Quick treatment of dry cough with folk remedies

Many painful conditions begin with such a symptom as a dry cough. Therefore, when starting treatment, most people first try to get rid of the cough - that is, the most annoying symptom. In addition to pharmacy medications, there are also folk remedies for dry cough - in their effect, they are not inferior, and sometimes even superior to conventional pharmaceutical drugs.

How to cure a dry cough with folk remedies quickly?

Before resorting to folk remedies, it is necessary to determine the root cause of the dry cough. Episodes of dry cough will never occur on their own: usually, this is an internal signal from the body that something is wrong.

In no situation should you try to suppress a dry cough. If you want to deal with the problem faster, your task is to eliminate the cause of the cough, facilitate the secretion and removal of sputum - that is, "transfer" the cough from a dry state to a wet, or productive cough.

To complete the first point of the task, namely, to determine the root cause of a dry cough, you need to know what causes we are talking about. So, a dry cough can appear:

• for diseases of the respiratory system (bronchitis, tracheitis, laryngitis, pneumonia, asthma, whooping cough);
• when taking certain medications (for example, a side effect of some antihypertensive drugs);
• in smokers, including passive smokers (when the respiratory organs are irritated by tobacco smoke);
• if you are allergic to fragrances, dust or pollen, food or medications;
• under severe stress, strong emotions (as a feature of a person’s nervous system);
• in case of dehydration of the body (for example, with prolonged fever, with strict “dry” diets, etc.).

Only after the cause has been determined can you begin to select folk remedies for dry cough.

Among other things, regardless of the underlying cause of the cough, it is necessary to ensure the following conditions, under which the dry cough will subside faster.

1. It is necessary to ensure that the air in the room is always fresh and humid. To do this, you should often open the windows for ventilation, and also humidify the air (for example, with a special humidifier) so that the humidity levels are from 50 to 70%.
2. It is necessary to drink more liquids - for example, warm infusion or just water with lemon. This method will help not only to eliminate dehydration, but also to prevent thickening of phlegm in the lumen of the bronchi.
3. It is advisable to stay in bed when you have a dry cough - if it is cold outside, then breathing in cool air will only worsen the situation with a dry cough, and all folk remedies will go down the drain.
4. Massage is useful for improving the removal of phlegm during a dry cough: you can ask your loved ones to conduct a couple of sessions of percussion massage of the chest. This will significantly speed up recovery.

If the causative factor of a dry cough is an allergy or medication, then you need to stop contact with potentially allergenic substances or stop taking the medications that caused the cough. If this step is ignored, then further treatment will be inappropriate.

Read also: Inhalations for dry cough for children and adults: can they be done, what kind, recipes

Folk remedies for dry cough in adults

Folk healers offer many different remedies for dry cough, which are suitable for both children and even the elderly. However, there are a number of recipes that are suitable only for adults. For example, such recipes include alcohol-based remedies, or those based on ginger root or radish.

• Take 200 g of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of powdered ginger root. Pour a small amount of water over the mixture (so that the powder does not burn) and place on low heat. Boil the mixture until it becomes a thick caramel, which is consumed ½ teaspoon three times a day between meals.
• Take black radish, peel it and cut it into thin slices, which are then sprinkled with powdered sugar or filled with honey. Leave the mixture overnight so that the root vegetable "releases juice". Drink this juice 1 tbsp every 1-1.5 hours. To use this remedy for a similar cure for dry cough in children, use regular radish instead of black radish. The dose for children is 1 tbsp three times a day.
• Peel the radish, cut into small cubes, pour in liquid honey and the same amount of cognac. Leave for at least two hours. Then drain the juice and drink 1 tbsp up to seven times a day, after meals.

Black radish, honey and ginger root are considered the most popular folk remedies for colds, inflammation in the bronchial tree and dry cough. And if you combine the listed products together, you can get a quick and lasting therapeutic effect.

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Folk remedies for dry cough in children

It is unlikely that you will be able to cure a dry cough in a baby in one day. However, using folk remedies will definitely help speed up recovery - especially if folk remedies are taken along with medication prescribed by a pediatrician.

• To speed up the secretion and removal of phlegm in case of dry cough, use Borjomi water (or other alkaline water) and homemade milk. Take two parts of warm milk and one part of water, as well as half a teaspoon of butter. Give the resulting remedy to the child, 2 tbsp. every hour. Mineral water can be replaced with the following solution: mix 200 ml of milk, ¼ tsp. of baking soda and 1 tsp. of honey. The child should drink this solution 1/3 cup up to 8 times a day.
• It is useful to give the baby a compote of cherries, grapes and currants with honey for a dry cough. If possible, the compote can be replaced with fresh berry juice. Give the baby 1 tbsp of juice diluted in 100 ml of warm water, at least once every two hours.
• In order to facilitate the transformation of a dry cough into a wet one, it is recommended to use lingonberry juice together with honey. The resulting mixture can be consumed by the child 1 tbsp. 5 times a day. It is also recommended to drink strawberry tea during the day.

Many children like this recipe: boil 200 ml of milk and add three pieces of dried figs or dates. Boil on low heat for fifteen minutes, then remove from heat and give to the child warm 2-3 times a day, 100-200 ml after meals and at night, and also for occasional dry cough.

Effective folk remedies for dry cough

Popular folk remedies for dry cough often consist of a mixture of medicinal herbs: these can be teas and decoctions, or complex herbal mixtures. If dry cough bothers you seriously, you can try to treat yourself with the following recipes.

• Take 2-3 tablespoons of plants such as knotweed, elderberry and coltsfoot. Brew the dried herbs in 500 ml of boiling water and leave for 20-40 minutes. Drink the resulting remedy for dry cough, 50-100 ml four times a day before meals.
• Brew 1 tbsp. of ground licorice rhizome in 250 ml of boiling water, leave for at least 2 hours. Filter the infusion and drink warm, 50 ml up to 5 times a day, before meals.
• Brew 2 tablespoons of wild pansy in a half-liter thermos and leave overnight. Strain the medicine in the morning and use for dry cough 4-5 times a day between meals, 100 ml each.
• Prepare a collection from balanced parts of such plants as calamus, marshmallow, licorice, mullein, coltsfoot, thermopsis and anise seeds. Infuse 1 tbsp of the collection in 500 ml of boiling water, then use 100 ml every 2-4 hours.

An excellent antitussive and expectorant effect is obtained after drinking plantain infusion - such an infusion can be used by children with a dry cough. It is not without reason that plantain syrup is recommended for the treatment of dry cough in children: this plant has a strong expectorant and enveloping effect on the respiratory organs.

Read also: Syrups for dry cough: instructions for use

Folk remedies for severe dry cough

For severe dry coughs, traditional healers recommend using compresses with a warming effect. Thermal procedures are most useful if the cough is "deep" and tearful.

Heat for a dry cough is applied to the front surface of the chest or to the back, without touching the area of the heart projection. It is no less useful to warm the legs, namely the feet.

It is recommended to keep the compress for at least 2 hours, or until it cools down. After removing the compress, the skin should be wiped with a warm towel and the patient should be well wrapped.

We offer the following thermal folk remedies for dry cough:

• Heat equal parts of vegetable oil, honey and alcohol using a water bath. Soak a cloth napkin in the resulting mixture and apply under the compress.
• Boil the potatoes in their skins and mash them with a masher. Place a piece of cloth on the chest, and lay the boiled potatoes on top. Cover with another cloth and cellophane, and cover with a towel or a warm shawl.
• Mix liquid honey, mustard powder and a shot of cognac. Soak a cloth in the mixture and apply to the chest.
• Pour mustard powder into cotton socks, put them on, and then wear knitted woolen socks on top of them – sleep like this until the morning. The next morning, rinse your feet with warm water.

Folk remedies for dry cough without fever

As we have already said above, a dry cough is not always a sign of a cold or respiratory disease. Often the cause is an allergic reaction - for example, to dust or household chemicals. Such a dry cough is usually not accompanied by a fever or other symptoms that usually accompany acute respiratory infections or bronchitis.

If the dry cough is persistent, painful, and there is either no phlegm at all, or it is viscous and practically cannot be coughed up, then the following folk remedies can come to the rescue:

• Chop 1 medium onion, boil in 200 ml of milk, cool and drink twice (for example, in the morning and at night).
• Five onions are chopped, poured with 4 glasses of water, brought to a boil. Cooled to a warm state, add 5 tbsp. of linden honey. Take the potion 1 tbsp. up to 4 times a day.
• Drink warm fresh celery juice daily, 1-2 tablespoons several times a day.
• Prepare an equal mixture of dessert red wine (it is good to use Cahors), liquid honey and juice from the lower leaves of aloe. Keep the mixture in a cool place. Use 1 tbsp. 5-6 times a day.

In addition, during attacks of dry cough it is recommended to drink more - it does not matter whether it is ordinary warm water, or herbal tea, or fruit drink. Saturation of the body with moisture will have a lasting effect: it will allow phlegm to be produced faster and excreted more easily.

Healers, recommending certain folk remedies for dry cough, urge not to forget about strengthening the immune system in general. The disease will recede faster if the patient's diet includes carrots, beets, garden greens, citrus fruits - they need to be consumed every day to saturate the body with essential vitamins.