6 Tips to Calm Your Cough

 

Coughing can be an annoying symptom. It makes sleeping, eating, and practicing many daily activities challenging. It’s a symptom of many diseases, mostly related to the respiratory system, whether the upper or the lower tracts. The upper respiratory system includes the nose, sinuses, throat, and larynx. While the lower one includes the trachea, bronchial tract, and lungs. We list in this article the needed precautions and tips while dealing with a cough.

 

 

Tips to calm your cough:

 

• Avoid irritants
• Elevate your head while asleep
• Clean your nose
• Steam – for non-allergic patients
• Avoid secondhand smoking
• Prevent cockroaches

 

Avoid irritants

Allergens like dust and mold might cause a reaction, including a cough. Avoid dusting as it keeps the dirt in the air, instead sweep the floor with water. Bedsheets should be washed with hot water and exposed to sunlight. Some people are sensitive to perfumes and fragrances in laundry detergents and air fresheners that irritate the sinuses, causing cough.

 

Elevate your head while asleep

Elevating yourself up may calm down your night cough to help you sleep better. This is because when you lie flat on your back, the sputum moves downwards towards the throat and triggers coughing. You can lie on two pillows or a add solid flat object under your pillow.

 

Clean your nose

Rinsing your nose can help soothe your cough. It flushes out mucus and allergens from your nasal passages and sinuses. Use a saline spray or try nasal irrigation. With your head tilted over a sink, use a nasal cup or bulb syringe to pour salt water in one nostril and let it drain out of the other.

 

Steam

If a raw dry throat is making you cough, moisture may help loosen the mucus, so you can cough it up. You can either try breathing in steam from a hot shower or use a humidifier or vaporizer in your room during sleeping. The steam can relieve the dryness of the nose and help get rid of the back-of-the-throat tickle. It’s important to check this with your doctor as in some allergic conditions steam is not recommended.

 

Avoid secondhand smoking

Studies show that wheezing and coughing are more common in children who breathe secondhand smoke. Besides, secondhand smoke can trigger an asthma attack in a child which is a major cause of cough.

 

Prevent cockroaches

Cockroach allergy is a common trigger for year-round allergy and asthma. One of the allergy symptoms is coughing. Always make sure to sweep up all food crumbs from kitchen counters and tables, don’t leave any exposed food or dirty dishes in the sink, fix leaky pipes under the sinks, and seal any cracks in the wall. Since insecticides aren’t recommended for allergic and asthmatic patients, you can use cockroach baits or homemade remedies instead.

 

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Sources:

• Cough hacks: How to find relief – WebMD
• How to soothe a nighttime cough – WebMD
• How to treat a cough from a cold or the flu – WebMD
• Health effects of secondhand smoke – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Cockroach allergy – Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America

 

Further reading: Natural Remedies to Reduce Coughing

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