Natural Cough Remedies

Natural Cough Remedies

Traditional Chinese natural cough remedies are based on herbal formulas that have been time-tested over many centuries of use in China. Chinese herbal cough remedies can effectively treat all kinds of cough and are suitable and safe for most people including babies. However, you should not buy them over the counter or online without consulting a qualified Chinese herbal medicine practitioner.

Different Stages and Types of Cough

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), there are numerous stages of a cough and taking the wrong formula at the wrong stage will worsen your cough or have no effect at all.

Also, as your cough progresses from one stage to the next a different herbal formula is needed, otherwise your cough may linger for weeks, even months, or it will worsen. Some of the different kinds of cough that may be treated with Chinese herbal cough remedies are:

Dry, hacking cough

Whooping cough

Smoker's cough

Chronic dry cough

Chronic productive cough

Cough in babies and toddlers

Below are some examples of traditional Chinese natural cough remedies that may treat the above and other kinds of cough.

Natural Cough Remedies for Dry Cough

Mulberry Leaf & Chrysanthemum Pills (Sang Ju Wan in Chinese)

This first Chinese herbal remedy for cough moistens and clears heat in the lungs to stop dry cough. This kind of cough is often associated with the early stages (the first few days) of the common cold or flu in which you may also have symptoms such as mild fever, thirst, headache and sore throat.

The ingredients include mulberry leaf and chrysanthemum which clear heat from the lungs and upper part of the body, and platycodon which stops cough. In biomedical terms this formula is antipyretic (stops fever), antitussive (stops cough) and diaphoretic (promotes sweating).

Hacking Cough

Clear the Lungs & Restrain Fire Pills (Qing Fei Yi Huo Wan)

This second Chinese herbal cough remedy is antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic and laxative. It stops hacking, painful cough with little or no sputum or sputum that is hard to expectorate. The sputum is usually yellow, a sign of heat.

This kind of cough is associated with excess heat in the lungs (and intestines) and may include other symptoms such as sore throat, fever, thirst, sinusitis and constipation. Ingredients include scutellaria, gardenia and rhubarb to clear heat and platycodon to improve lung function and stop cough.

Cough with Phlegm

Clear the Qi & Transform Phlegm Pills (Qing Qi Hua Tan Wan)

This remedy stops cough with thick, sticky, yellow or green phlegm which is difficult to expectorate. In biomedical terms this formula is an expectorant (promotes ejection of mucus), decongestant (breaks up congestion), febrifuge (stops fever) and antitussive.

Other symptoms may include difficulty breathing and wheezing. According to TCM, yellow or green phlegm is a sign of excess heat in the body, so herbs to clear heat and transform phlegm are needed. These include arisaema, scutellaria and trichosanthes.

Natural Cough Remedies (cont.)

Chronic Dry Cough

Ophiopogon Schisandra & Rehmannia Pills (Mai Wei Di Huang Wan)

The biomedical actions of this formula include demulcent (soothes mucus membranes), febrifuge and antitussive. However, unlike the above natural cough remedies, which are mostly used for acute-stage cough, this remedy is for chronic, dry, unproductive cough due to lung and kidney weakness.

This kind of cough is usually worse at night and there may be blood streaked sputum, night sweats, wheezing and asthma. The ingredients include rhemannia which nourishes the kidneys, ophiopogon which moistens the lungs and clears heat, and schisandra which improves lung function and stops cough.

Persistent Cough

Fritillaria & Loquat Leaf Cough Syrup

In addition to the above natural cough remedies in pill form, there are also some very good Chinese herbal cough syrups for different types of cough. These are especially quick and convenient to take at night when you wake up coughing. Chinese herbal cough syrups are suitable for toddlers too.

One of the best herbal cough syrups is Fritillaria & Loquat Leaf Syrup (Nin Jiom Pei Pa Kao) for persistent cough with sticky phlegm.

If you have questions or comments about Chinese herbal cough remedies let me know, I'll be happy to help you. Other remedies that may be appropriate when you have a cough, include Chinese herbal sore throat remedies and common cold remedies.