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The Doctors Book of Home Remedies II: Coughing

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Coughing

Whether caused by a tickle in the throat, an affinity for cigarettes or a problem with allergies, a cough is one of those things you can always do without. But sometimes, if you don't know what's causing the hack attack, you don't know how to get rid of it.

For a clue to the cause of the cough, note at what point in the day it occurs, suggests Gailen D. Marshall, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor and director of the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Division at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. If you cough in the morning, it may be because of asthma. If you cough at night while lying on your back, postnasal drip probably is to blame. Sinus infections also produce coughs that become worse at night, especially in children, according to Howard J. Silk, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta and a physician at the Atlanta Allergy Clinic.

But some coughs are very uncomplicated. A tickle in the throat can cause coughing. Or you may get a cough during a brief encounter with a mild cold.

You'll want to see a doctor if a cough continues more than a few days or if it develops into continuous hacking or wheezing. But if all you've got is a now-and-then case of coughing, here are some remedies to try.

Lounge with a lozenge. Cough drops will help thin phlegm as well as soothe scratchy membranes in your throat, according to Alexander C. Chester, M.D., clinical professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. While some cough drops just soothe, nothing more, the best kinds have eucalyptus to reduce nasal swelling and decongest your nose, according to Dr. Chester.

Water your cough. Drink plenty of water while you've got that troublesome tickle, Dr. Chester says. Keeping the body hydrated will help thin the mucus.

Nurture your nostrils. "Oftentimes coughing is a response to some nasal irritation," Dr. Chester says. For relief, he suggests you try any of the same methods you might use to treat congestion--taking hot showers, carefully inhaling the steam from a boiling pot of water or using saline nasal sprays and vaporizers.

But stay away from cough syrup. Don't reach for over-the-counter cough suppressants, advises Horst R. Konrad, M.D., chairman of the Division of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield. Nonprescription cough syrups thin the secretions that cause a cough, but that's not all beneficial. In the process of thinning, the syrups also seem to increase the amount of mucus, according to Dr. Konrad.

When to See the Doctor

Any time you have a fever along with a cough, you should see a doctor, according to Alexander C. Chester, M.D., clinical professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. You should also call the doctor when:

Your cough does not go away after one week.
You see any signs of blood when you cough up phlegm.
You develop a hacking cough when you already have another illness.
You are short of breath, yet continue to cough frequently.
You have very thick phlegm that doesn't come up easily when you cough.

While many coughs are harmless, some indicate you have an underlying condition, advises Horst R. Konrad, M.D., chairman of the Division of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield. Sometimes a cough is a sign of bronchitis, a bacterial infection, pneumonia or asthma. In rare cases, it indicates a tumor.

Don't make it milk. If you continue to have a cough when you don't feel sick or congested, try staying away from all milk products, Dr. Chester says. A milk allergy often can manifest itself as a cough.

Up with phlegm. Hacking up phlegm, what's called a productive cough, is your body's way of getting rid of mucky mucus--so don' t swallow it. Spit the phlegm into a tissue--and throw the tissue away.

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