Camilla has found wide recognition not only among traditional healers. Often, a medicinal plant is prescribed by doctors as part of a comprehensive treatment for colds.
In the pharmacy network, you can find many chamomile-based cough medicines. Drugs such as Rotokan, Rekutan and Romazulan, have a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect and are used for the external treatment of all kinds of diseases of the ENT organs.
"Rotokan" for gargle contains chamomile
In addition to the liquid form, you can buy herbal tablets from the crushed and compressed plant at the pharmacy. They are convenient to dose and take. In addition, tea bags are on sale. One sachet of dry herb is for a single dose.
Chamomile for home use
The medicinal plant is very popular among adults and children. Teas, infusions and decoctions, rinse and inhalation solutions are prepared from it. To obtain the greatest therapeutic effect, they must be applied only fresh.
At the first symptoms of a viral infection and sore throat, herbal tea will help. For its preparation, 1 tablespoon of dried camilla flowers is poured with a glass of boiling water, insisted and filtered. Drink this drink before meals at least three times a day, 200 ml. It is good to add honey and lemon to slightly cooled tea. This will improve its taste and increase its therapeutic effect.
Since chamomile is a natural and harmless plant that has practically no contraindications, doctors are allowed to give it to young children. In this case, young mothers should pay attention to the following tips:
- Use only medicinal herb. It is collected in ecologically clean areas, in contrast to flowers plucked with our own hands.
- Tea must be carefully filtered before drinking.
- The drink should not be too rich and hot.
- Don't use honey and lemon. These are strong allergens, so they are prohibited for babies.
Chamomile tea is an effective remedy for sore throat
Chamomile for coughing will be useful for pregnant women. Tea will not only eliminate dryness and sore throat, but also accelerate recovery without harming the fetus. When drunk at night, it will provide the patient with a calm and healthy sleep.
Healing infusions and decoctions for rinsing
If ENT diseases are accompanied by pain when swallowing and a dry cough, an infusion of plant flowers will help. It is prepared in the same way as chamomile tea. The resulting broth is recommended to irrigate the throat at least 5 times a day. After the procedure, it is forbidden to go outside, drink and eat for 40 minutes.
With angina, boric acid must be added to the medicinal solution at the tip of a knife
For adult patients, you can prepare an alcoholic tincture for rinsing. For this, chamomile flowers are poured with vodka and insisted in a dark place for a month. The finished product should be filtered and stored tightly sealed in the refrigerator.
For the procedure, 1 teaspoon of the medicine is added to a glass of warm boiled water and the throat is irrigated every 3-4 hours.
Inhalation
The event is based on therapeutic action hot steam containing healing substances. Inhalation effectively clears the airways and relieves inflammatory processes in the pharynx and trachea.
A decoction for the procedure is prepared from half a glass of chamomile flowers and a liter of water. The herb is brought to a boil in a large saucepan, allowed to cool slightly, and covered with a towel, leaning over the crockery. It is recommended to inhale the healing vapors through the mouth and exhale through the nose.
The procedure should not exceed 10-15 minutes. You cannot go outside after it, so the event is best held at night. When high temperature inhalation is prohibited. They only activate the inflammatory process and aggravate the patient's condition.
Chamomile and pregnancy
The period of bearing a child is a very crucial time. The expectant mother should think not only about herself, but also about the child. Therefore, all therapeutic measures, including herbal medicine, should be carried out only after consulting a gynecologist.
Chamomile tea and gargling during pregnancy are allowed. They are absolutely harmless to women and fetuses. Be careful with herbal tablets. In addition to chamomile, they may contain herbs that are not recommended for use by pregnant women. You should carefully read the instructions.
Chamomile is useful for expectant mothers
If the cough is caused viral infection or its complications, inhalations with chamomile infusion are permissible. If you feel unwell, fever, headaches, it is better to cancel the procedure. A steam bath can cause fainting in pregnant women.
Contraindications for use
Despite the fact that chamomile is a harmless plant, there are a number of restrictions on its use:
- Individual intolerance to the components that make up the plant. Severe allergic reactions are possible.
- Toxicosis of pregnant women.
- Mental disorders.
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
An overdose of the drug can cause migraines, rashes, itching, skin redness, vomiting, suppression of the central nervous system. When such symptoms appear, it is better to refuse chamomile therapy.
Chamomile flowers are useful even for babies
The flowers of the plant should be used with caution in the treatment of cough in babies under 2 years of age. Before starting the procedures, you need to consult with your pediatrician and find out how to use camilla correctly.
Chamomile is a harmless and effective cough remedy. The medicinal plant in a short time relieves the symptoms of the disease, has an antiseptic and analgesic effect on the respiratory tract. In order to avoid allergic reactions and side effects, it is best to consult your doctor before taking medicines containing chamomile.
Chamomile, familiar to each of us, belongs to perennial plants of the Asteraceae family, or Compositae. This modest, but very beautiful and fragrant flower has many varieties - Caucasian, yellow, tongueless, Persian, German, white, garden ...
The most famous and common type of plant is medicinal chamomile (or, as it is also called, pharmacy). It is used, as the name implies, for medicinal and cosmetic purposes.
So, chamomile is highly effective and safe remedy to eliminate fermentation processes in the intestines, reduce headaches, dilate blood vessels, get rid of insomnia and increased nervous tension. For women, a decoction of this plant also helps to reduce pain during menstruation.
And due to its characteristic antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties, it is often used for colds to eliminate cough in both children (even infants) and adults.
Let's find out if chamomile really helps to get rid of cough and how it should be prepared and consumed.
Useful properties of chamomile officinalis
The popularity of pharmacy chamomile in folk and traditional medicine is due to its excellent healing properties.
The flowers of this plant contain a lot of valuable substances:
- essential oils;
- tannins;
- carotene;
- glucose;
- glycosides;
- ascorbic, oleic, stearic, salicylic, palmitic acids.
Due to this composition, decoctions and infusions of plant flowers have diaphoretic, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory effects, and therefore these funds are often used in treatment colds, infections of the respiratory tract, accompanied by cough.
Chamomile for a cough can be used in the form of tea, a decoction for gargling and inhalation.
It is important! For the preparation of any medicine, it is necessary to use inflorescences - dry or fresh. You can buy them at any pharmacy, or you can prepare them yourself. However, in order to maximize the benefits of a medicinal plant, you need to know how to properly collect, dry and store it.
It is recommended to collect inflorescences on the third - fifth day of flowering. It is during this period that the plant contains the maximum amount of nutrients and vitamins. Do not collect medicinal herbs near highways, chemical plants and landfills. For this, choose only ecologically clean areas, as far as possible from industrial zones.
Be sure to wash the flowers before drying.
How to make tea?
At the first sign of a cold and a feeling of discomfort in the throat, chamomile tea is very effective.
To prepare a drink, take 1 tbsp. a spoonful of dry inflorescences and pour a glass of boiling water, let it brew and strain. You do not need to boil the tea. A glass of the drink should be drunk 20-30 minutes before meals. Adults are recommended to take this medicine three times a day, one glass, for children under 12 years old - one tablespoon every hour throughout the day.
As a rule, sugar is used to improve the taste of tea. But to also increase the healing effect, you can add a spoonful of honey or a slice of lemon to a slightly cooled drink.
Often young parents are interested in the question: is it possible to give chamomile tea to babies when coughing? Since chamomile is a natural and rather harmless remedy, pediatricians allow even such babies to be given products from it.
True, if you are brewing tea for a baby, take into account several important recommendations:
- use inflorescences purchased at a pharmacy, and not collected with your own hands;
- filter the tea thoroughly through cheesecloth before giving it to the crumbs;
- don't make the drink too rich;
- do not use any additives. Honey and lemon are strong allergens, therefore, are contraindicated for young children.
However, during pregnancy, you should not drink large quantities of chamomile tea, since the use of this drug inside promotes the production of hormones by the ovaries, which can lead to contraction of the uterus and, as a result, provoke premature birth or miscarriage.
We make decoctions and infusions
If a cold is accompanied by sore throat and sore throat, chamomile gargle infusion can come to the rescue.
You can prepare it this way: 2 tbsp. Spoons of dry inflorescences pour 200 ml of hot water and leave for 15-20 minutes under a lid. Then strain the infusion and gargle 4-5 times a day. After rinsing, of course, it is not recommended to eat and drink for half an hour.
With sore throat, rinse the throat with a decoction of chamomile. To do this, fill in 1 tbsp. a spoonful of inflorescences with a glass of water, add a little boric acid (on the tip of a knife) and simmer over low heat for about 6-7 minutes.
You can also use decoctions and infusions of chamomile for rinsing when coughing in children. True, this applies only to children of a conscious age, that is, over 6-7 years old.
Inhalation
The essence of inhalations is the effect of warm steam, saturated with medicinal substances, on the mucous membranes of the throat.
Chamomile-based inhalation is prescribed for coughing to cleanse respiratory tract and elimination of inflammatory processes.
To prepare an infusion for inhalation, grind half a glass of fresh or dry inflorescences, fill them with half a liter of boiling water and let it brew for half an hour. Then add half a liter of boiling water to the infusion, pour it into a large saucepan, bend over it, cover it with a large cotton towel and inhale deeply the emanating fumes through your mouth, and exhale through your nose. After inhaling, you need to try to hold your breath for a few seconds.
The duration of the procedure is usually about 12-14 minutes. The number of sessions can vary from 5 to 10, depending on the state of health.
Inhalations from chamomile for coughs are also allowed during pregnancy. However, expectant mothers should take them with extreme caution. If during the procedure you feel dizzy or nauseous, you should immediately stop breathing steam. Overuse of these procedures can lead to nervous strain.
Contraindications
Despite the fact that this plant is considered one of the most harmless and effective ways to get rid of a cough, it, like everyone else folk remedies, has its own contraindications.
So, you should not use it for people prone to allergic reactions, mental disorders and pregnant women with toxicosis.
Excessive therapeutic dosages can lead to rather unpleasant consequences - headaches, skin rashes, itching, redness of the skin, decreased muscle tone, nausea and vomiting. If such symptoms occur, you should stop using the herbal preparation.
Chamomile should be used carefully to eliminate cough in children (especially babies). Before starting treatment, be sure to consult with an experienced pediatrician - he will individually advise on how to use the product correctly.
With the advent of the child, the first-aid kit of a married couple will certainly grow. Everything that is needed for a baby appears in it: children's antipyretics, a remedy for gaz and colic, and even a gas tube. You can't do without such a simple medicine as chamomile tea.
The healing properties of chamomile
Chamomile is a well-known natural anti-inflammatory agent. Thanks to its essential oil, this flower can fight both viruses and bacteria. On top of that, chamomile has a mild, soothing effect. Reception of chamomile infusion has a beneficial effect on all body systems: respiratory, digestive, nervous, etc.
A useful flower is allowed to be brewed for both adults and children of the first year of life. This is very valuable, because the list of medicines allowed for babies is not at all long.
The subtleties of chamomile tea
The most common way to use chamomile for babies is to make chamomile tea for them. You can give this drink for a cold. It will restore the balance of moisture in the body, will have an antimicrobial effect on the baby's neck.
Chamomile infusion has also proven itself as a cure for tummy problems. After taking the drug, gas formation is significantly reduced, spasms and discomfort disappear. In addition, you can drink chamomile even if your baby refuses to fall asleep. A couple of sips of the drink will help him calm down and make his sleep restful.
You can verify the effectiveness of the infusion by going to any online forum for young mothers.
“I made tea with chamomile and gave it to my daughter. She drank a little and fell asleep, I bathed her already asleep. Now she is sleeping peacefully in her bed, and before that she whimpered and jerked her legs. Colic was ", - writes on one of them the user Tatiana Zvezdina.
In the same place, Natalya Barysheva praises chamomile infusion as a means of relieving the condition of children with angina.
In the classic recipe, to brew chamomile tea for a baby, you need to take a teaspoon of chamomile flowers and pour a glass of boiling water over them. For prophylactic intake, it is enough to insist on the drink for 10 minutes, if treatment is necessary, wait 20 minutes.
Talk to your child's doctor before using the product. He will tell you if your child can take chamomile infusion and tell you how to brew it. Perhaps, in your case, the recipe will have to be changed a little for better effect.
Limit yourself to a couple of teaspoons the first time. This is to check if the baby is allergic to chamomile. If everything is in order, you can start taking a full natural medicine.
Where to get chamomile to treat a child
Before preparing chamomile tea for your child, pay special attention to the quality of the infusion. It is best to purchase products designed specifically for babies for such purposes. She is undergoing enhanced security controls.
It is especially convenient to use bagged chamomile flowers for making tea. In this case, you do not need to worry about the correct dosage. Each filter bag contains exactly as many grams as needed for one application.
You can buy packaged chamomile both at the pharmacy and in most supermarkets. Products of the “Babushkino Lukoshko” brand are especially in demand. It is produced in Russia, has a decent quality, but is relatively inexpensive.
If you decide to collect chamomile yourself, try to do it away from large cities and noisy highways. The flowers plucked there could not absorb the harmful substances circulating in the air of megalopolises, and will only benefit your baby.
Other uses for chamomile
You can also use chamomile as a remedy for the common cold. To do this, put a teaspoon of dried flowers in a saucepan, add 200 ml of water. Bring everything to a boil and let stand for half an hour. Straining the broth, pour it into a miniature enema (also called "pears"), and rinse the child's nose.
Chamomile will disinfect the walls of the nose and prevent the usual baby's nozzles from developing into a serious problem, and will also speed up recovery.
But, using chamomile for a cold, you need to be careful. In order not to harm the baby, rinse the nose only under very low pressure. Do not use this method too often - it can dry out the nasal mucosa excessively.
Many parents have come to love using chamomile for making baths. Bathing in chamomile water helps to cope with skin inflammation, if any, and has a calming effect. Inhaling chamomile vapors, children calm down, are less capricious and fall asleep easier.
To prepare a chamomile bath for babies, take 30 grams of dry chamomile and pour boiling water over it. Let it brew for a couple of hours (in a wrapped kettle or thermos), and then add to the water while bathing.
This plant contains essential oils and other beneficial elements. Therefore, infusions and decoctions made from chamomile have anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effects. Thanks to these properties, chamomile becomes indispensable in the treatment of colds. When a cough appears, dry inflorescences of the plant are used for decoctions. They are also used for inhalation procedures.
Chamomile cough for children
The cough must be treated immediately so that it does not give complications and does not turn into serious diseases. A common recipe for chamomile is the following: one tablespoon of the herb is poured into a thermos with a glass of boiling water and infused for an hour. The ready-made infusion is taken every hour in a warm form, one tablespoon. After a certain time, the cough goes away. If there is no improvement, take a break and then repeat again. The same infusion helps with a cold.
Sometimes situations arise when medications contraindicated. This is especially true for young children. For them, chamomile is considered the best option, which effectively treats cough, relieves sore throat, lowers temperature. Chamomile decoctions and teas, which can warm the throat and clear the pharynx of phlegm with bacteria, are especially helpful.
Teas have a calming effect on mucous membranes, suppress convulsive movements of the respiratory tract during expectoration. Brewed tea must be drunk during the day, as in the future, useful substances evaporate from it. Healing tea for children is prepared from dry inflorescences collected during the first period of flowering.
Chamomile inhalation when coughing
Treatment with steam inhalation consists in exposing the patient to warm or hot steam, saturated with substances with healing properties that can easily evaporate. These procedures are beneficial with the use of various medicinal plants, including cough chamomile.
Inhalation with chamomile softens coughs and clears the airways. Steam baths simultaneously cleanse the skin of the face, relieve inflammation. The healing effect of the procedures is enhanced when other plants are used together with chamomile. The herbal collection is brewed in a saucepan, and then the vapors are inhaled, covered with a towel on top. If it is necessary to exclude the contact of vapors on the face, inhalation is carried out through the funnel or spout of the coffee pot.
The duration of inhalations is 15 minutes. By agreement with the doctor, depending on the state of health, the course of treatment can be prescribed from 5 to 15 sessions. At the end of the procedure, it is advisable not to talk, smoke or be in the cold air for an hour.
When treating cough, diseases of the trachea and bronchi, therapeutic vapors are inhaled through the mouth. Breathing is delayed for a few seconds, and exhalation is done through the nose.
Chamomile inhalation recipe
Dry flowers of the plant must be crushed, in the amount of half a glass and filled with boiling water. The herb is infused for about half an hour, after which the infusion is topped up with boiling water to one liter. Sage and peppermint can be added with chamomile.
Do not overuse chamomile for prophylaxis unless absolutely necessary. Excessive use of this plant often causes dizziness and stress.
It is much more difficult to harm the body using chamomile-based products than pharmaceutical preparations based on artificial chemical compounds.
What is the secret to the effectiveness of chamomile?
The value of this plant in treatment lies in its chemical composition... Among the many useful substances found in it, one can distinguish:
- essential oil with a calming effect;
- chamazulene, which has antibacterial properties and eliminates inflammatory processes;
- salicylic acid provides an antiseptic effect;
- vitamin C and carotene, which the body needs to maintain immunity;
- a gum that relieves irritation caused by other drugs.
And this is far from full list substances thanks to which chamomile gained recognition as a medicinal plant.
Medicines containing chamomile
Chamomile for coughs and other diseases respiratory system best used in the following preparations:
Tea bags are also on sale.
Chamomile treatment at home
Thanks to the large selection of cough remedies with chamomile, you can find among them suitable for both internal and external use. A lot of decoctions, infusions, rinsing solutions, etc. are prepared from the dry inflorescences of the plant.
All of these products should be applied immediately after preparation to ensure the best possible effect.
Chamomile will also be useful for the treatment of puffiness, sore throat, phenomena after bronchitis, inflammation of the respiratory tract, dry cough.
Before treatment with chamomile, you still need to consult with a specialist, because coughs are often caused by more serious diseases: asthma, whooping cough, pneumonia, bronchitis and heart problems.
Treatment for adults
For the treatment of people in adulthood, both solutions of concentrated pharmaceutical preparations and homemade chamomile remedies are used. Aromatherapy also uses the oil of this plant, if desired, you can buy it in the form of concentrates at the pharmacy.
They have a calming effect on the nervous system, promote relaxation and relieve stress.
A widely accepted treatment for cough is the use of chamomile teas and infusions. To enhance therapeutic effect you need to learn how to cook them correctly: pour a large spoonful of dry chamomile inflorescences into a cup, pour boiling water over them, wrap them up and insist for 30-40 minutes, then strain and take warm tea with the addition of honey.
It is advisable to drink it after meals 3 times a day. After drinking a cup of chamomile tea at night, you will ensure yourself a sound and healthy sleep.
Chamomile tea is an excellent temperature-lowering agent. It is very beneficial for the immune system of the body, suffering from respiratory diseases.
The most effective cough treatment is chamomile inhalation. To do this, you need to brew 2 tablespoons of herbs in a liter of water, bringing to a boil. After removing from the heat, you need to breathe in the healing vapors for about 15 minutes. After completing the procedure, you should not leave the apartment for another couple of hours and do not eat or drink water for about an hour.
For gargling, the plant can be brewed in the same way as for tea. Effective remedy for cough are also alcoholic inflorescences. To prepare them, dry flowers need to be poured with 70% alcohol and insisted in a dark place for about 1 month.
The resulting liquid is gargled every 3 hours 4 times a day. It relieves inflammation of the airways that causes dry coughs.
Treatment of cough in children
For children over 2 years old, inhalation of plant vapors will help more effectively than the advertised tablets and syrups. The fact is that they quickly penetrate into all corners of the bronchi, removing phlegm, removing swelling of the mucous membrane and eliminating foci of infection.
Inhalations can also be used for children under 2, but there is a risk of scalding the child with a hot broth due to insufficient supervision.
Therefore, it is better to treat babies with ordinary chamomile tea.
You need to give it to your child three times a day, 1/3 cup, pre-sweetened with honey. It is worth not forgetting that self-medication in infants can be fraught with complications, so it is best to consult a pediatrician before treating ARVI.
Chamomile during pregnancy
Before using chamomile against coughing during gestation, be sure to consult a specialist. Phytotherapy for pregnant women should be prescribed with extreme caution.
The most effective way to get rid of a cough is inhalation. To prepare the broth, you need to pour 2 tablespoons of dry chamomile with a liter of water, bring to a boil and leave for 5 minutes, after which you need to inhale its vapors for 15 minutes. It is important to be careful when inhaling to avoid burns to the skin and respiratory tract.
A contraindication to the use of inhalation during pregnancy is elevated temperature... The fever leads to the fact that chamomile only activates the inflammatory processes in the bronchi.
Chamomile tea during gestation is not prohibited, unlike tablets in the form of tablets. Besides chamomile extracts, they may contain many other substances that can lead to side effects and influence the development of the child's body.
In order to avoid any pathologies, before taking pharmacy preparations containing chamomile, you need to consult a specialist.
Contraindications
Despite the fact that chamomile is in most cases a useful and completely harmless remedy, there are still contraindications to its use.
The main one is the individual sensitivity of the organism to this plant. Although it is hypoallergenic in nature, it still causes side effects in some people.
Excessive dosage can also negatively affect your body. Decreased muscle tone, suppression of the central nervous system, headaches are the consequences of excessive use of chamomile products.
If, during treatment, the child develops itching, redness of the skin, nausea or a rash, you should stop using the drug and contact the pediatrician.