What your persistent cough is telling us

When the cooler weather hits we are more prone to the common coughs, colds and flu that pounce as winter creeps closer.

In the medical world there are not a lot of tools to settle a bad cough. Antibiotics may clear a bacterial infection. A few pharmacy products may help also, but once any infection is gone, why do we continue to cough for months?

As a Naturopath and Herbalist with over 30 years of experience, I have treated so many coughs, after they have been treated by antibiotics or pharmacy drugs.

You might like to understand what your cough is telling us…

A cough can occur when we have mucous running down the back of our throat. The mucous causes a tickle, leading to throat irritation and a pesky harsh cough that seems to lasts forever. Many people think this is a chest infection.

We don’t need more antibiotics, we need some natural remedies to soothe the irritated throat membranes, and reduce the mucous going down the back of our throats, this allows the throat to heal and develop its protective coating weakened from the constant coughing.

We also need to remove foods that cause mucous and use herbs to break up mucous in the sinuses and nose.

If you arrive with a really harsh cough that hurts your head each time you cough, we will use a different set of natural medicine tools. We have great herbs to relax the tight cough and allow the mucous from the throat and chest to release.

A wet cough after we have used our herbal tools to relax the tightness is a good sign as it allows the mucous from a virus or infection to be released. This natural progression enables a cough to come to a healthy resolution leaving the airways healthy and vital.

Coughs can vary throughout their expression but we are experienced at understanding what it is telling us. Of course if there is an active viral or bacterial infection, we would address this also.

This all sounds complicated but I thought it might be helpful for you to understand that a cough is just not a cough. All our approaches in the clinic heal irritated membranes and release mucous which strengthen the respiratory tissues. Sometimes we have to be patient if the body has been quite unwell but our different approaches and remedies will ensure that you receive the correct tool when you come to see us for that stubborn cough that just won’t go away.