Say Bye to Cough the Naturopathic Way

What Is a Cough?

Coughing is a vital body defense mechanism. Coughing is the reaction of the body in which excess mucous is driven out. The air passage of lungs is lined by cells secreting mucus, which traps dust particles. When the cough is associated with sputum then it is called a wet cough. When the cough is without sputum then it is a dry cough. Coughing expels all the particles and foreign bodies from the windpipe and lungs. If left untreated, cough can get serious and result in pneumonia. When the cell lining your lungs get infected then inflammation occurs that leads to an increase in mucus secretion and leads to irritation and gives dry hacking sound as well. It affects all age groups.

What Are the Symptoms of a Cough?

The symptoms of a cough are:

• A person who is going to cough, first draws a deep breath in, then he closes his glottis and contracts his muscles that build up pressure in the chest, afterward, he suddenly opens his glottis so that there is an explosive discharge of air which sweeps through the air passage and carries away excess secretions or in some cases foreign matter, which has irritated the larynx, trachea or bronchi.

• Production of rattling sound.

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• The patient feels pain in the chest during extensive coughing.

• Feeling of tiredness and weakness.

• Other constitutional symptoms like fever, headache, cold, sore throat, body aches, malaise, and loss of appetite may be associated.

What Are the Causes of a Cough?

The causes include:

1. The real cause is the clogging of bronchial tube with waste matter.

2. Inflammation of larynx or pharynx, maybe because of digestive disturbance.

3. Due to weather or seasonal changes.

4. Wrong feeding habits, such as overeating of bread, meat, sugar, porridge, puddings, and pies in winter.

How Is a Cough Treated?

When one notices any of the above symptoms of cough, then efforts should be made to avoid extensive cold items. A hot bath and chest pack are useful in the treatment of cough. Heavy and cough-producing diet like milk and milk products, sweets, etc., should be avoided. A light diet is preferred. Drink warm water. For a dry cough, a chest pack is beneficial.

Chromotherapy - Half a cup of water fillled in a green bottle charged with sun rays should be consumed empty stomach. Half a cup of water filled in a yellow bottle should be consumed after taking food daily morning and evening.

For overcoming cough with sputum that is wet cough, half a cup of water filled in a yellow bottle, duly charged with sun rays, must be consumed immediately after food.

Severe Cough:

Fasting on orange juice along with water till the severity gets reduced. Orange juice in warm water every two hours from 8 AM to 8 PM. After the juice fast, patient should adopt an all-fruit diet for two to three days.

In cases of mild cough, patient should start the all-fruit diet for five to seven days. Such a patient should take three meals a day of fresh fruit juice such as apples, pear, grapes, grapefruit, oranges, pineapple, peaches, and melon. After the all-fruit diet, the patient should follow a well-balanced diet with emphasis on whole grain cereals, raw or lightly cooked vegetables.

Warm Water Enema - Warm water enema daily to cleanse the bowel is beneficial.

Home Remedies:

• Grapes tone up the lungs and acts as an expectorant. Simple cold and cough are relieved through its use in a couple of days. Combination of honey with grape juice is very useful for cough.

• Ginger juice mixed with honey is beneficial and can be consumed several times a day.

• Almonds should be soaked in water for an hour then the skin should be peeled off. These almonds along with butter and sugar should be grounded well and then that paste should be given to the patient in the morning and evening.

• Onion should be chopped fine and juice extracted from it. This juice is then mixed with honey and kept for four to five hours. This makes an excellent cough syrup. Also, onion juice, lemon, and a cup of boiling water can also be used. Some honey should be added for taste. This remedy should be taken two to three times a day.

• Root of turmeric is very useful in dry cough. Turmeric root is roasted and then powdered. This powder is taken twice daily, once in the morning and in the evening.

• Belleric Myrobalan - A mixture of this fruit, long pepper, and honey should be administered as treatment of cough. This fruit when dried is then covered with wheat flour and is roasted. This is a useful remedy for cough.

• Raisins - Sauce prepared from raisins is useful in cough. This sauce is prepared by grinding 100 g of raisins with water. To this 100 g of sugar is added then this mixture should be heated and preserved when bulk has turned saucy. This sauce is then taken 20 g at bedtime daily.

• Aniseed (Anise) - It is an effective remedy for hard-dry cough, that is, dry cough with difficult expectoration. It helps to break mucous. Tea with this spice should be consumed regularly for treating this condition.

In cough, Kunjal Kriya may be performed regularly in the morning for a few days. Thereafter, Vastra Dhauti and Jal Neti should be performed to eliminate or remove phlegm accumulated in the respiratory tract.

Yoga and Pranayama - The practice of Bhastrika, Kapalbhati, and Ujjayi Pranayam are advantageous in wet cough. Shitali and Sitkari Pranayama are especially useful in dry cough. The practice of Ghrit Neti before Pranayama definitely gives benefit.

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