If there is one disease which most people would definitely be affected by, it has to be the common cough and cold. It is not without reason that it is called  common cold.  When we look back though, common cold and cough was not so common. It is evident that it has become common due to the lifestyle and environmental changes and can be managed again by looking at how it used to be managed earlier.

Ayurveda believes that health is determined by the balance between the tridoshas in the body, namely vata, pitta, and kapha. Common cough and cold are caused by an imbalance between all 3 components. The type of cough, phlegm, congestion, etc., will vary depending on which dosha is predominant. People who repeatedly have attacks of common cold would be delighted to know there are remedies which are commonly available and can keep these attacks at bay. Read on to know more.

Garlgling with salted lukewarm water soothes the throat and helps in relieving cough.
Taking a combination of honey, lemon, and lukewarm water 3 times a day is very effective in preventing common cold.
Drinking warm liquids like herbal teas and clear vegetable soups with garlic added soothes the throat and also provides antioxidant benefits against cold and cough.
Boil some handful of tulsi leaves in a litre of water, strain and drink it through the day to get rid of cough and cold.
Eating onion dipped in honey also can prevent chronic cough and cold.
Boiling tulsi seeds and ginger in water and drinking this after straining also helps the throat.
Drinking juice of betel leaves is another natural remedy.
Add some salt to mustard oil and rub it on the nose and throat to get immediate relief.
Similarly, a mixture of curd, sugar, and black pepper powder provides relief from cough and congestion.
A mixture of cinnamon, honey, and pepper also helps people with cough and cold.
Add a small quantity of asafetida (hing) to a glass of warm water and feel the relief in the lungs and throat.
Boil water with jaggery and coriander seeds, strain and drink twice a day.
A mixture of ginger and milk can be used in concentrated form to be instilled in the nose.
A mixture of fennel seeds and clove powder mixed with honey provides great relief.
Inhale the vapour of ladies finger from water in which it was boiled. This relieves throat infections and dry cough.
In addition, Ayurveda has specific yogasanas like jal neti, sutra neti, kapalbhati and setubandha, which are aimed at clearing out nasal and airway passages.

Common Cough & Cold - Ayurvedic Remedies For It!

No matter how well you take care of yourself, everyone catches a cold or flu at some time or the other. That s probably the reason why it is popularly known as a  common  cold. A cold on its own does not harm the body much but it leaves you feeling weakened and suppresses the immune system. Cold is a viral infection and hence is usually unresponsive to antibiotics and other medication. However, Ayurveda can help manage a cold better and speed up the recovery process.

Cough and cold can be triggered by a number of factors including a sudden drop in temperature, exposure to dust or pollen or staying in rooms with poor ventilation. Additionally, aggravating the structure, stability, and cohesiveness of the body can also cause a cold or cough. When the food we eat is not digested properly, it turns into partly digested that triggers cold or cough when it reaches the respiratory system. Some common ayurvedic remedies for coughs and colds are:

Enhance your body heat: Keeping the body warm, especially the head, throat, chest and feet, is the first step to recovering from a cold. Drinking a cup of hot spiced tea or a glass of warm water mixed with 1 teaspoon of honey and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, a few times a day, can also help. Spices like cumin, coriander and black pepper are considered heat generating spices and hence should be used liberally when preparing food.
Vapour therapy: To recover from a cough that is accompanied by congestion, try inhaling the hot vapours of water mixed with a little eucalyptus oil. This helps dilate the bronchial tubes and unblocks the nostrils. Inhaling the vapours of water mixed with rock salt can help relieve heaviness in the head and a mild cold. Simple hot water vapours itself can even be inhaled to relieve sinusitis pain. To benefit from vapour therapy, it is essential to sit in a room without the fan on and to cover your head and the vapour source while inhaling the steam.
Turmeric Smoke: Inhaling turmeric smoke is said to have an antiseptic effect on the lungs and respiratory tract. To benefit from this therapy burn a dried root of turmeric and inhale the smoke a few times. If you do not have access to the dried root of turmeric, place a red hot piece of charcoal with a few dried leaves in a clay pot, add a heaped spoon of turmeric powder to this and blow gently till it catches fire before inhaling the smoke.

Common Cold & Cough - Home Remedies For It!

Come winter or even a slight change of season, and it is easy to catch a cold. With cold, it is quite normal and natural to develop a deep chest cough. However, it is to be noted that chest cough develops due to different reasons. Some are due to chest infections, while others are dry cough. Thus, for these different variations of cough, different homeopathic treatments are administered. Here is a list of some of the common types of treatments for curing deep chest cough-

Pulsatilla: Pulsatilla is administered to those who have a sore throat, constant irritation in the eyes and fever. When fever is accompanied with cough and cold, it is important to treat all three symptoms, lest it might usher in a more serious disease. Homeopathy is often described as a holistic form of treatment. Through the medicines, the personality of the patient can be determined. For instance, Pulsatilla is administered on those who are soft, gentle, mild and timid and who have a fear of being abandoned and thus cling on to people.

Nux Vomica: Those experiencing high levels of stress and falling prey to cough and cold with a sore throat and sharp pain while swallowing should try a dose of Nux Vomica. This is used to cure cough and cold, which block the nose, especially at night, making it troublesome for the individual to breathe. This might also cause blockage in the ear and sharp pains while trying to swallow food.

Phosphorus: At times, one experiences an extreme bout of cough that is triggered through dry throat and coarse fever. This violent cough can be nerve wrecking at times and a relaxing remedy is preferred by the patient as soon as possible to soothe the irritation.

Bryonia: This is the best medicine to treat dry cough that can be a symptom of a slowly approaching influenza. Such coughs occurs when an individual takes a high intake of cold drinks or due to sudden weather changes. The cough is followed by fever and dryness of the throat. It might also itch to a certain extent.

Natrum Mur: It is the best treatment for a dry cough, which often causes a tingling sensation in the throat. This sensation creates irritation and often leads to sleepless nights for the patient. There is also presence of whitish mucus in such types of cough.

These are some of the most common types of homeopathic treatments for treating deep chest cough. Each cough is different in nature and origin, and hence should be treated differently as per the individual symptoms.  

How To Treat Deep Chest Cough With Homeopathy?

One thing that a weather change brings about is lung infections - most commonly cough and cold. Most people dread the change of seasons from one temperature to another because of the fear of how their body will react to the weather change. Be it extreme hot or cold, most people end up with a cough and cold. The more affected age groups again are the children and the elderly. However, all it takes to prevent this is to plan a little so that the body can get used to the change and not react with a cough or cold.

Prevention: There are few things that can be done which can help avoid catching cold.
1. Avoid sudden exposure to cold, from a heated room to the cold outdoors, especially in the evening and morning. Those who are used to a morning and evening walk may have to change the routine.
2. Avoid cold food items such as cool drinks, milk shakes and ice-creams.
3. Having a warm bath, early morning and late evening is advisable.
4. Avoid foods such as sour stuffs, pickles and fried foods.
5. Eat small, frequent meals that are prepared fresh are nutritious and of moderate temperature.
6. If there are infected people in your neighborhood, avoid being in close contact with them as you might get infected as well.
7. Wash your hands enough to keep them free of germs
8. As much as cold weather does not make you thirsty, push enough fluids so that your body stays hydrated. If water is not appealing enough, drink warm water or tea or lime.
9. Ensure the house, especially kitchen and bathroom are clean and disinfected.
10. Avoid exposure to dust and pollen as they carry lot of germs.
11. Avoid staying in a poorly ventilated room, enough circulation ensures germs are not concentrated in one room
12. Timely vaccination against flu

Treatment: Despite these measures, once the cough and cold has set in, the following are some easy remedies:

1. Steam inhalation, preferably with eucalyptus oil added to it.
2. Having warm soup with ginger and garlic added to it to soothe the throat
3. Ginger and other spices like cardamom and cinnamon can also be added to tea.
4. Lemon and honey can be added to a glass of warm water. This will soothe the throat and help fight cold.
5. Chewing Tulsi leaves can be beneficial
6. Yoga exercises such as Pranayama and Jalneti can be done to cleanse the nasal cavity, prevent sinus congestion, and clear mucus

Cough and Cold Due to Weather Change - Prevention & Treatment Tips

A cough is probably one of the most common respiratory diseases that people suffer from. In most cases, it is nothing to worry about and can be cured with cough suppressants and salt water gargles. However, coughing of blood is a serious problem. The coughing up of blood that originates from below the level of the larynx is known as hemoptysis. This can vary in terms of severity depending on the amount of blood being expelled. This disease is a common condition, but on an average, less than 5% of hemoptysis cases are life threatening.

Hemoptysis rarely affects children. The symptoms of this condition include:
Sudden onset of a cough with bloody phlegm

Fever
Anorexia and weight loss
Dyspnoea
Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea
Fatigue
Chest pain: Medical attention should be sought in cases where this condition recurs often, if it lasts for longer than a fortnight or if the volume of blood expectorated is more than 30ml per day. The various tools that help in the diagnosis of this condition are:
Chest radiography: This imaging modality helps lateralize bleeding and understand the amount of lung involvement. It is quick, inexpensive and can also help detect other underlying abnormalities.
Bronchoscopy: This involves the insertions of a rigid or flexible endoscope into the bronchial passages to check the airways and determine active bleeding sites.
MDCT: A multidetector CT is a non-invasive imaging tool that provides a comprehensive evaluation of airways, lung parenchyma, and thoracic vessels. It can also be used to uncover potential causes of bleeding such as bronchiectasis, pulmonary infections and lung cancer. In some cases, a multidetector CT angiography may also be used.

Oral antibiotics are usually the first stage of treatment for this condition. Smokers will also be urged to quit cigarettes as this can worsen their condition. Treatment for minor hemoptysis may also include:

Oral hemostatics
Cough suppressants
Anticoagulants
Radiation of laser treatment
Therapeutic bronchoscopy
In its later stages, hemoptysis can be treated with a minimally invasive procedure known as endovascular embolization or with surgery. In some cases, endovascular embolization may also be sued to stabilise the patient before surgery. This procedure reduces the pressure in the hypertrophic arterial blood vessels and decreases the risk of perioperative bleeding.

Hemoptysis is also one of the most common complaints of lung cancer patients. Depending on the stage of cancer and the amount of blood expectorated, treatment in some cases may not be possible. In such cases, a parenteral opioid and fast-acting benzodiazepine may be administered. 

How to Treat Coughing Blood (Hemoptysis) Problem

Coughing during the night can really wreak havoc for your sleep and cause inexplicable discomfort in the throat and chest region. Thankfully, you can manage it by soothing your tickling throat as well as sensitive airways before you go to bed at night. 

Drink herbal tea: A mugful of non-caffeinated tea mixed with a teaspoon of honey before going to bed can help you to a considerable extent. This is because any warm liquid has the power to break down the formation of mucus in the throat region and with a bit of honey, the herbal tea becomes even more powerful.
Try to sleep in an inclining position: Gravity is your greatest enemy while combating night-time cough. When you lie down flat on your back at night, all the mucus and dust particles, which you have swallowed all through the day, would accumulate in the throat area and aggravate it making more cough. But you can easily defy gravitational force by piling up some pillows and prop yourself on them while sleeping. You may also keep a wooden block of 4 inches height under your head, which would keep the acids in the stomach so that they don t come up to irritate your throat.
Make sure you use the steam cautiously: When your airways are dry, it can make you cough harder. Therefore, you may find relief if you take a warm shower or a bath before going to bed. But you have to be sure that you don t have asthma as steam can prove harmful for you.
Check the level of humidity: Humidifiers are known to soothe the problem of persistent coughing when the surrounding air is dry. But too much of moisture during the night can also make you cough. This is because dust mites, mold and other allergens thrive well in the damp air and they could conspire to make your cough even worse. So, pick up a cheap hygrometer from a hardware store and see that the humidity level stays within 40 to 50 percent.
Equip yourself at night: Keep all the things from drops to water to cough syrup or anything that soothes coughing at your bedside so that you can help yourself in case you wake up in the middle of the night and start coughing.
By following these few tips every day, you can manage the night time cough and have a good night s sleep without any interruptions.

Night Time Cough - 5 Tips to Manage it

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