Cough suppressants are the requirement of every home, especially where there are children. Job of a cough suppressant is to snub and stop that cough, which can be very troublesome. It may not allow you to concentrate on anything and in all probability may not let you have a good sleep. Frequent coughs can irritate your throat and the muscles of your rib cage may become tender, so much so that even coughing becomes difficult. Thankfully there are plenty of simple and effective home remedies of cough suppressants.
List Of Home Remedies Of Cough Suppressants
1. Honey
According to Mayo clinic expert James M Steckelberg, a study done on children over 2 years old has revealed that honey is very beneficial to suppress cough. They found that if children were given 2 tsp of honey at bedtime, it resulted in better sleep and the bouts of cough were reduced.
They concluded that honey was as beneficial as dextromethorphan. Dextromethorphan is and over-the counter cough suppressant, which people generally use. Honey is natural, low-cost and easily available. If you are worried about infant botulism disease, do not give it to children less than 1 year old [1].
2. Peppermint Tea
Make tea with a few peppermint leaves. Take three cups water and add 15 to 20 peppermint leaves. Let them boil at a low temperature for 5 minutes. Keep them off the fire for another 5 minutes. Strain and drink, half a cup of peppermint tea at a time, 5 times a day. Your scratchy throat will start feeling better [2].
2. Lemon Wedges
If it is a cough, without too much of throat pain, try lemon pieces. Cut a lemon into four pieces.Take one piece, warm it up in the microwave oven for about 5 to 10 seconds. Once warm, apply a bit of salt and pepper and suck it slowly. Do it twice a day [2].
3. Ginger
Ginger is a home remedy from every grandma’s chest. Extract 1 tbsp of ginger juice by grating it fine. If the ginger root is dry you may add some water and squeeze it through a muslin cloth. To this juice mix about 6 or 7 tbsp honey. Lick a few drops often.This ginger and honey remedy will have you get hooked on to it. The honey will coat your throat with its soothing property and ginger is an antihistamine . Ginger is available in the market in the form of root, as a candy, as lozenge and as a dry powder [3].
4. Cayenne And Ginger Infusion
This home made cough syrup has no side effects. All the ingredients are easily available. You need 1 tsp each of cayenne pepper and grated ginger to boil and simmer in 1 cups of water. Simmer it for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add 4 tbsp each of honey and apple cider vinegar.
This will be enough to last you 2 to 3 days. Take half a tsp many times a day, and additionally as and when there is a need to suppress the cough. This home made remedy is fresh, without side effects, and cheap. May work better than the sough suppressants available as over-the-counter syrups [4].
5. Egg
An egg boiled just for 1 minute can do wonders for for your cough, it works very well for dry type of cough. Boil an egg for a minute, drain it out in a bowl, add to it a pinch of salt and dry roasted black peppercorns and cumin seeds. Two peppercorns an a pinch of cumin seeds will be enough. Eat it while it is warm [5].
6. Milk
Hot milk can be taken at bedtime to give you a good night’s sleep. You can put either a tbsp of honey, or eat half a tsp of pure turmeric powder. Both will help you if you have a dry and tickling cough [6].
Read More:
12 Herbal Remedies For Cough
Top 5 Foods That Cure Cough
19 Home Remedies For Dry Cough
7. Garlic
A miraculous herb from the kitchen can be used to make your own cough syrup. But please do not use garlic paste, which you bought ready made from a store. Buy garlic from some store, peel and chop 10 to 20 cloves of garlic. Cover them with honey. Let them remain in fridge for as long as a fortnight. But can use it the next day itself, if required [7].
8. Eucalyptus Oil
To some water that you need for inhalation put 2 to 3 drops of eucalyptus oil.Humidity of steam will moisturize your throat and eucalyptus oil will act on your urge to cough [8].
9. Candies
Candies surely help with suppressing your cough. Whatever flavor you may like, you can buy. Ginger candies are the best. Peppermint candies work well for some people [9].
10. Licorice And Marshmallow Syrup
Marshmallows and licorice together make a wonderful herbal syrup, you can easily prepare it at home. You need 2 roots of dried licorice about one inch each. 4 tbsp of marshmallow roots, tangerine orange peel, cloves (condiment) about 10, elderberries fresh 3 to 4 heads, half a liter Water and 100 ml honey.
Except honey boil everything together. Once it starts boiling, put the heat on low mode and let the decoction simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Once cool add honey and put it in clean bottles. Take a tsp of this cough suppressant syrup thrice a day [10].
11. Gargles
Gargles are one of the oldest and best remedies for cough. Take a cup of water, heat it up to the temperature hot enough to be tolerable for gargles, just warm will not benefit. Add a pinch of salt and gargle three to four times a day. It will give a lot of relief to the throat.Gargling helps well if it is done properly.
Lift your head up as if you are staring at the ceiling, and the water should go deep down as you gargle. do not be in a hurry to throw the water out of your mouth. You should take sufficient water for at least 10 rounds of gargles. To have the best benefit wrap a cloth, around the throat [11].
12. Elecampane Root Tea
A good tea can be made with the root of elecampane. Elecampane makes a beneficial expectorant. It soothes the throat and helps in getting rid of the nagging cough. Elecampane contains inuline of very good quality which helps in controlling cough [12].
Prevention
Stay away from very cold eatables and drinks, take care not go very close to a person down with cough.
