Sooth Your Cough
Edited by Jomalyn Lardizabal, Robbi, Olivia, Adrian Penaflor and 1 other
6 Parts:
A cough usually takes place when your throat feels itchy. Soothing your throat of the irritation from a cough is possible. The winter and rainy season as well as allergy season and colds and flu can cause a cough. The cough is the body's way of expelling the mucus that has accumulated in the lungs.
You can get this common ailment especially in winter days or rainy days. It is quite annoying and embarrassing at the same time, especially when you are traveling. Productive or non productive, it is the body's way of telling you that something is wrong. Hearing your child or your old parents cough night after night is enough to make you buy over-the-counter cough medicine, which can be dangerous to their health. Before you try to soothe a cough, you need to identify the types of cough.
Contents
What are the types of cough?
- 1Productive Cough.A cough is said to be productive when you are expelling mucus. Now, not because you are not expelling any mucus when you cough, doesn't mean it is not productive. There are mucus that is too sticky, that an individual experiences difficulty in expelling it. A person who has a productive cough but finds it difficult to expel the mucus exhibits continuous cough wherein, he or she will try to inhale deeply and cough all his might to bring the mucus up to the throat and spit it out. There are people who will try to sit down or squat while coughing. Some even report involuntary urination because of the stickiness of their mucus.
- 2Non-productive Cough.A type of cough that is usually caused by dry air conditioning system and allergies. This is usually what makes the throat itchy. If unrelieved, it may cause the tonsils to swell and the individual will be more prone to infection.
What to do if someone in the family has a cough?
- 1Take note of the quality of cough - whether it is hacking, continuous, productive or non productive.Whether it's your child, you or your parents who have an cough, you should first take note of the time or date the cough started.
- 2If there is phlegm expelled, take note of the color, consistency and odor. You don't have to touch or smell it. You can look at it and if you don't have any colds, you can get a pretty good smell of it without your nose getting near it.Observe if it is accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, difficulty of breathing or phlegm.
- 3An acute cough usually lasts from three to seven days. A chronic cough will persist for more than three months.Take note if the cough is productive or non productive and its duration - whether its acute or chronic.
- 4The respiratory system has its own line of defense mechanism. Aside from this fact, more than a thousand strain of common colds and flu. There are times that you need to let the body take care of its own, unless the cough is accompanied by other symptoms like fever or difficulty of breathing. Unless these accompanying symptoms are present or you see an orange or bloody tinge in the phlegm, you can wait up to three days for the cough to resolve on its own. After three days and the cough does not go away, then it's time to seek medical attention.Do not attempt to treat a cough immediately.
- 5Follow the doctor's prescription and advice.
Here are some ways to soothe your cough
- 1Make a tonic drink with lemon and water.Buy some lemons from your local supermarket and slice them. Put some warm water in a glass and drop two to three lemons in warm water. Have your child, your parent or you drink it. The warm water will take care of dilating the blood vessels. The acidity of lemon will help to neutralize any infection that may be present in the throat.
2
Make a salt water solution
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3
Make a honey and lemon solution
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4
Warm calamansi fruit concoction
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Additional Tips to Help Relieve the Cough and Colds
- 1When the body gets cold, the more it will require food to process for warmth. It will take time for a person to recover if the food he or she ingest will get metabolized for warmth instead of take up by soldier cells to fight infection. Use socks, blankets, jackets and mittens whenever necessary.Protect yourself, the child or your elderly parent from getting chilly.
- 2This increases the chances of the child eating more than usual, especially when he is sick. If child or elderly is rejecting any food, try giving soda crackers and juices. If he or she doesn't eat at all for a day, it is advisable to bring the child or the person to the doctor.Prepare and serve food in an interesting way like decorating it with a child's favorite cartoon character.
- 3You can use soft cloth or tissue for removing excess mucus in his nose. This will help him breathe easier. for him to be relieved from colds and to avoid allergies.Clean the child's nose.
- 4Water therapy can help for relieving cough in acute and chronic disorders of respiratory tract.Increase fluid intake.
- 5Control noise in the surroundings to give ample rest to the sick child or individual.
Sources:
www.webmd.com
If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.
