How to quiet a cough

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I’ve been sick for nearly three weeks now, and let me tell you: It Is Getting Really Old. Obviously, I can’t tell you how to get rid of a cold. But I do have a few tips for making it slightly more bearable.

  1. The only time I drink hot tea is when I have a sore throat, and even the mug is half honey. So I figured I’d cut out the middle man and just take a spoonful of honey. It works wonders. It’s also much easier to get a sick 3-year-old to eat honey than take medicine. (I think I read about honey’s soothing powers on a “natural remedies” site. I’m positive I didn’t come up with it on my own.)
  2. If you’re coughing at night, rub Vicks VapoRub (or the generic equivalent) on your feet and put on some socks. Then go to bed. This tip was in an email forward. I tend to disregard those, but I happened to have a bad cough when I read this particular one. Which sounds crazy, I know. But it works.

Do any of you have a fool-proof method for kicking a cold? I could use it.

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5 thoughts on “How to quiet a cough”

  1. Fluids fluids fluids. I usually drink 1.5 liters of water at school each day, and I double it when I’m sick.

  2. Peppermint. I think that’s part of what is so helpful about the Vicks. If you can get some essential peppermint oil (health or health food stores carry it), and sniff it, it’ll help with the cough as well as the headache.

    I’m also a big believer in carbonated beverages, because I feel like they ‘clean out’ the throat when its got cough yuck stuck in there and coating it. It might hurt like you know what going down bc it will fizz like mad when it comes in contact with phlegm, but it works for me.

    Also – if you have any sort of sinus or allergy issues, be careful what kind of tea you’re drinking. Many teas these days actually set off your allergies when you’re sick, instead of helping. Chamomile is a big offender of this.

  3. I just started rinsing my sinuses with something similar to a Neti Pot. I don’t know that it’s helping me get over anything faster, but I feel better for a little while afterwards at least!

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