Coughing itself is not a disease. This is a natural defense mechanism of the body—it helps remove irritants or microbes.
For example, inflammation can occur in your throat. When inflammation happens, the body naturally reacts by triggering a cough. It feels like something is stuck in the throat, so the body coughs to clear it.
The airways of our respiratory system become tight, swelling develops, and phlegm starts forming inside. When the body tries to expel this phlegm, coughing occurs.
So what should be done in this situation?
Our goals are
To reduce inflammation
To remove phlegm
To eliminate infection
So the first thing we should do is identify the root cause of the cough.
CAUSES OF THE COUGH
A cough can occur due to
- problems in the lungs
- infection or imbalance in the respiratory tract
- an infection in the nose
- In some people, severe constipation or the presence of intestinal worms can also cause coughing
- Many people develop a cough due to allergies (allergy means that whatever we eat, drink, or breathe in allows certain substances to enter our body that trigger an allergic reaction)
- Intestinal worms can also be a major cause of this condition.
- If the tonsils are present or inflamed, the cough tends to increase.
So the first thing we should do is identify the root cause of the cough. We need to check whether there is an excessive phlegm accumulation in the lungs, an infection, or an allergy to something. The primary step should always be to treat the underlying cause.
Which of the home remedies to choose always depends on the type of cough and what triggers it.
If you have a dry cough, a wet cough, or any of these issues, I have a simple home remedy for you. Give it a try, and maybe it will be helpful for you. We are using very simple ingredients. Most of them you can find in your kitchen.
How To Remove Mucus from the Chest Naturally
phlegm cough or productive cough
“When there is pressure in the chest, and you are coughing up phlegm, it is called a productive cough, meaning a phlegm-producing cough
How can we treat a phlegm-producing cough?
A phlegm-producing cough is most of the time considered an illness. In most cases, it occurs due to an infection. It can also be caused by allergies or by external factors like dust, smoke, smog, or fog—these can all be reasons.
However, most of the time, it has some connection with an infection. It can be an RTI, meaning a respiratory tract infection, which we call RTI—in simple words, an infection of your airways, the passages through which you breathe. It could also be an allergy of the airways or some other infection.
This is an instant-release remedy
It will help clear the chest, soothe the throat, and clear phlegm completely.
You may cough strongly three times, but the phlegm will come out effectively.
INGREDIENTS: Orange (fruit), honey, black pepper, black salt
PROCEDURE:
Take one orange and just cut off the top part—the cap
You need to soften the inside of the orange with a knife/fork, and then fill it with about 2 tablespoons of black pepper
After that, add black salt; both these ingredients go inside.
Then add one teaspoon of honey inside and mix it well
Next, place it on the stove over a low flame for direct cooking. Place the cap you cut on top.
Once covered, the orange will start cooking.
You’ll see the juice inside—the honey, black pepper, black salt, and orange juice are cooking together.
Once it’s hot, scoop it out with a spoon.
Give it at night for repeated coughing or coughing during sleep. You can also give it during the day.
This is a very effective remedy; the phlegm will come out effectively
Phlegmatic and Bilious coughs.
Pipla Mool has a very effective property for phlegmatic and bilious coughs.
procedure:
Grind it into a fine powder
Mix three parts of it with one part honey
Take one tablespoon in the morning, afternoon, and night—three times a day—half an hour before meals with water
First, it thins the phlegm. You may notice that more phlegm starts coming out initially—there is no need to panic.
This medicine, in reality, works on every vein and every airway in the lungs where phlegm has accumulated and hardened
This is exactly how this medicine works: it first thins the accumulated phlegm, making what was previously hard to expel now easy to remove.
Within a few days, the thick phlegm will completely stop coming
Give it a try, and you will be amazed by the results.
Dry cough
A dry cough does not produce any phlegm.
Each type of cough requires a separate and appropriate treatment.
So the first thing we should do is identify the root cause of the cough.
We need to check whether there is excessive phlegm accumulation in the lungs, an infection, or an allergy to something. The primary step should always be to treat the underlying cause.
It has also been observed many times that intestinal worms can be a major cause of this condition.
Many times, it happens due to a viral infection; sometimes it is just because of dryness. Sometimes there is no disease at all—it may be caused by dust exposure, going outside, smoke, smog or fog, cold air, or allergies, which then trigger coughing.
At most, what should you do?
What Is The Fastest Remedy for a Dry Cough?
INGREDIENTS: coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, dry ginger, green cardamom, carom seeds
PROCEDURE:
Take 5 Tbsp of coriander, 5 Tbsp of cumin seeds, 1 Tbsp of whole black pepper, and 1 Tbsp of cloves, add a few pieces of cinnamon, and roast them on a low flame until their color changes. Set them aside.
After that, take 10 grams of chopped dry ginger, 1 Tbsp of green cardamom, and add 1 Tbsp of ajwain (carom seeds). Roast them for 2 minutes and set them aside.
Once all these ingredients have cooled completely, grind them together into a fine powder. Store this powder in an airtight jar.
After that, take 1 cup of water and let it boil. When it starts boiling, add 1 tsp of this powder, and then your drink is ready.
With steam inhalation and gargling, a dry cough can also be relieved
You should gargle in your throat.
Use lukewarm water—water that is warm but comfortable enough to tolerate.
You can add either a pinch of alum (fitkari) or rock salt/salt to the water and gargle. This provides great relief for cough and throat irritation.
You can also boil dry coriander in a cup of water, then add a pinch of salt.
Let the water warm up enough that it can be comfortably used for gargling.
Use that water for gargles.
STEAM
The best thing we can do is steam inhalation:
Take coriander leaves and tulsi leaves, add 5 leaves of each to hot water, and inhale the steam.
I use this personally because sometimes the condition gets very bad, and there is wheezing or a sound in the breathing—this remedy helps fix it.”
Home remedies for cough in kids
REMEDY 1
Do it for instant cough relief and sore throat
INGREDIENTS: green cardamom, cloves, honey
PROCEDURE:
Roast green cardamom and cloves on the stove directly, then grind them into a powder. Add honey to this powder and take it every morning and evening.
This will help relieve your cough and make you feel comfortable.
REMEDY 2
Take 50 grams of ginger
You can use fresh ginger (sonth). Grate the ginger, add a little water, and extract its juice.
Pour this juice into a bowl and leave it undisturbed for at least 15–20 minutes.
After that time, carefully pour off and discard the clear liquid on top. At the bottom, you will find a white layer, almost like a white powder.
Now place this bowl on a hot pan (tawa).
Make sure to put some salt under the bowl so that it does not receive direct heat. This helps avoid burning. The white layer will completely dry and turn into a powder.
This powder is the ginger extract, and it is very beneficial.
How to give it:
For children, give only an amount equal to a grain of rice, mixed with honey.
There is no irritation, and the effect is very strong despite the small quantity.
For a one-year-old child, give one grain-sized amount.
For a five-year-old child, give five grain-sized amounts.
The dosage is adjusted according to age.
This remedy has no side effects and is very effective..
How To Make Homemade Cough Syrup
You will need to prepare it—it’s very easy
INGREDIENTS
jaggery, black pepper, dry ginger powder (sonth powder), carom seeds (desi ajwain), black pepper, raw turmeric, cumin seeds, green cardamom powder, and salt
PROCEDURE:
Take a saucepan and add 100 ml of water to it. Bring it to a boil, then take 100 grams of jaggery and crush it into it. When it melts and turns into a syrup, and once the syrup comes to a boil, stir it well, and add 10 grams each of the ingredients I mentioned above.
Stir them well for a while. Mix all of them well into the syrup.
It will become a syrup-like preparation. Do not dry it completely.
This is a traditional natural syrup for coughs. You can use it three to four times a day. It has no side effects.
Take half a teaspoon in the morning with warm water.
It is suitable for children, adults, and elderly people.