When a cough occurs, everyone rushes to the pharmacy to buy the necessary medicines. At the same time, few people think that each drug has its own side effect and often, trying to recover from a common cold, while taking medications, serious problems arise with the cardiovascular system or digestive tract. Is it possible to cure a cough at home using folk remedies? This we will try to find out in the framework of our article.
The nature of cough and its types
When an irritant - a foreign body, mucus, bacteria or dust gets into the respiratory tract, the body tries to get rid of it with the help of a cough. Causes of irritation of the bronchial mucosa can be acute respiratory infections, in such cases, doctors diagnose a patient with diseases such as bronchitis, laryngitis or tracheitis.
There are two types of coughs:
- wet, in which sputum leaves;
- dry, tearing throat and having a paroxysmal character.
A wet cough is considered the most productive, as it helps get rid of sputum. As a result of this, microbes leave the body faster, and a person recovers faster. Dry cough rarely goes away without complications, so it is important to start treatment immediately. Its danger is that the mucous membrane is damaged, but sputum is not excreted, which can cause complications. Thinking about how to treat a cough, first of all, you should turn to traditional medicine, since its recipes will not harm the body with a competent approach to the issue and the absence of contraindications.
Ways to treat dry cough with honey
This type of cough is the most debilitating and can even lead to vomiting. In the treatment of dry cough, two goals must be achieved - to calm the mucous membrane and achieve sputum discharge. This is important because if the cough is reassured by relieving irritation and the sputum does not go away, it can pass into the lungs and cause pneumonia. How to treat dry cough? You can use traditional medicine recipes.
One of the best ways to treat cough is to use radish with honey. The very next day, a dry cough is transformed into a wet one, sputum begins to flow away, and the patient feels a significant relief. Preparing the medicine is very simple. The radish is washed and cut off its top. Having removed all the flesh, they pour honey into the resulting “container”. Leave the radish for six hours. Stands out juice should be poured into a glass container and drink it before meals in the amount of 1 tbsp. tablespoons three times a day.
The ideal treatment for dry cough is to use honey and onions. To prepare the product, grind 0.5 kg of onion, add 50 g of honey, 2-3 tbsp. l sugar and pour the mixture into boiling water. The remedy is infused for about an hour. It is recommended to take it 5 times a day, one tablespoon.
Treating dry cough with milk
How to treat dry cough? To soften it, you can use folk remedies based on milk. They relieve pain and sore throat. One of the most common recipes is warm milk and butter. Heated a glass of milk, add a piece of butter (50 g) to it and drink it before bedtime. You can also add a little honey to the solution, it will enhance its beneficial properties.
To prepare the next product, cocoa butter is used. Its benefit is that it helps restore immunity and fights viruses. Choosing how to treat a runny nose and cough in children, it is best to drink hot milk with 0.5 tsp. cocoa butter. It is harmless and strengthens the body's defenses.
Dry cough is also treated with milk and mineral water (1: 1). Both ingredients are slightly warmed and mixed. The tool warms the bronchi and throat, which contributes to the discharge of sputum.
Ginger with milk is another effective remedy that relieves inflammation and neutralizes the effects of bacteria. In addition to ginger, green tea is added to milk. For 1.5 liters of milk, you need a piece of the root of the plant (3-4 cm) and 2 tbsp. l tea. After the mixture boils, it is insisted for half an hour. You need to take the drug 4 times a day for ½ cup.
Proven effectiveness in treating dry cough has milk and figs. 2-3 washed dried fruits are put in a pan with a previously poured glass of milk. The mixture is brought to a boil and allowed to simmer on the fire for about 20-30 minutes. After cooling down, milk with figs is ready for use. You need to take the drug in a warm form, several times a day for 1-2 tablespoons, depending on the intensity of the cough.
Treating dry cough with herbs
How to treat cough quickly? Only your doctor can tell you this. With his permission, you can combine traditional medications with various traditional medicine. Some types of herbs have expectorant properties, which is why they are recommended to be used to treat cough.
To prepare the plant harvest, take a tablespoon of chamomile, plantain and elecampane. A glass of boiling water is poured over the grass and let it infuse. After this, the product is filtered and once it cools down, it can be consumed, but not more than 4 times a day for ¼ cup.
Herbal collection of coltsfoot and St. John's wort will help relieve spasm during dry cough and soften the throat. The components must be brought to a boil, and then left to infuse. It is necessary to drink the product about 2 times a day, preferably after a meal in the amount of ¼ cup.
A remedy for treating a cough on herbs has a specific unpleasant taste. To make it softer and sweeter, you can add sugar, jam or honey.
Ways to treat wet cough
A wet cough is productive, since the mucus is actively moving away from the bronchi and the body is freed from germs. To make the treatment go faster, it is important to drink more. How to treat a wet cough? Effective herbal preparations that stimulate the passage of sputum through the respiratory tract. You can prepare decoctions and infusions from such herbal plants as:
- medicinal marshmallow;
- liquorice root;
- Thermopsis
- sage;
- oregano.
Preparing a decoction is quite simple - 1 tbsp. l herbal collection pour a glass of boiling water and cook in a water bath for half an hour, and then filtered. If you need to prepare an infusion, fill the grass with boiling water and insist in a thermos. For greater effectiveness, infusions and decoctions are taken in a warm form, 4 times a day. The last reception of a folk remedy should take place no later than an hour before bedtime. Typically, the volume of drunk infusion or broth is a glass per day, divided into 3-4 doses. Sage is more effective if taken with milk. After the infusion is ready (for 0.5 l of water 10 g of sage greens), it must be mixed with a glass of warm milk.
A wet cough can also be treated with a mixture of birch buds, linden blossom and flax seeds. A liter of boiling water is poured ½ tbsp. birch buds and art. lime color. After the broth boils, it is languished on the fire for 10 minutes, and after that it is insisted and filtered. Before use, add a little honey and aloe juice to the broth. A decoction of flax seeds is also prepared very simply - 250 ml of water is poured into a tablespoon of seeds and boiled for 10 minutes. After filtering, the broth is infused. The resulting amount is stirred with honey and drunk on the same day.
Treating cough with ointment and compresses
How to treat a cough at home? For adults, special ointments and compresses are more effective. Propolis ointment is made from pure propolis (10 g) and olive oil (2 tbsp. L). In order for propolis to completely dissolve, it is necessary to put the mixture in a water bath. After the ointment becomes homogeneous, it will need to be filtered. For hardening, the product is placed in the refrigerator. The ointment is good because it helps not only to warm the bronchi, but also to cure a runny nose, and greatly facilitate breathing.
How to treat cough in adults? Effective potato compress and honey. If you do them regularly for several days, the disease goes away in 3-5 days. Honey is placed on the chest, avoiding the area where the heart is located. On top you need to put a napkin dipped in vodka. The compress is covered with a plastic bag and a scarf or towel. He should be on his chest all night.
When making a compress from potatoes, it is also necessary to use vodka. Boil the vegetables and knead in a saucepan (not until mashed!), Then add one tablespoon of vegetable oil, turpentine and vodka. The resulting mixture is placed in cheesecloth and put on the chest for the whole night, wrapping the patient in a warm blanket.
If an adult has a strong cough, how to treat? Fat-based warming agents are often used. Badger, bear, mutton and goat fat are preheated before use. Then they rub it on the chest and back, put a film on top so as not to stain the clothes and provide better warming of the bronchi and lungs. After the patient is well wrapped. Remove the remaining fat in the morning. All types of animal fat can be used inside. So, from the age of 12, you can add one teaspoon of heated fat to tea or milk. Drink the drink immediately, it is advisable to take the drug at night to provide the patient a sound sleep.
Treatment of cough in children
Since children are more susceptible to the side effects of many drugs, not all methods of treating cough, even being folk, can be used for them. Inhalation with alkaline mineral water should be distinguished. It moisturizes the nasal mucosa and helps cough up phlegm. Inhalations are carried out using a special nebulizer three times a day in an amount of 3 ml at a time. With bronchitis and severe coughing, such a procedure will not help, it is effective for acute respiratory viral infections and acute respiratory infections, without complications.
Compresses with onions and honey are effective and safe. Penetrating inward, the product warms the bronchi and helps sputum discharge. The essential oils contained in the onion pierce the nose and help breathe freely. Compress from honey and vodka, like any other on alcohol, is strictly prohibited, especially if the child has a temperature. Also, you can not do steam inhalation at a child’s temperature.
Cough in children is also treated with a cabbage leaf with honey, which is applied for an hour. After the compress, wipe the honey with a damp towel and give the child a glass of herbal tea.
If a child (2 years) has a cough, how to treat? Milk with a banana is very effective. This is a sweet treat that will not only improve the condition of the baby, but will also appeal to him. The banana is ground in a blender to a pulp state and mixed with warm milk. Such a delicious cocktail should be taken at night. In a banana with milk, you can also add cocoa, which is known for its anti-inflammatory properties.
When treating cough with herbs, you should also be careful, most of them are applicable only from three years, as they can cause allergies. The use of alcoholic tinctures for children when coughing is prohibited, it is better to give an advantage to decoctions and infusions.
During the treatment of coughing, it is necessary to ensure regular wet cleaning and try to often ventilate the room in which the child spends more time.
How to treat a barking cough
A barking cough differs from normal in that it is accompanied by wheezing and wheezing. Often, at this stage of the disease, the voice disappears, and due to swelling of the mucosa, breathing may be difficult.
Barking cough without fever than to treat? There are several effective methods in folk medicine. They relieve spasm and steam inhalations — soda, herbal, with mineral water — help cough up. Among the variety of herbs, chamomile and sage are best. They are poured with boiling water, boiled for a couple of minutes, after which they add a couple of drops of vegetable oil and breathe, covered with a towel. Mineral water can be breathed with an inhaler.
To sputum well departed, it is imperative to ensure that the humidity in the room is at least 60%. This is quite simple to achieve if you buy a humidifier or more often wash the floor and ventilate the room.
In order to soothe a barking cough, you can prepare a soda drink. To do this, add ¼ Art. To a glass of hot milk. l soda. You need to drink the solution in small sips. Radish with sugar has also proved its effectiveness. As in the case of honey, the top of the vegetable is removed, and the pulp is cut out. Inside the radish, add a couple of tablespoons of granulated sugar and leave for a day to let the juice flow. This syrup can be taken several times a day. Useful for barking cough decoctions of lingonberries and rose hips.
A warm heating pad, placed on the chest at night, will also warm the bronchi and help cough up mucus, soothing a barking cough.
Cough with and without fever - what is the difference in treatment
Coughing with fever is a bad sign, because inflammation begins in the bronchi or lungs, and therefore urgent measures must be taken. How to treat a cough without fever? You can use almost all the treatment methods described in the article. If the cough is frequent and lasts several days, you should approach the treatment comprehensively and be sure to consult a doctor.
Among the folk methods of treating cough without fever, they also distinguish:
- Rubbing with honey and badger fat.
- Inhalations with lavender and cedar oil.
- Hot milk with honey, butter and black pepper or hot milk with mineral water.
- Onion broth. In order to cook it, chopped onion is poured with milk, boiled for 10 minutes. Five hours later, you need to drink a glass of broth. Take twice a day.
As for coughing with fever, some treatments are not allowed. Among them:
- Hot inhalations and baths, since they increase the body temperature even more and can worsen the condition of the patient. The air that a person breathes with temperature should be cool, so cold inhalations with a nebulizer should be used.
- Compresses with herbal remedies and animal fat (goat, badger), because during the heat the chest should breathe.
- Rubbing with alcohol, vodka or vinegar. Under the influence of high temperature, they enter the bloodstream and cause poisoning. Especially dangerous for young children.
Inhalation for the treatment of cough
If the cough persists, how can I treat it? In addition to a variety of medicines, folk remedies can be used with the same effectiveness and with fewer side effects. Both children and adults can be inhaled with soda (25 grams of soda per 1 liter of water). Add a little soda to the liquid and boil. You need to breathe deeply for 10 minutes. Inhalations with hot potatoes and salt help well. Such species are indicated for allergy sufferers who should not use herbs for treatment.
It is important to remember that inhalations will be effective only if they are done a few hours after a meal or an hour before it.
For inhalation, you can use decoctions of chamomile, oregano, coltsfoot and sage. Such procedures are effective with essential oils of eucalyptus, needles and pine. The benefits of these methods of treatment are that all of the listed herbs and essential oils have anti-inflammatory, disinfecting and antimicrobial properties. Herbs can be mixed, or inhalation can be done with one of the species.
The common cold and severe cough are treated with propolis inhalation. To prepare them, you need to add 2 tablespoons of crushed bee product to a liter of water, boil for 5 minutes, and then breathe the resulting solution for 10 minutes.
Now you know how to treat cough in adults and children at home. Just remember that self-medication can only aggravate your condition. Be sure to get expert advice. Be healthy!