Despite the wide variety of pharmacological methods for dealing with sore throat and cough, traditional folk remedies do not lose popularity. This is due to the fact that people consider them more "natural", often prefer them for the treatment of children, and their popularity is also associated with their relative cheapness.
In the treatment of cough at home, folk remedies are used:
- Syrups, decoctions, teas;
- Inhalation;
- Compresses.
The main components of folk remedies:
- Infusions and decoctions of medicinal herbs, which have anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and expectorant effects;
- Natural emollients and soothing agents - honey, milk;
- Juice and pulp of common vegetables and fruits - carrots, beets, radishes, and even a banana.
The healing effect of folk remedies is not always strong and predictable, but some of them - the most popular and time-tested ones - are often recommended even by practicing doctors and are used in medical research.
So, some experts note that a spoonful of buckwheat honey at night can soothe a night cough in children with ARVI no worse than strong drugs. And milk with alkaline mineral water or honey and other "home" remedies soothe cough and sore throat with pharyngitis sometimes no worse than antiseptic lozenges or sprays.
For coughs and sore throats, frequent, abundant hot drinks are recommended. It can be boiling water, tea with honey or milk, decoctions of herbs - chamomile, sage, St. John's wort, wild rose, raspberry leaf.
Inhalation is widely used in traditional medicine to relieve dry cough and sputum discharge from wet coughs.
Milk-based drinks have a calming effect:
- Hot milk with honey;
- Hot milk with honey, soda and butter;
- Milk with figs (5 pieces per 0.5 l of milk, cook);
- Milk with turmeric (1 tsp per glass of milk);
- Milk with mineral water (1: 3);
- Milk with a banana (for children, in addition to chopped banana, you can add honey and cocoa to milk).
One of the folk remedies for coughs is black radish with honey, it can also be given to children. There are many cooking options, the classic way is to wash the black radish, cut off the bottom, clean out a third of the pulp, put honey in the resulting hole, while leaving room for the juice that stands out. After that, the root vegetable is dipped tail down into a bowl of water, left in this position for 3 hours to form a syrup, which is drunk as a cough remedy.
A mixture of radish juice with honey can be obtained in another way. A large radish is grated or cut into thin slices, poured with honey (3: 1), and insisted until the honey is completely dissolved. After that they drink the squeezed juice or use the whole gruel obtained.
For the treatment of cough and sore throat, decoctions of onions and garlic in milk are prepared (sometimes honey is added there) and allowed to drink every hour. You can also use raw onions - then you need to grate it, mix with sugar or honey and leave for more than 10 hours.
For children, you can prepare more "delicious" medicines: banana puree diluted in hot water or milk; carrot juice mixed with milk and / or honey; lingonberry juice with honey. With a constant cough, children can also drink half-stripped vegetable broth from potatoes, onions and apples.
Decoctions and infusions of medicinal herbs can be used both for rinsing with a sore throat, and for ingestion when coughing and relieving sputum discharge (coltsfoot, chamomile, oregano, anise, calendula, thyme, linden flowers, licorice roots, raspberry leaves , wild rosemary,, marshmallow root). For a sore throat, gargle with decoctions of chamomile and calendula, which have an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory effect, to improve sputum discharge, brew the mother-and-stepmother, preparations with licorice, wild rosemary, marshmallow, etc. Ready-made herbal preparations, which are sold in pharmacies, are also suitable. (breast fees No. 1-4).
Inhalation is widely used in traditional medicine to relieve dry cough and sputum discharge from wet coughs.
When barking cough with laryngitis, it is recommended to inhale with hot steam - for example, in a bathroom with an open hot water tap. As an inhalation solution, you can use a strained decoction of medicinal herbs or a collection of several herbs (see above), add essential oils (mint, lemon balm, lemon) to boiling water.
Hot inhalations over a pot of potatoes boiled in a uniform (the water must be drained) are popular; warming ointments are recommended as compresses in folk medicine (this can be a gum ointment, pepper plaster or mustard plasters). All warming compresses on the chest area are done only at normal temperature, when applied, the heart area should be excluded; contraindications for warming compresses - cardiovascular diseases, pregnancy, early childhood, allergies.
In order for the disease to recede as soon as possible, you can use folk methods, but first of all you need to consult a doctor who will correctly select the treatment options.
References:
1. V. V. Tatochenko. Differential diagnosis of cough in children and its treatment. The attending physician, No. 03/08, 2008.
2. Maznev NI Encyclopedia of Traditional Medicine. M., Martin, 2003.
