Homemade Remedies for Coughs

Coughing is uncomfortable, irritating and at worst extremely painful. Most coughs are caused by an infection of the upper respiratory tract which causes irritation and swelling and sometimes mucus which you cough up as phlegm. Most people have been unfortunate enough to experience the two kinds of cough; the wet mucus cough which should be encouraged as it helps clear the airways and the dry, painful cough which can be caused by irritants such as dust as well as an infection.

Photograph from Wikipedia: The respiratory tract

Wet coughs will tend to clear up without treatment. It is a good idea to try and get some fresh air once your cough becomes wet. A short walk will help dislodge mucus by making you cough more and getting more air into your lungs than sitting at home in a stuffy room.

Homemade remedies are there to combat the swelling and pain of dry coughs. Many of these treatments use everyday ingredients and cost much less than syrups bought at the chemist.

Spices, fruits and herbs

You can make up your own homemade syrups with natural ingredients:

• Mix 2 tablespoons of lemon juice with 1 tablespoon of honey, adding a pinch of cayenne pepper. The vitamin C in the lemon juice will not only help fight the infection, but will boost your body’s immune system. It also tastes refreshing when your mouth is far from clean. Honey soothes the throat and has been used as a medicine for coughs and colds for centuries. Cayenne pepper helps to boost circulation in the area, speeding up the healing process.
• Try mixing a little blackcurrant cordial (the higher proportion of juice, the higher the vitamin C content) with a small amount of port – this is ideal for bedtime as the alcohol will help you sleep.
• Mix 5 or 6 cloves with a small cup of honey and leave to refrigerate overnight. Remove the cloves and take a teaspoon of honey when needed. You could easily make a small batch in a container to take out and about with you. Cloves dull the pain, while honey helps to soothe the inflammation.
• Rosehip syrup, like cordial, helps to coat the throat and has a very high vitamin C content which will boost the immune system

Photograph from Wikipedia: Rosehips

• My favourite remedy is one from my childhood. In a pan warm about two cupfuls of red wine (a sweet, fruity wine, such as a Grenache is perfect), add 3 cloves for each cupful (6 in this example) and honey to taste. Stir the ingredients until steam starts to appear from the pan. You do not want the wine to boil. Strain out the cloves and drink before bedtime. The effect should be a wonderful sweetish warm drink which will help you sleep much better and help ease any pain.

Do not use paracetamol or any other pain killer when using this remedy.

• Camomile has a long tradition in folklore as cold medicine. It aids sleep when drunk as a tea and can help a cough with catarrh if inhaled with hot water. Try drinking as a tea with honey and lemon. Loose camomile flowers are better than teabags which don’t usually contain the entire flower. You can buy loose camomile tea from any health food shop.

Photograph from Wikipedia: Dried Camomile flowers

• And good warming version of a tea for coughs with spice originated in India. Add half a teaspoon of powdered ginger and a pinch of clove and cinnamon powder to a cup of boiling water, stir and drink. The spices will not only act as an anti-inflammatory agent, but will sooth the soreness of your throat and feel warming inside.

There may be many more home-made cough remedies, but some of these remedies have worked for centuries, having been handed down from generation to generation.