Home Remedy for coughs

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My son (11) has a bad cough. He's had it for a little over a week. We bought medicine from a store and it didn't help at all! Does anyone know of a home remedy for coughs? Thank-you. Trish

-- Trish (inspiringwords@excite.com), May 09, 2001

Answers

I'd be real careful with a cough. I had bronchitus a couple of times, got a "cough" again a couple weeks ago that wouldn't go away no matter what I took. Went to the clinic for what I thought was bronchitus again and found out I had pnemonia. I never ran a fever with it at all. Never had it before so I wasn't sure what symptoms to look for. People will tell you hot lemon water with honey may help. I'm sure many will respond to this.

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), May 09, 2001.

Very true that you need to find out WHY he is coughing. I hope you have a good family practitioner who will take time with you on it instead of just brushing you off with a 'here, take this' and not really looking into the why. (I'm a bit peeved with the dr. I keep getting forced to see...)

Home remedy I used to use for a bad cough was to mix whiskey with a tablespoon of honey and take a spoonful of that. It seemed to help a lot. I'm not sure if you like the idea of using alcohol on a kid that young, but I used it in high school with no ill effects. It was especially good for night time coughs in letting you get some sleep. (I'm sure the whiskey didn't hurt on that. My dad had Southern Comfort, so it wasn't *too* awful to take)

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), May 09, 2001.


Does he have a cold and/or fever? Is the cough productive or dry? If he is bringing up mucous, what color is it? There are a multitude of herbal remedies for coughs, but recommending one is difficult without further information. In the meantime, you can encourage him to drink hot water with honey, lemon and grated ginger root to see if that relieves the symptoms a bit. It certainly won't hurt and it is a very soothing "formula." If it is getting worse, there is fever, or if the cough is lingering, take him to the doctor to be sure he doesn't have a bacterial infection.

-- amy (acook@in4web.com), May 09, 2001.

I am a 'certified' herbalist. This means little, however. Before I give any herbal 'remedies', I have to ask a few questions...

First off, what does the cough sound like? Is there a fever? Pain in the back, chest, arms, legs? Any cramping? Does he wheeze when he breathes? What color is his skin? Are the whites of his eyes still white? How much fatigue is he suffering? What color is the phlegm? Where do you live???

I ask where you live because certain areas of the country have big problems with whooping cough right now - and its affecting vaccinated kids. If you are in Washington or Oregon especially - get him to the doctor yesterday!!

If the phlegm is green, yellow, opaque, etc... There is an infection. Most times, but not always, this will also produce a fever. While green normally is associated with a virus, it can also be a bacterial infection, as are the other two.

If there is a fever and a pain in the mid to lower back, he could have bronchitis, or even pneumonia (wheezing). If coughs are only one of several symptoms, they should never be treated other than by a doctor. Coughing is either a first-line symptom (allergies, irritation) or last (clearing of congestion and blockages)... never in the middle.

Also, cough preparations in the stores are designed to do many different things and treat many different complaints. Some supress coughs (which I NEVER recommend), some are for allergies causing coughs, others will bring on coughs to clear lungs of congestion. Still others treat symptoms in addition to coughing. There is a real danger of either over-medicating or possibly causing more problems by treating things other than what's wrong.

A cough can be a symptom of just about anything, and one that persists more than a week should be checked by a qualified physician. Always.

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), May 09, 2001.


Sue, My son doesn't have a fever, or pain or cramping. The whites of his eyes are still white. He hasn't been hacking up any phlegm , the cough sounds deep and we live in Colorado. Does this help? Trish

-- Trish (inspiringwords@excite.com), May 09, 2001.


Colorado??? It's allergy season here...go for tea with honey. I like chamomile for allergies. The weather is not helping, last TU 87 degrees & wood stove going the next day. Spring in Colorado is great!

-- DW (djwallace@ctos.com), May 09, 2001.

Pertussis (whooping cough) is making a comeback since so many people are not having their children immunised. I agree with others - get the cause checked out, and during that ASK the doctor whether s/he has considered whooping cough and ruled it out (many don't consider it any longer because it was so nearly eliminated for so long).

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), May 09, 2001.

You might also want to stay away from dairy products for a little while. That makes the phlem a little thicker and will relieve some of the coughing.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), May 09, 2001.

I work at a public school. One boy has the worst cough. He went to the doctor yesterday for it and was told it is allergies. He gave him some pills to use on a daily basis. We'll see if it helps. I know Bee Pollen used daily, helps my brother alot with his.

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), May 10, 2001.

I don't claim to be an expert here, but what we use is wild cherry. Scrape the outer bark off of a branch (being careful not to ring it or take too much), and peel down a good strip of the inner bark. Take it inside, boil it gently in about two cups of water, covered, for 20 minutes or so. Take out the bark and boil this down to half. Use as cough medicine, usually 1 tsp at a time 4 times a day. It helps our family when we have coughs that are persistent. I still would see a doctor, though, just in case. Mary

-- Mary Fraley (kmfraley@orwell.net), May 10, 2001.


I mix whiskey, honey and lemon juice. I don't know the measurements, I just know how it's supposed to taste. My mother never measured anything and she used to make it for us. We had store bought stuff, but sometimes they didn't work, and we'd ask her to mix up her cough syrup, and she used to make it every year for my older kids when they were little. She's dead now, so I have to make it from taste. Her mother used it for the 4 of them when they had whooping cough, back when they didn't have cough syrups yet.

I can't take the over the counter cough medicines they have out there. It all has that epephedrine crap in it, and it makes me sick, and feel like I'm on speed. And thank God they traded the alcohol in cough medicines for that crap they now can use to make meth labs out of, I feel so MUCH safer now! Sorry, but we're all just getting over nasty colds, and no cough syrups we can take, unless I make it. I can't buy any at the store, because we can't take them!Am I the only one who sees the insanity of how they control these drugs?

-- Louise Whitley (whitley@terraworld.net), May 12, 2001.


The best herbal remedy for a non productive hacking irritating cough associated with colds and allergies is licorice root, taken three times a day, 1 capsule (400mg. each capsule) for under 100 pounds, 2 capsules for up to 150 pounds, and 3 capsules for over 150 pounds. This is safe to use in children over 2 years old, and is very effective. Do not use over 8 weeks at a time as it can deplete potassium reserves and raise the blood pressure, but other than that caution, it is very safe.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), May 15, 2001.

Get yer self a bottle of Absolut Citron. Drink until you can't stand up no more and you'll forget all about that there cough.

-- George W Bush (georgew@bush.com), November 09, 2001.

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