Tips for cough relief

1. Drink water or tea such as ginger and lemon tea, rooibos tea or a herbal cough tea (there is a great variety available). Water or tea can calm down irritation and help loosen mucus. (Do not add milk or sugar to tea, because it could increase mucus production and interfere with immune system function.) Remember to keep water next to your bed for a night-time cough.
2. Use a humidifier when needed. Dry air can worsen a cough. Air humidity should be around 50%. If the air is constantly too humid, it could increase dust mites and mold in the room, which again can worsen a night-time cough! Use humidifiers when needed, but stop when they are not necessary. Ensure that the room is dried and exposed to sufficient fresh air during the day.
3. Keep your bedroom free from dust mites and mold as far as possible. Wash bedding in warm water at least once weekly. Put bedding and any extra cushions, soft toys, throws and blankets in the sun weekly. Be sure to keep curtains and carpets clean.
4. Have some honey. Honey could reduce coughing at night, especially in children. You could even mix some liquid zinc, colloidal silver or vitamin C powder into the honey to increase the effectiveness.
5. Use a natural cough syrup, such as Nectadyn to help ease the cough. You could mix liquid zinc, selenium, silver and vitamin C into Nectadyn to increase effectiveness and get it all in at once. This is especially helpful for both adults and kids who are reluctant to take a variety of different remedies.
6. If you have a post-nasal drip, you should add a nasal spray to help stop the cough. Use a saline spray or Euphorbium Nasal Spray.
7. N-Acetyl-Cysteine can be a great help for someone who often gets a cough or for a particularly bad cough: It helps to thin mucus and has anti-inflammatory properties. Those who often get bronchitis could use N-Acetyl-Cysteine daily during the cold and flu season to help prevent it. Higher dosages can be taken to help treat a cough.
8. For a throaty-cough, use Vinceel throat spray 3-5 times a day. Keep the spray next to your bed and use it if you wake up during the night.
9. Take 20-100mg of zinc for a few days. You can take 20-50mg for longer periods of time, but can go up to 100mg a day for a few days to help stop an infection. Use in divided doses during the day.
10. Take 1000mg-2000mg of Vitamin C every 2-4 hours.
11. Add a natural infection fighter, such as Olive leaf extract, Echinacea, Oregano oil or Echinacea/Goldenseal/Cat`s Claw complex. You can also keep Olive leaf drops next to your bed at night and take 10 drops whenever you wake up with a cough. If you take natural infection fighters for a prolonged time, make sure you alternate them. Do not take the same one for weeks on end.
12. Pelargonium and Hedera Helix (ivy extract) are great herbal cough remedies. Try to get pure tinctures or extracts sweetened with honey/xylitol only. You could also use mixed cough tinctures, such as Floraforce Herbal Cough Avoid sugar and preservatives in “natural” cough syrups. You could always mix a few drops of a pure tincture into honey to give to children rather than using a cough mixture with sugar and preservatives.
13. Use a nebuliser with saline solution. This can be especially helpful before bed at night to help loosen phlegm and can even be done for children while they are sleeping. Nebulisers can be rented from pharmacies or bought at a variety of pharmacy and health-product stores. For those with young children “Beurer” has a small travel nebuliser, which is also much quieter than others if you do want to use it while a child is sleeping.
14. Add some Eucalyptus or Olbas oil to a vaporiser in your bedroom. During bath time these oils can also be added to some hot water in the basin to fill the air with pleasant smells and excellent support for those who need some cough relief.

Special tips for kids and toddlers:

Zinc: Animal Parade Zinc or Mineralife Zinc.

Vitamin C: Animal Parade Vitamin C .

Natural infection fighter: Olive leaf drops in water/tea all day long. Silver/Colloidal silver can also be used as a natural infection fighter, but not for longer than a week or two at a time.

Soothing rooibos tea or herbal teas all day.

Important note for kids:

Dosages must be adapted according to age and weight under the supervision of a health practitioner.

These tips are NOT a replacement for proper diagnosis or treatment by a healthcare practitioner. They are informational only.

Coughs can be dangerous, especially in babies, children and the elderly as well as those with asthma or other respiratory problems. Always see a health care practitioner.

Please feel free to contact us for more information on usage or for contact details of health practitioners in your area.