It’s never a fun situation when you have a persistent cough. You don’t want to be that person in a quiet room during a lecture that can’t stop breaking the silence with your hacking, or that person at the restaurant that makes people fling themselves over their plates to protect their food while you cough away.

Or that person on the plane that everyone throws disgusted looks at. Coughs are just terribly uncomfortable all around, both physically and otherwise. Get rid of your persistent and dry coughs with these effective cough remedies and homemade cough syrups…

There are two primary types of coughs, dry and productive. A productive cough is one in which you are coughing up phlegm or mucous-this is not a cough that should be suppressed, as your body needs to rid itself of the gunk that’s in your chest/lungs. While it shouldn’t be suppressed, some of these remedies will address a productive cough by including an expectorant, or something that loosens mucous and makes it easier for the body to get rid of.

A dry, hacking, cough is another story. This is one we do want to stop. It can be caused by allergies, dry air, a random tickle at the back of your throat that won’t go away, the aftermath of a cold, being in a dusty environment, et cetera. For these we turn to demulcents, ingredients that soothe irritated mucous membranes and remove the irritant triggering the cough. 

A Spoonful of Honey
Honey can work more efficiently to calm a cough than over-the-counter drugs. Honey is a rich demulcent, with a high viscosity and stickiness that does an incredible job of coating and soothing those irritated mucous membranes. Thanks to an enzyme added by bees when they harvest honey, it also has antibacterial properties as well, which may help shorten how long you have the cough if it is due to bacterial illness.

Gargle Salt Water
Also a popular remedy for sore throats, salt water can ease the discomfort caused by a cough the same way it helps a sore throat-through osmosis. When the concentration of salt is higher outside of the cells in your mucous membranes, water flows out of the cells to balance everything out. When water leaves the cells, swelling goes down, and discomfort is decreased. If you have a cough that happens to come along with inflamed tissue, this is a good route to take. It can also help dislodge any phlegm that’s hanging out and allow you to expel it easily.

Steam, Steam, Steam!
The steam quite literally loosen mucous and phlegm, almost immediately, but you can add numerous essential oils that will impart wonderful healing benefits. These benefits (anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory et cetera) do become airborne, so you inhale them while you breathe in the steam. For this particular blend you can include both tea tree oil and eucalyptus oil, which can help soothe and open your airways as well as help fight off bacteria or a virus.

Ginger Peppermint Syrup
Here you get the soothing qualities of warming ginger, all wrapped up in a delicious easy to swallow cough syrup. 
Spicy ginger works as an expectorant, helping loosen and expel mucous from the lungs. 
It can also stop the painful tickle at the back of throat that can trigger a cough if the first place, if you are experiencing a dry cough. The peppermint will also help relieve the irritating tickle of a cough.