Home Blogs Chesty Cough Remedies: Yoga For Cough | Baby | Children | Cures | Bronchitis Remedies
Chesty Cough Remedies: Yoga For Cough | Baby | Children | Cures | Bronchitis Remedies
By
Patricia | May 27, 2009
Whenever you visit a pharmacist or a physician, they would like to know whether your cough is dry or chesty. When you have chesty cough, also known as productive cough, it means that you have phlegm or mucus in your chest. If you have a dry cough, then it means that the upper airways and the throat are irritated and no phlegm is produced. Sometimes, you may have a chesty cough but it may not be productive i.e. you may not be able to cough up phlegm.
Smokers are often known to have a dry cough. However, if a cough has bee brought on because of a viral infection, then it may take two weeks for it to subside. If it isn’t subsiding, then you may have to go in for further tests and an X-ray to diagnose the root cause of the problem.
Some of the other reasons for chronic cough include stress or environmental irritants. Signs and symptoms that will give you a clue about the onset of a viral infection include nausea, vomiting, sore throat, body aches, chills, fever, runny nose, sinus pressure and night sweats.
Chesty cough remedies
There is an array of chest cough remedies to choose from. However, we suggest that on the onset of a viral infection or persistent cough, you must visit a doctor and take medication for a chesty cough. Along with the medicines, you can use home remedies to get relief from the cough.
Home remedies
There are several home cures for chesty cough. You’ll just have to apply grandma’s wisdom and use kitchen ingredients to come up with simple remedies for cold and chest cough. Do remember that any treatment will first try to stop the coughing reflex and then try to thin the mucus, so that it becomes easier to flush it out from the body. This is why, any home remedy or treatment plan for cough will include drinking a lot of warm fluids and vegetable and fruit juice.
Productive cough or chesty cough remedies for adults, infants, children/kids, and toddlers:
- Mix same amounts of lemon grass juice and honey and drink this to reduce cough.
- Make a cough syrup at home with ¼ tsp of cayenne pepper, 2 tbsp water, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tbsp honey and ¼ tsp crushed ginger.
- Boil a glass of water with a spoonful of oregano and two cloves of garlic. Add a dash of honey and drink it up while it’s still warm. You may also like to make another warm drink by mixing homey and lemon in a glass of warm water. This is supposed to nourish the body with essential vitamins and honey is good for cough.
- Brew a cup of herbal tea for yourself with warm water, honey, basil, peppercorn and ginger. Brew for a while and then let the herbs soak in the water. This healing brew can soothe your throat and provide relief from a persistent cough.
- A vaporizer with a few drops of eucalyptus oil in the hot water is also a good idea for soothing chesty cough. Alternatively, get into the bathroom and run a hot shower. Breathe in the steamy air for relief. Also, when you go to bed, try to snuggle up with a hot water bottle wrapped in a towelling material or flannel.
- Drinking about 8-10 glasses of water is also recommended if you have a chesty cough. Water is an expectorant that can loosen up and thin the mucus.
- Some believe that eating spicy foods like horseradish or chilli peppers is also a good way of loosening the mucus. Speaking about food, avoid fried stuff as well as meat and dairy products as these are believed to increase mucus production.
- You can try placing hot packs on your chest for relief.
- Another interesting home remedy that you can try is with wine and orange. Soak a few slices of orange in wine for the night and then cook the pieces till they are soft. When you eat these wine-soaked and cooked orange slices, it is supposed to soothe your throat and help flush out the phlegm.
- Another home remedy can be prepared with liquorice root, dry ginger, sugar crystals and black pepper. Mix all the ingredients and eat it a few times a day.
- Make a paste with ginger, carnation and cinnamon as well as some water. Add some honey to this and eat this paste a few times a day to get relief from cough.
Home remedies for chesty cough, phlegm and dry cough often use herbs and roots, and a dollop of good old grandma’s wisdom.
Aromatherapy
When you inhale steam tinged with herbs and essential oils, it can liquefy the mucus and reduce irritation. Use a steamer or a vaporizer, or a large vessel and cover your head with a large towel, when you bend down and inhale the steam. The healing effects of the essential oils and the warm steam helps the lungs flush out the phlegm.
- Add three drops of cypress essential oil and three of juniper oil as well as a drop of ginger to warm water.
- To a spoonful of carrier oil such as jojoba, almond or olive, add three drops of cedar oil, and use the mixture to massage your chest many times a day. Similarly, add some eucalyptus oil to any carrier oil and use the mixture to rub your chest.
- Eucalyptus oil, which acts as an expectorant and decongestant, can also be used in warm water for inhaling. You may like to add a couple of drops of hyssop oil too to the water.
- Sprinkle a few drops of jasmine oil on your handkerchief and inhale deeply to get relief from your cough and congestion.
Yoga for cough
If you have cough and congestion, you may want to do some exercise everyday and also spend some time working on simple yoga poses. Yoga, combined with Pranayama will help nourish the body with oxygen and trigger the endorphins, which in turn will help you feel better. Instead of becoming a couch potato, when you have a cough and cold, try exercising and doing yoga asanas. We suggest you work with a yoga teacher, if you haven’t done yoga before.
Baby/Infant Chesty Cough Remedies
- If your baby/infant has got chesty cough, we suggest you contact a doctor immediately to find out about the treatment as well as remedies that you can try.
- If you have symptoms of pneumonia or bronchitis, then instead of trying your own remedies for days, consult a doctor immediately.
A chest cough can make one feel miserable. A hacking cough can take away our appetite, prevent us from talking, can even stop us from exerting ourselves. And with a chest cough, we feel more tired and exhausted.
The best thing to do if you have a chest cough is to visit a doctor. If your cough is in its initial stages, then the physician can prescribe medicines to prevent it from aggravating. And if you are already feeling unwell and have a hacking cough, then medicines can prevent it from getting serious and really damaging. However, if you wish, you can use a few simple home remedies to feel better.
Natural Remedies For Chesty Cough
- Brew yourself herb tea with ginger, peppercorn, basil, honey and warm water. Let the herbs steep into the tea before you drink it while it’s still warm. When this brew trickles down your throat, it will sooth your throat and cough, and you will feel better.
- You can make yourself another hot beverage to soothe the chest cough. Squeeze some fresh juice from a couple of lemons and pour it into a saucepan. Add about ¼ cup of honey and bring to boil. Let the mixture cool and then add a shot of rum. Then, either mix this with a cup of tea or let a spoonful of it trickle down your throat. If you’re making this for a child, avoid the rum.
- You might like to use a cough syrup and some cough drops to ease the coughing.
- A vaporizer is a god idea too. Use it with water a pinch of salt to feel better.
- A hot water bottle is another good idea to soothe chest congestion. As old-fashioned as it might sound, a hot water bottle can make you feel cozy and comfortable when you’re feeling ill. Place the bottle between your shoulder blades and rest for half an hour. Children like to snuggle in with a hot water bottle too. You can swathe the bottle with a flannel cloth, so that the heat doesn’t get scathing.
- Extract the juice of ginger and mix it with honey. Take this mixture a few times a day to sooth the cough and congestion.
- Some people believe that a decoction made with henna leaves can be used to gargle for effective results.
- Mix a cup of honey, three spoonfuls of lemon juice and ¼ cup of warm water. Drink a little bit of it every day.