- January 22, 2025
When autumn and winter come, the number of upper and lower respiratory tract infections increases significantly, both among small children, as well as among young people and adults. Primary health care clinics are bursting at the seams from the number of colds and more sick people waiting for help in overcoming infections from their doctor. However, does every rhinitis and cough immediately require a quick and urgent consultation in the doctor's office?
Isn't it better to try to get rid of cough yourself with homemade methods at the beginning? Of course, yes. There are homemade cough treatments that have been tested many times by our mothers and grandmothers and that are really effective. Thanks to them, sometimes we can quickly get rid of persistent cough, without the need to use any pharmacological agents.
With homemade methods we can effectively treat both dry and wet coughs. We can use them in children and adults.
In the case of dry cough it is very important to moisten the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract. Often, especially during the heating season, the symptoms of dry cough are exacerbated by the dry air in the house and especially in the room where we sleep. So what can we do? If you have an air humidifier at home, you should use it as much as possible during the heating season, especially if you have a small child. However, if we are not lucky owners of an air humidifier, we can humidify the air at home in a completely different, very simple way. Just wet a large towel and hang it on a warm radiator. In this homemade way we will make the air in our house more humid and the dry cough will become much less intense and less tiring.
Another homemade way to dry cough is to inhale cough inhalations at home. How to do it? If we have a nebulizer, it is a very simple matter. It is enough to pour physiological saline solution into the inhaler's container, now there are also solutions with hyaluronic acid, which moisturize the respiratory tract mucosa even better. Then we have to put a mask on the face, turn on the inhaler and the nebulization is ready! Inhalers for home use can be bought at any pharmacy on site or online. However, if you do not have a nebulizer, home inhalation can also be done differently. Just pour a few tablespoons of salt into a bowl of hot water, cover your head with a towel and inhale the evaporating solution. In the case of older children and adults, a few drops of essential oils can also be added to this solution. It should be remembered that such a home inhalation can be dangerous for small children, as there is a risk of boiling. Therefore, if we decide to make it, we always have to sit with the child and hold the bowl firmly so that the baby does not lose it on himself. Therefore, such inhalations should be performed in school-age children, who will certainly not drop hot water bowls on themselves.
A good way to cough is also to drink linseed. Brewed linseed is an excellent method to fight persistent, dry cough. Such a liquid covers the back wall of the throat and in this way reduces the feeling of unpleasant, continuous scratching, as well as, thanks to moisturizing the mucous membrane, soothes the cough reflex. In addition, warm milk with butter and honey works in a similar way, which is also ideal for combating dry cough. Like linseed, it moistens the mucous membranes of the throat and relieves the symptoms of dry, persistent, tiring cough.
In addition, another homemade method to quickly get rid of dry cough is the use of homemade syrup from pine shoots, as well as drinking hot marjoram brew with a small amount of honey.
Another good way to cough, this time wet cough, are homemade syrups made of garlic and onion. How to prepare such a mixture? Just chop the onion and garlic finely, then add a teaspoon of sugar to them, cover and leave for a few hours. During this time, garlic and onions will manage to let go of the juice, which you just need to drink a few teaspoons a day in order to get rid of the cough faster. It should also be remembered that a good way to fight coughing is to drink tea with raspberries and lemon with ginger. Ginger contains substances stimulating the body to cleanse the respiratory tract, as well as having a bactericidal effect.
Household wet cough inhalations are also a good way to get rid of a persistent problem. In this situation, it should be done with a nebulizer using hypertonic, i.e. concentrated salt. Such inhalation will make it easier for us to choke off the secretion in the respiratory tract and in this way we will get rid of stubborn, wet cough more quickly.
You can see that there are many old, proven, homemade methods thanks to which we are able to quickly get rid of cough without the need to visit a doctor and use pharmaceuticals. Such methods have been used many times by our mothers and yours and have really produced good results. Therefore, it is always worth to try to fight with cough with their help. If, despite their use, the cough does not decrease after 3-4 days, or if the cough starts to increase, or if it is accompanied by elevated body temperature, then it will be a signal that unfortunately a visit to our PCP will be unavoidable. The doctor, after examining us, will decide what measures will be best for us and will allow us to deal with the cough that tiresome us as soon as possible.
