Home remedies for coughs

Martina Feichter studied biology with an elective subject pharmacy in Innsbruck and also immersed herself in the world of medicinal plants. From there it was not far to other medical topics that still captivate her to this day. She trained as a journalist at the Axel Springer Academy in Hamburg and has been working for since 2007 - first as an editor and since 2012 as a freelance writer.

More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.

There are many home remedies for coughs. Herbal teas are often used - as herbal expectorants or cough suppressants. Onion juice, inhalation and chest compresses are also popular and proven remedies for coughs. Read here on the topic: What helps with a dry cough? What is the expectorant effect for a productive cough? What can be done against coughs in babies and children?

What helps against coughs?

In the case of uncomplicated acute cough (e.g. as a result of a cold or simple bronchitis), general measures such as drinking enough and not smoking are usually sufficient as treatment. Various home remedies for coughing can be helpful. Which of the natural helpers are best suited in each individual case depends in part on the type of cough:

Dry cough (dry cough): Home remedies are supposed to relieve the irritation of the throat. Certain medicinal herbal teas are often used as "cough suppressants". Home remedies such as onion and cough syrup or cottage cheese compresses at body temperature also dampen the urge to cough.
Cough with expectoration (productive cough): Expectorant, expectorant agents are advisable here. In addition to suitable medicinal herbal teas, these include, for example, inhalations, onion cough syrup and various wraps and compresses.

The effect of various home remedies against coughs can also be supported with essential oils, for example inhalations, oil baths, rubs, wraps and compresses.

General tip for productive coughs: pat your chest and back regularly! This helps cough up the mucus. Alternatively, you can massage your chest and back.

Which tea helps with coughs?

Soothing warmth and moisture for the inflamed airways in combination with the healing power of herbs - tea provides all of this. For cough without expectoration (dry cough), however, other medicinal plants are recommended for preparation than against cough with expectoration (productive cough).

Tea for coughing without expectoration

How do you relieve an urge to cough? That is the central question when one is tormented by a dry cough, which often causes uncomfortable pain behind the sternum and may even disturb the night's sleep. Many people then rely on herbal home remedies: Tea preparations with so-called mucous drugs help against irritable coughs - medicinal plants that contain mucous substances that form a protective film on the irritated mucous membrane in the airways. This relieves the urge to cough. Well-known herbal mucus drugs are for example:

Linden blossom
Ribwort plantain
Verbena
Marshmallow
Coltsfoot
mallow
Icelandic moss

You can read more about the preparation and correct use of the first four herbs in the corresponding medicinal plant texts.

The medicinal plants mentioned also form the basis of many finished preparations such as cough syrup, cough syrup or lozenges. You can get this without a prescription in the pharmacy.

Tea for coughing with expectoration

Drinking enough is always important, but especially if you have a productive cough. One to two liters of fluid a day help liquefy the mucus in the airways so that coughing up is easier. This works best with warm drinks such as tea - and even more so when herbal expectorants are added to the home remedy. Some of the best expectorants from the plant kingdom are:

anise
fennel
Mullein
Primrose (cowslip)
thyme
elder
licorice

You can find out how to prepare an expectorant tea from these medicinal herbs and use them correctly in the corresponding medicinal plant texts.

In the pharmacy you can also get expectorant, expectorant, ready-made preparations (drops, cough syrup, cough lozenges, etc.) based on medicinal plants - without a prescription. In addition to the expectorants mentioned, such cough preparations often also contain ivy, red soap root or senega root, for example.

Cough syrup - homemade

You can buy cough syrups of various compositions in pharmacies. You can also make the tried and tested home remedy for coughs yourself, for example with onions or black radish.

Onion juice for coughs

The onion is a traditional medicinal plant against coughs. The essential oils and sulfur-containing compounds it contains make it an all-purpose weapon against dry coughs and congested airways. Here's a quick guide on how to make an onion juice:

Peel an onion, cut it into small pieces and dice it. Place the pieces in a clean mason jar. Add two tablespoons of sugar (alternatively honey or agave syrup) and seal the jar. Then shake and let steep for about two hours. A natural cough syrup forms after about two hours.

Onion juice with honey is not suitable for children under one year old. Honey can contain bacteria whose toxin can cause fatal nerve paralysis in babies. So sweeten the onion juice for babies in other ways, for example with sugar or rock candy (see below).

How to use the cough syrup correctly and how to cook alternative variants of onion juice, read the article onion.

Radish cough syrup

Another old medicinal plant for colds and coughs is black radish. The juice from the radish root has a germ-inhibiting effect.

To make the cough syrup, peel a radish, grate it and squeeze it with a juicer. Take one to two tablespoons of the juice several times a day. A cure with radish juice should last a maximum of three to four weeks, otherwise stomach irritation can occur. In the case of small children, you should first discuss the administration of radish juice with your pediatrician!

If you don't like the pure juice, you can alternatively make a radish and honey syrup (unsuitable for children under one year old because of the honey!). To do this, cut a "lid" from a spherical black radish and hollow it out with the help of a knife and spoon. Then pour in high-quality honey, put the "lid" on and let it sit for several hours in the refrigerator. Then pour the resulting syrup into a clean mason jar. Older children and adults can take two to three teaspoons of the natural cough suppressant up to four times a day - directly or in a warm tea.

Inhale when coughing

Inhaling is a very effective home remedy for coughing up sputum (productive cough). A pure steam inhalation is helpful: the airways are moistened by the inhaled steam. This makes the stuck mucus more fluid and supports its removal.

To increase the effect, you can add medicinal herbs to the hot water. One classic is inhaling with chamomile flowers. It has anti-inflammatory, expectorant and blood circulation effects and is generally recommended against respiratory infections. You can find instructions for the correct implementation in the article Chamomile.

Instead of a single medicinal plant, you can use combinations of different medicinal herbs to inhale if you are plagued by a cough and congested airways. For example, a mixture of 40 grams of oregano leaves and 30 grams each of chamomile flowers and thyme has proven itself. Put 3 tablespoons of this mixture in a bowl with a liter of hot water. Then place a large towel over your head and torso and hold your uncovered face over the bowl. Inhale the rising vapors alternately through your mouth and nose for ten minutes. After that, stay in a warm room and avoid drafts. You can do this inhalation at least three times a day.

You can find out more about the correct inhalation technique and warnings that you should observe in the inhalation article.

Wraps and compresses for coughs

While an herbal tea works from the inside as a home remedy for coughs, compresses and wraps do this from the outside. A compress is a relatively small, localized application (e.g. on the chest). On the other hand, when doing a wrap, one or more towels are placed around a part of the body (e.g. on the torso at chest level). The type of compress or wrap you choose for coughing depends on the healing effect to be achieved (inhibiting inflammation in the airways, stopping coughing, loosening stuck phlegm).

Below are some examples of compresses and compresses for coughs.

General information on the manufacture and use of compresses and wraps as well as important warnings can be found in the article Wraps (envelopes) and pads.

Moist and warm chest wrap (without additives)

A simple home remedy for coughing with sputum is a warm, moist chest wrap without any additives. The moist heat on the skin can loosen the mucus in the airways.

You can find out how such a wrap is made and correctly applied in the article Breast wrap.

Beeswax compress

The beeswax-coated fabric compress is available in health food stores, well-stocked drug stores and pharmacies. It can store and release heat for a long time. When applied to the chest or back, this has a soothing and expectorant effect. It is therefore suitable for the treatment of coughs, colds and bronchitis. The home remedy is used as follows:

Put the compress in a foil or a food-safe plastic bag and warm it up with a hair dryer or on a hot water bottle until the wax is pliable. Always observe the manufacturer's information! Then place the compress on the chest or back without foil or plastic bag, cover with a cotton cloth and fix with a towel or a gauze bandage. Let the compress work for at least 20 minutes to several hours. But take them off if the skin turns red.

You can use a beeswax compress once or twice a day. You don't need a new one every time, because the compresses are reusable - they can be heated as often as you like!

Body warm cottage cheese compress

A quark compress at body temperature can be used as a home remedy for (strong) coughing and bronchitis. This is how it is made and used:

Take 250 to 500 g of low-fat curd cheese out of the refrigerator and wait until it has reached room temperature. Then spread it about 0.5 cm thick in the middle of a gauze compress (on an area that is so large that you can later cover the breast in the desired area with it). Place the excess gauze and a cotton cloth on the quark. Place this overlay on a filled hot water bottle or between two hot water bottles to warm it up briefly. Then place the compress on the chest and fix it with an intermediate and an outer towel (e.g. a towel).

The quark compress can be left on for 20 minutes to around four hours, depending on your body temperature. If you have a high fever, the warm compress can cause heat to build up if left on your chest for too long!

While using the quark compress and especially after removing it, the patient should not cool down (cover up if necessary)!

You can find out more about envelopes and wraps with the dairy product in the article Quark wraps.

Thyme compress

If the cough is due to bronchitis (or general inflammation of the airways), a chest compress with thyme can help. It can be used a maximum of twice a day. To manufacture and use:

Prepare a thyme tea - one to two teaspoons of thyme herb in 500 milliliters of water, let it steep for ten to 15 minutes, then strain. In the meantime, fold an absorbent cotton cloth to the desired size (at least twice) and then roll it up from both sides towards the middle. Wrap the rolled up inner cloth lengthways in a wringing cloth (e.g. tea towel). Place this "roll" in a bowl so that the ends of the wringing cloth hang out. Now pour the hot tea over it, let it steep for a moment and then wring it out vigorously (you may need to put on household gloves so as not to burn yourself).

Then remove the hot and humid inner sheet and use it to fan the area of skin to be covered (e.g. breast) while the patient is lying down - this is how the skin gets used to the heat. As soon as the heat is acceptable to the patient, apply the inner sheet quickly and without wrinkles. Quickly and tightly wrap a preheated outer cloth (e.g. molton cloth) around the torso to fix the compress and keep the heat longer. Leave on for about 20 to 30 minutes (as long as the patient feels it is comfortable). Then remove the compress and rest for about half an hour.

Onion breast wrap

The old bronchitis and cough home remedy onion can be used not only internally (as onion cough syrup), but also externally - as a chest wrap. You can find out how to make this and use it correctly in the onion article.

Potato compress

Are you tormented by a stubborn cough? Then a chest compress with potatoes can provide relief. The hot and humid pad is a good store of heat and can therefore give off heat to the body for a long time. In the chest area, the inflamed, mucous airways benefit from this - the mucus loosens more easily and can be coughed up more easily.

How to make the compress or the wrap with potato and use it correctly, read the article Potato wrap.

Mustard flour compress

A mustard flour compress is a suitable home remedy for coughs caused by pneumonia or obstructive (spastic) bronchitis. The skin-irritating ingredients of mustard flour increase the blood circulation locally, which warms the tissue. This stimulates the metabolism and has an expectorant effect.

You can put on such a mustard flour compress once a day. You can find out how it is produced and used correctly and which warnings you have to observe in the article Mustard.

Ginger wrap (ginger flour wrap)

This home remedy helps with bronchitis with chronically narrowed airways (chronic obstructive bronchitis) and pneumonia. The ground ginger wrap relieves coughs and other symptoms. How to do this:

Mix one to two teaspoons of ginger powder (freshly ground if possible) with a little water and let it swell briefly. Then stir the swollen mass into 500 to 750 milliliters of hot water (approx. 75 degrees). Now roll up a cotton cloth from both sides towards the middle, roll it up lengthways in a tea towel and place it in the water so that its ends protrude. Let the wrap pull through and then wring it out. Then take the cotton cloth out of the tea towel and briefly fan the area of skin to be treated (chest, back) with it in order to get the skin used to the increased temperature. As soon as the heat is bearable, apply the cloth tightly and without wrinkles. Then wrap a preheated outer cloth around the torso to hold it in place and keep it warm. Leave the ginger wrap on for a maximum of 15 to 30 minutes, then remove. Afterwards, the patient should rest warmly covered.

You can put on a ginger flour wrap for several days in a row, but not more than once a day (preferably in the morning). During the first application, the patient should not be alone in the event of local intolerance reactions.

The ginger wrap ensures that the body is warmed up slowly and intensively. This can increase sensory perception, also in connection with dreams. During the application, the patient should therefore lie in a quiet room that is as dark as possible.

Essential oils for coughs

What helps against dry coughs and mucous coughs besides medicinal plants? The essential oils found in many plants. A large part of the healing power of various plants is based on them. Instead of a medicinal plant, the essential oil extracted from it can often be used as a home remedy for coughs, for example in the form of rubs or oil baths. In principle, the essential oils of thyme, eucalyptus, fennel, anise, spruce, fir, pine and lavender are suitable for this.

The following recipes apply to otherwise healthy adults. Before using essential oils in children, pregnant women, breastfeeding women, the elderly and people with certain underlying diseases (such as asthma, epilepsy), you should always consult an experienced doctor or aromatherapist! It may be that some oils may not be used at all or only in reduced doses in these groups of people in order to avoid the risk of serious side effects.

Rub in

As a home remedy for coughs, you can rub essential oils individually or in combination on the chest and / or back - but not directly, but after diluting in a fatty oil (such as jojoba oil). Here is an example of the recipe for a cough oil for dry coughs:

Mix 8 ml jojoba oil and 2 ml black cumin oil as a fatty base oil. Then add two drops of each of the following essential oils:

Cupressus sempervirens (Mediterranean cypress)
Eucalyptus staigeriana (a type of eucalyptus with a mild and lemon-like scented essential oil)
Lavandula officinalis (real lavender)

With one to two milliliters of this cough oil you can gently rub your chest and back for a few minutes if you have a dry cough.

Basically, after rubbing in the chest and / or back, patients should rest well covered for about half an hour. You can rub in the breast two to three times a day, depending on your needs. You can rub your back once or twice a day. It is particularly beneficial to rub in the "cough suppressant" before going to bed - many of those affected can then sleep more peacefully at night.

Oil bath

Essential oils are also suitable as a bath additive for coughs. Thyme and eucalyptus oils in particular help against coughs. To do this, mix a few drops of the oil with an emulsifier (e.g. cream, milk, honey or salt). Then pour the mixture into the running bath water.

The bath temperature should not be higher than the measured body temperature. The patient should bathe for about ten to 20 minutes, then dry off well and rest in the preheated bed for half an hour. Many patients find a bath in the evening to be beneficial for coughing at night.

In pharmacies and drugstores you can also get "ready-made" oil baths that you simply have to pour into the bath water. Instructions for use can be found in the manufacturer's information.

Inhale with essential oils

As mentioned above, inhalation can loosen stuck mucus and thus support expectoration in the case of a productive cough. In addition to medicinal herbs, pure essential oils such as thyme are also suitable as additives:

Add one to two drops of thyme oil to a tablespoon of honey and then stir it into a quarter to half liter of warm water. Hold your face over the bowl (with a towel over your head and upper body) and inhale the rising vapors slowly and deeply. Keep your eyes closed to avoid irritation. Thyme inhalation is recommended as a home remedy for coughs, phlegm and colds.

Other essential oils are also suitable for this purpose. So you can also loosen stuck mucus by inhaling tea tree oil (stir two to four drops on a tablespoon of honey into a quarter to half liter of warm water).

Home remedies for coughs in babies and children

There are very gentle home remedies for babies and children with a cough. Some of the above-mentioned applications are also suitable for small patients, for example the cough syrup with onion, the chest compress with quark or potatoes (both can also be applied as a compress) and inhalation with chamomile. Here are some other home remedies for coughs in babies, toddlers and older children:

Onion juice with rock candy

Onion juice (sweetened with honey, sugar, or maple syrup) is a good home remedy for coughs. But what do you do if the child spurns him? Then onion juice with rock candy is often better received.

For the home remedy for dry coughs and congestion of secretions, peel and dice a large onion.Put the onion cubes together with 100 milliliters of water and 100 g of rock candy in a saucepan and cook the whole thing over low to medium heat to a syrup. Because the mass burns easily, stir constantly and add a little water if necessary. At the end, sieve and keep closed in a clean jam jar. Your child can take a teaspoon of this onion juice several times a day if they cough.

Black currant juice

The juice contains a lot of vitamin C and can be very beneficial if you have a cold or flu with a cough. It is best to dilute the unsweetened juice with hot water and drink it in small sips. Even during the recovery period (convalescence), the little patient can drink a glass for lunch and dinner.

Honey milk

It is a well-known remedy for dry coughs for children over one year of age, but also helps against sore throats and sleep disorders. Honey milk calms the irritated mucous membrane of the throat, relieves the urge to cough and also promotes sleep. To do this, warm milk for a glass or mug and dissolve a teaspoon of honey in it. You may also want to add a pinch of butter. Drink the honey milk in small sips before going to bed. This relieves the dry cough, which allows the child to sleep more peacefully.

Fennel honey

Many children who have coughs with sputum (phlegm cough) love fennel honey. The home remedy is suitable for patients from one year of age. For production, ten grams of freshly ground fennel fruits are stirred into 100 grams of bee honey and left to stand for ten days. Then strain. Cough patients should drink a cup of hot water mixed with one to two teaspoons of fennel honey several times a day. This can solve the cough and make it easier to expectorate.

As already mentioned above: Children under one year of age are not allowed to get honey (because of the potential for bacterial toxin).

Full bath with thyme infusion

This full bath made with thyme herb is an antispasmodic and expectorant for coughs (for example with a cold, bronchitis or whooping cough). Afterwards, the mucus can be coughed up more easily, so that the child can sleep better - the bath is therefore particularly advantageous in the evening.

For the bath, pour one liter of boiling water over 50 g of thyme and leave to stand for 20 minutes, covered. Then strain the infusion and pour it into the 37 degree warm bath water. The child should bathe in it for about ten minutes. Check with a bath thermometer, often the bath water does not cool down. If so, then run hot water at the foot of the tub.

As soon as the child gets out of the tub, dry them off quickly, put them on warm night clothes and put them to bed.

You can read more about children & coughs and possible causes of the symptom (e.g. barking cough in pseudo croup) in the articles Coughing in babies and coughing in children.

Essential Oils In Children?

As with adults, you can often use aromatherapy for home remedies for coughs in children (e.g. hot and humid breast compresses with lavender oil). As a precaution, always discuss the use of essential oils in children with an experienced doctor or aromatherapist. This is especially true if a toddler has a cough (or other discomfort) and you want to use aromatherapy for help. Particular caution is required with babies: coughs and other symptoms should only be treated with essential oils by an expert (doctor, aromatherapist), if at all.

Home remedies for coughs have their limits

Home remedies for coughs can be an effective help - but they also have their limits: If the symptoms persist over a longer period of time, and do not get better or even worse despite treatment, you should always consult a doctor.

Attention should also be paid if coughing patients show signs of a serious illness. A rough, barking cough in a toddler can be caused by pseudo croup - a virus-related respiratory infection that can be serious under certain circumstances: If you have a severe coughing attack with signs of lack of oxygen, you must call the emergency doctor immediately! Home remedies for the cough are then not enough.

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