Have you ever had a situation where you felt terribly uncomfortable because of your cough? Have you noticed that it usually occurs at the most inopportune moment: on public transportation, at work, or just in the middle of the night?
No matter how irritating the cough, it is a normal reaction of the body. It is a defense mechanism that cleanses the airways of irritants and germs. Thus, it can safely be called a beneficial reaction of our body: because it protects the trachea and bronchi from disease-causing infections and foreign bodies.
But when the cough does not stop day or night, the consequences can be much more serious than just a decline in general well-being or a feeling of fatigue due to lack of sleep.
Coughing fits can cause many temporary and even permanent health problems. To give you an idea of how harmful this condition can be to your body, here are a few possible complications it can cause: impaired memory, decreased visual acuity, impaired sense of smell…
Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to actually feel better and breathe easier.
Here are 10 tips you should try to ease your cough, both during the day and at night.
How to calm a daytime cough?
Drink plenty of warm liquids.
Warm liquids reduce irritation of mucous membranes, soften them, and are also necessary to liquefy mucus so that it is easier to cough up. In this case, non-acidic drinks will do well – plain water, compote of dried fruits, herbal decoctions or teas.
By the way, do you remember those 7 tea recipes that work best for coughs, about which I wrote in a previous article? If you haven't read it yet, now is the time to do it.
Gargle with salt and water.
Although the remedy may seem relatively simple, gargling with salt and water can help soothe the scratchy throat that causes your cough. Mixing a teaspoon of salt with warm water may help relieve the irritation.
Rub your chest with warming ointments.
Rubbing improves blood circulation in the bronchi and lungs, thereby activating metabolism and improving mucus secretion.
! Warming rubs should not be done when the temperature is above 37.5 ° C.
Use black radish and honey.
Grate a black radish and squeeze the juice out of it. Mix it with honey in the proportion 1:1. You can use sugar instead of honey. Take one tablespoon three times a day before meals.
Do breathing exercises.
There are different breathing exercises, but the principle is the same: inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth, bending your lips into a tube shape. You may feel dizzy, so you should do the exercises sitting down.
How to relieve nighttime coughing?
Calming a cough at night is not an easy task, but it is quite achievable. By following the recommendations below, you will significantly improve not only the quality of sleep, but also your recovery from an illness accompanied by coughing.
Don't eat at night.
A full stomach is one of the triggers of night cough, even in a healthy person. Even more so, a late dinner can worsen the condition with bronchitis. Make sure that the last meal is at least 2 hours before taking a horizontal position, and the likelihood that the night cough will interfere with sleep will be much lower.
Make the temperature in the room lower.
The lower the temperature, the more humid the air and the easier you breathe. But don't get carried away: too low a temperature will have the opposite effect, and the cough will cramp up from inhaling cold air. Don't forget: during colds, bronchitis and other illnesses the mucous membranes are very sensitive – use your own feelings as an indicator, not just a thermometer.
- Take care of proper nasal breathing.
A stuffy nose forces you to breathe through your mouth, which leads to dry throat mucus, and coughing fits, as the body tries to moisten the airways by pushing mucus out of the bronchi.
- Take a half-sitting or sitting position while coughing.
This makes it much easier to expectorate accumulated sputum. Usually put one or two pillows under the back. It is advisable to get out of bed, lean slightly forward, and then straighten up, while raising your arms and stretching.
Keep your feet warm.
The feet and bronchi are far apart, but still within the same circulatory system. The warmer the legs, the greater the blood flow to them and therefore its outflow from the upper airways. This will help soothe the cough, reduce swelling of the mucous membranes and make the outflow of mucus from the bronchi more efficient.
In addition, the warm fluids, breathing exercises and daytime cough remedies mentioned above are just as effective for nighttime coughs.
If the cough does not go away for two or three weeks, although the temperature is normal, it is necessary to see a doctor!