Remedy For Cough
More Tips On Cough Remedies
Honey As A Remedy - It seems that just about every other home remedy or folk remedy, that people insist has worked well for them contains honey. One note of caution here. Honey should not be given to infants, or anyone under the age of two. There is a possibility of some bad things happening if that is done. Keeping that in mind, here are some cough remedies featuring honey that you can at least try on yourself. Some would appear to taste better than others. For some, part of the reason for the honey is to disguise the taste of the other ingredient. So take your pick.
Aloe Vera juice and honey - aloe is well known as having many medicinal as well as nutritional properties. This seems to be a healthy and reasonably good tasting concoction, as is grape juice and honey. Two remedies whose taste may be not quite as pleasant are grated garlic and honey, probably not too bad if you don't overload on the garlic, and raw union juice and honey. Two other cough remedies with honey as one of the two ingredients are honey and lemon juice, and honey and lime juice. One interesting recipe for honey and lemon juice, is to boil a whole lemon for 10 minutes, then slice it, and squeeze the juice into some honey. Apparently the boiling does something to the juice that's good for you, or at least reduces congestion.
Dry Cough - So far we've looked into cough remedies designed to reduce or relieve congestion. In a dry cough, congestion is usually not an issue. The dry cough is simply the result of an irritant in the throat, and not the result of an illness in the body. Smoking is one major cause of dry coughing, the environment you find yourself in can also contribute to the condition. Second-hand smoke is of course another cause, but heating and air conditioning systems in homes and buildings can be contributors, especially when they tend to dry the air. Abrupt changes in temperature or humidity can trigger a dry cough. Airplane travel is an example of this. As you might have guessed, a dry cough is a non-productive cough.
Although with a dry cough, we're not looking to fight congestion, some of the cough remedies used for that type of cough also work in suppressing a dry cough. Our old friend honey, combined with either aloe vera, garlic, or just plain water will often do the job of soothing the throat. Horehound lozenges, and zinc lozenges also provide relief, as do many over the counter cough drops and lozenges.
Cough Drops - Remember our old friend Smith Brothers black cough drips? Some people practically grew up with them. Smith Brothers cough drops were the first ones to be sold in packages (the box with the two bearded guys, Trade and Mark). Cough drops and lozenges are basically hard candies, with ingredients added to soothe the throat or relieve coughing. Hard candies have been around for many centuries, but were generally only available to the wealthy. Once sugar crops were established in North America, hard candy became available to everyone, and it was the Smith Brothers who promoted the idea of hard candy laced with a cough suppressant. The main ingredient, the candy part, of a cough drop is corn syrup. The cough suppressant ingredient is most usually eucalyptus or menthol. Then of course, we have the usual artificial colors and flavors to make the cough drop more marketable. Menthol, cherry, and honey are the best selling flavors. There are plenty of products on the market which do a good job of providing relieve such as Fisherman's Friend, Halls. Lakerol, Luden's, Ricola, Vicks, and the aforementioned Smith Brothers. Just remember, these cough remedies provide relief, they don't cure illnesses.