Folk remedies for wet and dry coughs

Having studied the annotations to many remedies for wet and dry cough, you can see that the lion's share of these drugs is developed on the basis of natural components (herbal extracts, plant extracts and their derivatives). It is not surprising that folk medicine does not stand aside from the problem of coughing in infectious-inflammatory and cold diseases of the respiratory system. After all, if the positive effect of herbs on bronchial secretion and expectoration of sputum is recognized even by doctors, then who can prevent the use of these herbs, which cost an order of magnitude lower than the drugs developed on their basis, for the treatment of wet cough at home.

In addition, if you consider that some foods (honey, ginger, turmeric, garlic, propolis) and plants are able to fight even pathogenic microbes, helping to reduce the dosage of antibiotics, and sometimes abandon them altogether, then folk treatment is effective even in the case of bacterial infections.

However, this does not mean that you should refuse to visit a specialist. In fact, often self-treatment becomes the cause of dangerous complications, especially if carried out without prior diagnosis. And try to cure pneumonia with only herbs and potions, without earning pleurisy, pulmonary edema or abscess, inflammation of the heart membranes, cardiopulmonary failure, and even more dangerous complications (inflammation of the brain and its membranes, sepsis, etc.).

So, ignore folk recipes for wet cough is not worth it, because with their rational use as part of a comprehensive treatment of colds, bronchitis, pneumonia, whooping cough, tuberculosis and other infectious and inflammatory pathologies of the bronchopulmonary system makes therapy more effective, brings recovery closer and reduces the risk of all sorts of dangerous complications.

Here are examples of some recipes that help to make unproductive cough more productive, reduce the number of excruciating acts of coughing and ease their course, not completely eliminating attacks, but only reducing their intensity, so that sputum does not stagnate in the respiratory tract, as in the case of unjustified use of cough suppressants, for example, drugs with codeine.

Some foods and seasonings that are constantly circulating in the expanse of our kitchen, it turns out, can help treat colds, including those caused by infection.

Let's start with one of the most popular products - milk. Surprisingly, but not everyone knows that it is a universal remedy for coughs, if used in warm form. A warm drink not only soothes the throat and calms the painful symptom of inflammation, but also helps liquefy phlegm, which facilitates its excretion, making coughing attacks less painful, and cleaning the respiratory tract more effective.

To treat wet cough, milk is good to combine with other products: honey (known natural antibiotic), soda (antiseptic with softening effect), butter (softening and enveloping component), onions (another antimicrobial agent of natural origin). For a glass of warm (not hot!) drink you need to take butter or/and honey 1 tsp. Each, soda 1/3 tsp.

Onions in milk should be boiled until it softens, after which the drink is cooled and strained. To improve the taste and antibacterial effect to warm onion milk you can add a spoonful of honey if you are not allergic to bee products.

Milk with soda can be drunk twice a day, but such a remedy is hardly worth offering to small children. But sweet honey milk, as well as a version of the combination of milk, honey and butter (earlier in this composition was recommended to add the yolk of a raw egg, and the medicine was called "eggnog", but nowadays many people are afraid to use raw eggs because of the risk of getting a very dangerous disease - salmonellosis) are quite suitable medicines for babies. It is recommended to take them up to 4 times a day. In case of allergy to honey, it can be replaced with sugar or fruit syrup.

Onion milk has a specific smell and taste that honey or other sweeteners cannot mask. Nevertheless, some parents manage to treat colds in small children with it.

Grated fresh ginger can also be added to the milk (dry powder has less effect). The composition is boiled and left to infuse for half an hour. The drink is drunk warm in small portions throughout the day. It is especially useful if the disease raises the temperature. The drink acts as an antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, warming agent and antispasmodic for inflamed bronchi.

As a remedy for a wet cough, you can use a remedy made of grated ginger root (30 g), honey (50 g) and one lemon with peel. Ginger and lemon should be crushed and add honey to the composition, mixing everything well. Such a salad can be eaten pure 1 tbsp. Per meal or make a healing drink from it, adding a spoonful of "medicine" to a glass of warm water.

It should be taken into account that ginger stimulates not only the excretion of phlegm, but also gastric secretion, which can cause exacerbations of gastritis associated with increased acidity of gastric juice, as well as gastric and duodenal ulcers.

Banana is an African treat that contains large amounts of calcium, phosphorus, vitamin C and other nutrients. With these, the banana already helps keep us healthy. But one day someone noticed that this overseas fruit can bring some relief from coughs.

It is clear that treating cough with banana alone is more of a myth. Thanks to its mucous structure, it can have an enveloping effect on the bronchi, thereby slightly reducing their sensitivity to irritants and thus soothing the cough. But with a wet cough, it is often not necessary to fight the symptom itself, it is enough to alleviate it. An identical action has and decoction of flax seeds - a useful food for both sick and healthy people.

Vitamin C in the banana helps regulate body temperature, ie, to fight fever, and also helps strengthen the immune system. Usually these useful properties of banana for colds and coughs end. But if the banana with a wet cough to use grated as part of warm smoothies with milk, milk and cocoa, milk and honey, as well as in the form of mashed potatoes with the addition of honey - it is quite another matter.

That said, it's important to remember that a sweet, calorie-laden medicine is not a suitable option for diabetic and overweight patients.

Black radish is a root vegetable, which for the treatment of coughs is recommended even by doctors themselves. Most often when coughing use syrup, made from radish juice and honey or sugar (in case of intolerance to honey). It is not difficult to prepare it: you need to grate the peeled root vegetable and mix it with sweetener. The released juice (syrup) should be given to children 1 tsp., adults - 1 tbsp. Before each meal for 2-3 days.

Improve the expectoration of phlegm from the respiratory tract and inhalation. Shredded radish is placed in a jar and tightly corked for several hours, after which it is recommended to breathe over the open jar (you need to close your eyes).

Radish juice, mixed with vodka and salt, is recommended to do chest rubs in children and adults. Irritating the respiratory tract, this composition stimulates more active excretion of mucus from the bronchi.

Radish can also be added to vitamin salads, which are much more useful than other dishes when sick. But it should be remembered that this root vegetable irritates the mucosa of the GI tract, so it is not recommended for patients with gastritis and peptic ulcer. In pregnancy, dishes from radish can cause increased uterine tone.

To treat any cough, especially productive with problematic sputum secretion, help steam inhalations with soda, salt, potato decoction, decoctions of herbs, essential oils, etc. However, it is not recommended to treat young children in this way, because the procedure can provoke bronchospasm, and if carelessly carried out and burn the face.

But warm foot baths, compresses (for example, a compress of mashed boiled potatoes) and rubs on the chest and back (products based on pork or goose fat, camphor oil, vodka, honey) in the absence of fever are quite acceptable methods of treatment for patients of different ages. Such procedures have a warming effect, relieve inflammation, activate blood circulation, relax the bronchi, make bronchial secretion less viscous, helping to expel sputum.

In the people there are many recipes for the treatment of various types of cough, passed from generation to generation. We have listed only the most accessible, and therefore quite common, proven folk remedies for wet cough, which help to make treatment more pleasant and at the same time quite effective, even with infectious pathologies. True, doctors recommend considering folk treatment as one of the components of complex therapy, that is, traditional treatment.

Treatment of wet cough with herbs

Herbal medicine is one of the important components of folk treatment of many diseases, including respiratory tract infections. It is not without reason that many pharmacy preparations recommended by traditional medicine are based on herbal extracts or use derivatives of useful substances contained in medicinal plants as raw materials.

Treatment with herbs does not contradict the principles of classical therapy of colds, allergies, infectious diseases of the respiratory system, so it fits perfectly into the whole system of complex therapy, strengthening and complementing the effect of prescribed medications. But this is possible with the right approach to the choice of herbs. After all, each plant has its own healing properties: some make coughing more productive, others on the contrary weaken this symptom, preserving the strength of the sick body. It is clear that simultaneous use of both groups of herbs in the feed is wrong.

When making a choice in the direction of herbal medicine, it is necessary to be oriented in the peculiarities of medicinal plants and understand that at different stages of the disease may require the action of different plants. Thus at the beginning of the disease it is important to stimulate the cough in such a way as to increase the secretion of sputum and effective cleansing of the bronchi, and at the stage of recovery it is better to remove a distressing symptom, the need for which becomes a controversial issue.

It is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of the cough. In wet cough with excessive secretion of liquid sputum there is no need to further stimulate the production of secretion by bronchial glands, on the contrary, in some cases, such treatment may lead to bronchial obstruction. In viscous sputum, however, it makes sense to increase the production of mucous bronchial secretion and drink more fluids, which will facilitate the expulsion of sputum.

When listing pharmacy preparations used for wet cough, we mentioned that some of them contain herbs. These plants do not necessarily need to be used as part of tablets or syrups, they can be brewed independently in the presence of high-quality environmentally friendly raw materials. By the way, such raw materials can be purchased in the same pharmacies, but at a lower price than the above-described drugs.

Anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effect help to provide chamomile, calendula, sage, yarrow, St. John's wort, celandine, mother and stepmother, linden flower.

These herbs in folk medicine are even used to treat severe diseases such as bronchial asthma, tuberculosis, pleurisy, pneumonia.

Valerian, peppermint, melissa, sage, motherwort have a sedative effect. Reducing the excitability of the nervous system, they thereby slightly reduce the intensity of the cough reflex, help to ensure a good night's rest, normalize the psycho-emotional state of patients. [1], [2]

Echinacea, Eleutherococcus, Rhodiola rosea, ginseng - natural immunostimulants that support the body's strength to fight disease.

They do not help to treat cough, which is just one of the symptoms of the disease, but support the body and in particular the immune system in its hard work. This speeds up recovery and reduces the likelihood of complications and chronicity of the process.

All these herbs are important in the treatment of colds, bronchitis, tracheitis, pneumonia and other diseases, one of the characteristic manifestations of which is considered a wet cough. But to treat and alleviate specifically this symptom, it is necessary to use herbs with expectorant and mucolytic action, because they provide effective cleaning of the bronchi from dust, foreign bodies, including microbes and toxic products of their vital activity. And without such cleaning, treatment of the disease with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs will not be effective enough, because none of the drugs does not give a 100% guarantee of death of pathogens.

What herbs can help with wet cough, or rather make it more productive, but less painful and dangerous in terms of possible bronchospasm? To such plants can include mentioned in the descriptions of cough preparations primrose, ivy, althea and licorice root, basil, thyme, holly, oregano, elecampane, violet, plantain. But it is important to remember that oregano, althea and plantain, although they have an expectorant effect, can slightly reduce the frequency of attacks.

The most popular in the treatment of both dry non-productive cough at the beginning of the disease, and wet low-productive cough are: althea root, licorice, ivy, plantain.

Altai root facilitates cleansing of the respiratory tract, thinning phlegm and stimulating the motility of the airways, and helps to successfully fight inflammation, including microbial origin (thanks to natural antibiotics - bioflavonoids). Its properties were used in their practice even by ancient Greek healers.

On the basis of dried plant material or pharmacy extract can be prepared effective home cough medicine. For example, syrup for the treatment of children and adults can be prepared by mixing pharmacy extract of althea root and sugar syrup.

In the treatment of adults can be used and alcoholic tincture of the root (20 g of dry raw material for ½ liter of vodka insist in a dark place for 2 weeks). The single dose for ingestion - 10-15 drops in 50 ml of water. Frequency of intake - 3 times a day.

Aqueous infusion of the root is prepared by pouring 20 g of plant material with 1.5 cups of water (temperature of about 80 degrees Celsius) and insisting for 6-8 hours. Adding honey to the warm infusion enhances the therapeutic effect. Take the medicine often with an interval of 2-3 hours. The single dose - 1 tbsp.

Althea root is used to treat dry and wet low-productive coughs, which often appear at the beginning of an illness.

Licorice is a well-known expectorant. In infectious and inflammatory diseases of the bronchopulmonary system, the root of the plant is most often used. This plant is also attributed to antimicrobial, antispasmodic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, immunostimulant effect. It is used to increase the productivity of coughs.

Syrup from licorice root at home is prepared on the basis of a ready-made extract. To 4 g of pharmacy drug add 10 g of alcohol and 80-90 g of previously prepared sugar syrup. All components are thoroughly mixed and insist in a cold place for several days. Ready medicine should be taken twice a day by 1 dessert spoon, dissolving the syrup in a glass of water.

The disadvantage of this recipe is a long time of insistence. It turns out that the syrup must be prepared in advance, even before the onset of cough. It is much more convenient to use a decoction of roots or ready pharmacy preparations (syrup, which can be used from the 2nd year of life, or tincture of licorice).

Decoction of roots is prepared from the ratio of 10 g of dry raw materials per glass of boiling water. Cook the mixture on a water bath for 20 minutes. After cooling and filtering, add boiled water to a full glass. Take the drug often with an interval of 2 hours. The single dose is 1 tbsp.

Ivy, probably the most popular plant for a bothersome wet cough. To prove it, the pharmaceutical industry has produced a large number of preparations based on this plant, which most of us consider as a yard or apartment decoration. The beautiful green creeper, however, has a lot of potential in treating all types of coughs, making them more productive and helping to fight the infection.

Infusion of leaves of the plant is useful to take with chronic inflammatory pathologies of the respiratory tract. It is prepared at the rate of 0.5 tsp. Crushed raw material per glass of boiling water. Infuse the composition for at least 2 hours, then filter and take before meals orally 50 ml. During the day you need to drink 1 glass of infusion.

Decoction of leaves and bark of the plant is effective in acute pathologies. In this case, a glass of water take 1 tbsp. Of plant material, brought to a boil and kept on low heat for 10 minutes. Cooled and strained composition, dilute with water to the original volume and take up to 3 times a day by 1 tbsp. In the decoction is good to add a spoonful of honey.

On the basis of pharmacy extract of ivy at home prepare syrup, although again it is worth recalling that there is no shortage of ivy syrups in pharmacies, so there are no problems with their acquisition.

Plantain is a medicinal plant that has the ability to relieve inflammation, heal wounds by destroying pathogenic microflora inside them, and control pain. Extracts and juice of the plant are also considered an effective expectorant, reducing the number of painful coughing attacks.

For coughs, the juice of the plant drink 1 tsp. Several times a day before meals. Infusion, made from 1 tbsp. Crushed dry or fresh plant material and a glass of boiling water, take 1 tbsp. 3-4 times a day also before meals.

Juice and infusion of the plant are emergency remedies for dry or wet painful cough, as they quickly reduce the intensity and painfulness of the attack, if taken at its onset.

Cough herbs

No matter how useful expectorant herbs are, on their own they can not have a noticeable therapeutic effect, because the treatment of the symptom is not equal to the treatment of the disease, otherwise no one would not puzzle over the correct treatment of cough. All single-component herbal preparations manufacturers recommend taking as part of a complex therapy (there are no syrups for bronchitis or pneumonia, there are syrups for cough), and if you adhere to the principles of natural folk treatment, then preference should be given to multicomponent drugs (collections of herbs), providing a comprehensive therapeutic effect on all symptoms of the disease.

In this regard, in the treatment of infectious-inflammatory and inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract, it is advisable to include special chest collections. The composition of complex herbal preparations from dried raw materials may differ, but all the herbs used are designed to provide the main valuable in the treatment of diseases accompanied by coughing, actions: expectorant, mucolytic, secretolytic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antimicrobial and mild/moderate anti-cough.

Chest collection can be used for wet cough with viscous difficult to separate sputum, and dry (non-productive) cough to increase its productivity. The number of herbs in such collections ranges from 3 to 6-7, and the plants are selected so that their effects do not contradict each other, and in turn mutually reinforced. Usually the rich composition of the collection provides a greater number of effects. So it turns out that complex herbal collections allow you to get better treatment results than single-component drugs.

Thus, with a wet cough, when sputum has increased viscosity and its removal is accompanied by pain, it is recommended to use a collection containing plantain, mother and stepmother and licorice, or a mixture of herbs such as chamomile, calendula, violet, licorice, peppermint, Ledum (pharmacy chest collections 2 and 4).Another collection, effective for wet cough due to a pronounced expectorant effect, contains althea and licorice roots, anise fruit, sage and pine buds (collection No. 3).

Herbal infusion based on the collection number 2 is prepared at the rate of 2 tbsp. Of herbal mixture for 2 cups of water. Prepare the infusion on a water bath for a quarter of an hour, then cooled naturally for another 45-50 minutes, filtered and added boiled water to the original volume. Take the infusion is better warmed ½ cup up to 4 times a day.

Infusion of collections 3 and 4 make more concentrated. For a glass of boiling water take not 1, but 2 tbsp. Of plant material. Prepare the same as the previous composition. Take 1 cup a day, divided into 3 receptions at equal intervals.

Chest collection can also be compiled independently. In this case, it is very important to take into account the possible antagonism in the action of herbs, especially when it comes to the effect on coughing. For example, used in medicine plant glaucium (machoka) yellow, alkaloids of which are present in the preparations "Broncholitin" and "Glauvent", contributes to the suppression of cough syndrome and it is advisable to include it in the composition of collections of dry cough.

Such folk remedies for wet cough, in which the expectorant effect is combined with an anti-cough, have no therapeutic value, since the latter effect is always stronger and prevents the expectoration of sputum and the natural cleansing of the bronchi.