Cough relief. Fast cough treatments. How home cough medicine should work

Coughing is a useful defense mechanism because it helps remove mucus and infectious agents from your breath. Treatment that completely suppresses coughing may do more harm than good. However, it is sometimes necessary to relieve a coughing fit, especially so that you can sleep.

Remember: it is important not to use antitussive drugs around the clock, because coughing helps clear airways!

A cough occurs when a virus, bacteria, pollen, or other substance irritates nerve endings throat and lung. However, a cough can also mean a serious illness. But what do you do to stop coughing when it becomes persistent? Most people find coughing more unpleasant than painful.

In this article, you will find tips and recipes. Most frequent reasons cough can be. Allergies. - Asthma. - Cold or flu. - Pulmonary infections, pneumonia or acute bronchitis. - Sinusitis. - Medicines used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure, or kidney disease. - Gastroesophageal reflux disease. - Lungs' cancer.

What you need to stop coughing

  • Infrared heaters
  • Bottled water
  • Antihistamines
  • Antitussive drugs
  • Cough syrup
  • Expectorants
  • Cough drops

Instructions on how to ease a coughing attack

  1. Determine the cause of your cough. Since coughing is not a disease but a symptom, it is important to find out what exactly is causing your cough to help ease the symptoms.
  2. Stop smoking. Often the cough is caused by irritants in respiratory systemsuch as cigarette smoke.
  3. Identify and remove any chemical irritants that can exacerbate coughing attacks — habitual deodorants and colognes can be quite harmful during a cold or flu.
  4. Use a vaporizer or humidifier. Moist air can help relieve dry coughs and speed up thick mucus.
  5. Drink plenty of fluids, especially clear fluids such as water. This will help relieve dry throat and also loosen mucus.
  6. Drink hot liquids like broth or tea. Honey tea can soothe a sore throat.
  7. Use an antihistamine or an alternative method if your cough is caused by allergies.
  8. Take cough drops, they are sold in almost any supermarket and pharmacy
  9. If you have thick mucus, use a cough medicine that contains guaifenesin. It is an expectorant that loses mucus and relieves coughs and helps mucus out of your airways. Follow the directions on the labels of any drugs carefully!
  10. Reduce coughing activity with an antitussive medication. Antitussives reduce the frequency of coughing. Use them only at night to help you sleep. It is important not to use antitussive drugs around the clock because coughing helps clear the airways. Follow the directions on the labels carefully.

Basic antitussives

Antitussives that act on cough receptors in the airways

  • Prenoxdiazine (Libexin)
  • Levodropropizin (Levopront)
  • Gelitsndin

Antitussives that target the cough center in the brain stem

  • Butamirat (Sinekod)
  • Glaucin (Glauvent)
  • Oxeladine (Tusuprex)
  • Pentoxiverin (Sedotussin)
  • Codeine
  • Codipront (contains codeine)

Combined antitussives

  • Bronholitin (glaucine, ephedrine)
  • Tussin Plus (dextro-metorphan, guaifenazine)
  • Stoptussin
  • Most types of cough are not dangerous and usually just "go their own way." It is important not to use cough syrups around the clock to suppress coughs.
  • See your doctor if your cough lasts more than a week; if you produce mucus that is yellow, green, pink, bloody, or rusty; or if your cough persists and goes away with any of the following symptoms: fever over 39 degrees or higher, chest pain, shortness of breath, shortness of breath, or weight loss.
  • Any smoker whose cough has changed should see a doctor, as an unusual form of cough can be an early sign of lung cancer.

The cough can be acute or chronic. Acute usually begins with a sudden cough of a cold or flu. It usually disappears within a maximum of 3 weeks, and a chronic cough lasts more than 3 weeks. If you have asthma or chronic lung disease, take medications prescribed by your doctor.

Home remedies to stop coughing

Try cough drops or harder caramel. Use a vaporizer: This measure improves air humidity and helps reduce dry throat.

Soups are excellent for thinning mucus secretions

Chicken soup is good for relieving colds, including coughs.

Note of the Moscow Medicine portal to the article "How to relieve a cough": this information is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.

When the mucus in the respiratory tract is thin, it is simply cleared out, the lungs are cleared. This is typical for wet cough... But if the sputum begins to dry out, and pathogenic microorganisms can multiply, it is difficult to cough it up.

You can add a little garlic or ginger to boost your immune system. Another good soup for cough relief is onions. Honey is a traditional cough suppressant. Just mix lemon juice with honey and iron it gradually throughout the day. It can be heated or at room temperature.

Another option is to mix two tablespoons of lemon with honey and add a pinch of hot pepper. Strain and add 8 tablespoons of honey. Cook over low heat for half an hour. Take three tablespoons every four hours. Put 200 ml of cola soda in a saucepan and chop half the onion.

With a dry cough, sputum is almost not released, there is no relief from coughing.

Thus, to cure both dry and wet coughs folk remedies, you need to increase the amount of sputum and prevent it from thickening and accumulation.

First aid measures

The result of cough treatment with folk remedies often depends on how quickly you reacted to the first symptoms and began active actions. Prevention works even better, but if you've already noticed your first symptoms, the first thing to do is:

Relieve cough in children

Boil for three minutes and take before bed. Place 1 teaspoon of oregano in a cup of water. Boil water, remove from heat and add oregano. Sugar with a spoonful of honey. Thanks to proven scientific methods, honey has been proven to be effective in treating coughs and sore throats.

For a more effective result, it is recommended to mix honey with coconut oil and lemon juice. Vapors can be used as an ally to soften the airways while improving nasal congestion. A good way to apply this method is to boil water in a saucepan with a few eucalyptus leaves and breathe in the steam for about 5-10 minutes.

How should a home cough medicine work?

All pharmacological medicines in this group have one or more of the following properties:

  • oppression of the cough center;
  • dilution of phlegm in the respiratory tract;
  • activation of the work of the ciliated epithelium, pushing mucus;
  • anti-inflammatory action;
  • stimulation of bronchial smooth muscle contraction.

The first property in this list is extremely rarely recommended for use, since suppression of the cough reflex can be dangerous with active sputum production. But the thinning and anti-inflammatory action is useful in any case. It is on the preparation of home remedies with such an effect that we will stop.

Another option is to make a home remedy with black pepper tea mixed with honey. Pepper stimulates blood circulation and mucus flow, while honey induces natural coughing. Place a spoonful of fresh pepper and two tablespoons of honey in a cup of boiling water.

How to relieve a cough: traditional remedies

Leave to infuse for 15 minutes. This type of pepper tea is not recommended for those with gastritis. In Germany, thyme is used as a cough remedy, respiratory infections and bronchitis. The small leaves of the plant contain a powerful agent that soothes coughs and relaxes tracheal muscles while reducing inflammation.

Cough Relief

If the disease process has already begun, you need to move on to other measures. We will focus on the most simple and effective methodshaving a minimum side effects and contraindications.

If you choose a dry cough with folk remedies, you cannot do without inhalation, since warm steam almost instantly stimulates the production of mucus, relieves a sore throat, relaxation of the respiratory muscles. But for the treatment of wet coughs, inhalation is the best remedy.

Place two tablespoons of thyme in a cup of boiling water. Leave it on for ten minutes and it will be ready to eat. Adding honey and lemon will enhance the flavor and strength of the tea. Peppermint drops can be a great ally because they numb the back of your throat and make your cough easier.

Cut half a lemon, add a pinch of pepper and salt, and let the baby suck on it. Ginger has been used since antiquity for its medicinal properties. It has antihistamines and decongestant properties. You can make ginger tea by adding 12 slices of fresh ginger to a pot with three glasses of water.

This will reduce the viscosity of mucus, moisturize the airways, and, when added with essential oils, will have an antibacterial effect.

You can inhale by simply heating mineral water or saline... You can also add 2-4 drops of essential oils, enriching the steam with an antiseptic, healing effect. Eucalyptus oil and tea tree oil are good for inhalation.

Let it simmer for 20 minutes and remove from heat. These simple home fix tips can ease or even end this trouble. However, if after 10 days you must see a doctor to find out the cause and do conventional treatmentas it could be an allergy or infection.

We hope you enjoyed this article and that the tips we share here offer you a good result. We are used to thinking of coughing as a symptom caused by an attack by viruses or bacteria. But this is not so: there can be many reasons for coughing, and among the most common is gastroesophageal reflux. This disorder is believed to be one of the main causes of chronic cough after smoking cigarettes. It goes without saying that in this case it is necessary not only to try to reduce the symptom, but also to go to the cause of the problem.

The optimum water temperature is 60 degrees for an adult, and 30-40 for a child.

Hot steam can burn the mucous membranes, be careful. It is best to use an inhaler to prevent steam from getting into your skin and eyes.

2. Plentiful warm drink

As mentioned before, the viscosity of mucus plays an important role in the speed of bronchial clearance. The viscosity of mucus is directly related to the same indicator in the blood, and this, in turn, is determined by the amount of liquid drunk. Among the medicinal drinks, the following are the most popular:

Gastroesophageal reflux is characterized by increased acid levels in the stomach of the esophagus. As an acidic liquid, it tends to irritate the airways, causing, among other things, a kind of chronic cough and sore throat. In the most important cases, these two symptoms are associated with dysphagia, that is, with a limited capacity for swelling or a change in the use of the vocal cords.

Along with using natural remedies, it's important to follow a few simple steps to minimize your risk of reflux. First and foremost, never lie on your bed or sofa at the end of your main course. Care and attention should also be given to a diet that should be poor in fried foods, coffee, chocolate, acid and fatty foods. Chewing should also be slow to facilitate digestion.

  • tea with dried marshmallow root, as well as thyme leaves or violets;
  • infusion of licorice;
  • infusion of elecampane roots;
  • milk with honey and butter;
  • milk with garlic;
  • ginger tea with dried peppermint leaves.

You can combine the listed herbs by adding honey, fresh ginger, black pepper, red pepper, turmeric, as well as other medicinal plants - istode roots, oregano herbs, coltsfoot, pine buds.

Mallow and altea for relief

When substituted or associated with commonly used drugs, natural remedies can be used to protect the lining of the stomach and esophagus. The most common are mallow flowers and altea root. Both plants contain natural mucus that helps relieve inflammation of the mucous membranes. To do this, you can prepare a decoction with a spoonful of altea root, bring it to a boil for ten minutes, then turn off the heat and add the purple flowers. Herbal tea should be drunk several times a day, preferably twenty minutes after the main meal.

Before treating a cough with folk remedies using herbs, make sure that there is no individual intolerance.

For children under 5 years old, any herbs and honey can be given only after consultation with a pediatrician.

3. Ensuring optimal conditions

You need licorice and frankincense to reduce inflammation

In combination with natural mucous substances, which mainly act as a sedative, some anti-inflammatory agents may be added. The most important is, by far, frankincense, which in recent studies has shown its ability to heal faster tissues from stomach acid. Finally, licorice is another remedy that reduces inflammation, promotes scarring, and is considered to be a soothing cough. For this purpose, in addition to preparing the decoction with the roots, you can try chewing on a piece of pure condensed juice after eating.

This paragraph covers actions aimed at maintaining the body's defenses. The immune system will overcome the cold itself, you just need to try not to interfere with this process. Provide cleanliness and humidity, ventilate the room where the patient spends time. You shouldn't force him to eat, the congested intestines prevent the body from fighting the virus.

The product is readily available at the pharmacy. A cough is not a disease, but a symptom. This is due to viruses and colds, which mostly kill the winter, but more subtle ones - in the summer. It is much more difficult for a person to get sick in the summer, but it is also much more dangerous, because the treatment can be more difficult and lengthy. The consultation with a doctor should not be omitted.

Even if we think that this is a harmless state, sometimes complications and further worries arise, because after 4-5 days the improvement is no longer felt. A more delicate situation is that the disease or cough is particularly associated with young children. They have close contact with other children, and this type of communication regularly causes health problems.

Usually, a cough with a cold goes away after 7-14 days. If you still experience symptoms after 2 weeks, see your doctor.

Remember that advanced diseases are more difficult to treat, so there is no time to waste.