Coughs: Supporting Your Immune System, & Remedies that Soothe

Aromatherapy, Care During Illness, Herbalism, Self Care, Sleep

Soft blue background with puffs of white on upper right and lower left corners. Text reads, Caring for coughs. Center graphic of torso and head showing lungs and open mouth coughing. Lower left graphic of elder berry syrup bottle, elder berries, sage and tea. Lower right corner pictures of ginger, elecampane root, and marshmallow herb.

Why a post about coughs on a site that focuses on sleep?

 

I wrote this post and others relating to illness and sleep. However, as an herbalist (and psychotherapist), my primary interest is supporting people with sleep. Most of the work that I offer around sleep involves trauma, grief, calming the nervous system, and addressing stress and anxiety and their impacts on our body-mind-spirit. (Since coughs relate to chest congestion, check out my post on that topic here.)

I teach people how to develop ways to care for themselves, and sometimes we get sick!

Coughs are one thing that inhibits sleep, and I want to offer a resource to support your immune system and to help ease your body. This is sort of a tendril of the deeper work that I provide and I hope it helps you!

 

What we need to understand about coughs to address them

 

Coughs are part of how the body dislodges what doesn’t belong, and chest congestion can accompany them. When you have an infection, your immune system traps infectious material with mucus, and coughs are one mechanism to remove it.

Therefore, you don’t want to halt coughs completely, but you can assist your immune system in making coughs productive and ease your body.

 

Herbal Approaches to Care for Coughs

Soft blue background with puffs of white on upper right and lower left corners. Text reads, Caring for coughs. Center graphic of torso and head showing lungs and open mouth coughing. Lower left graphic of elder berry syrup bottle, elder berries, sage and tea. Lower right corner pictures of ginger, elecampane root, and marshmallow herb.

When choosing herbs for coughs, you want to identify what type of cough it is and match herbs to support your system. This is as much about soothing as it is bolstering your immune system!

 

Most over-the-counter and prescription drugs for coughs suppress coughs. An herbal approach:

  • Supports the body in making the cough productive
  • Brings moisture in when there’s dryness or eases up excess mucus and
  • Bolsters the immune system.

There are damp coughs, dry or unproductive coughs and spastic coughs.

 

Identifying Cough Types & Herbal Remedies for Each

Depending on the type of cough, different remedies may be more effective. Below you’ll see different herbs and approaches depending on the type of cough.

Damp Coughs: This is when you have a cough with phlegm. You may have post-nasal drip. If you seem to be coughing out what you need and are able to rest without coughs exhausting you, your system may be doing a good job moving mucus out. But if you’re exhausting yourself with coughing, the body may need support moving mucus out.

Dry, Unproductive Coughs: This is a hacking cough that doesn’t produce anything or little mucus. It is hot, red, and irritated. The lungs and/or sinuses may be dehydrated. We want to bring in a cooling and moistening remedy.

Spastic Coughs: This may come after a long period of coughing. There may be muscle constriction in the bronchioles, and herbs that help dilate them can be supportive.

For the herbal remedies below, you can also support the body in fighting a virus by adding dried Elder berry to any tea blend or work with an Elder berry syrup.

  • You’d want to use dried Elder berry or an elder berry syrup because fresh, unprocessed elder berry can cause gastrointestinal irritation.
  • High doses of raw berries can cause nausea, diarrhea, or induce vomiting.
  • Seek a high quality source from a trusted herb company or herbal remedy maker. Message me if you’re looking for trusted suppliers.

 

Damp Coughs

Soothing blue background. Upper left overflowing drain with water pooling over cobblestones. Text reads, Wet Coughs. Icon of person coughing. Lower pictures of cardamom, eucalyptus, and elecampane.

If coughs have excess mucus and potentially a cold quality to them, herbs can support the immune system to make them more productive.

If there’s excess mucus in the lungs, supporting your body can help it move out the fluid. Herbs can do this by reducing the excess mucus and toning mucus membranes.

You can make teas and decoctions or find syrups or honey infused with the following herbs. Some herbal syrups can be found on the market, and as of writing this post, I’ve not yet written one on how to determine quality, which is very important. Email me for suggested brands if you’re seeking this.

Wild Cherry Bark

Learn more about Wild Cherry Bark here.

• Has expectorant quality to help move out mucus. • Helps tone mucus membranes in the respiratory tract. • Not for use while pregnant or lactating • Do not use with extremely low blood pressure or cardiovascular or respiratory depression. • This herb needs to be dosed in moderation, so check an herbalism book for reference or follow directions of a trusted herbal practitioner or herbal remedy maker.

 

Pine (White)

Learn more about Pine (white) here.

• Helpful in releasing mucus and supporting the body with infection • May support your body in bringing up lingering, thick, green mucus from lungs and sinuses.

Elecampane

Learn more about Elecampane here.

• Can be helpful to lungs in discharging mucus. • This is a root remedy, and that’s important because it’s most effective when made into a decoction, as opposed to a tea. • Avoid during pregnancy and seek guidance of an herbal practitioner during lactation. • Excessive consumption can cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. Please research this herb or work with an herbal practitioner. • Some people have a hard time getting used to the taste. I find it easier to acclimate to tastes when I see the power of a remedy. • Some herbal remedy makers create honey infused with this and you can see if someone in your local herbal community offers this.

Herbs for damp cough that you may most find easily in teas at a store or in your kitchen: Horseradish, Elder, Eucalyptus, and Cardomon.

    • Horseradish is available in jars in grocery stores. You can eat it as a remedy.
    • Eucalyptus leaf is found in tea blends; note this remedy is not the essential oil form.
    • Eucalyptus should be avoided with liver disease, kidney, gallbladder or GI irritation
    • Cardomom Supports mucus membranes by toning them

Dry, Unproductive Coughs

Soothing blue background. Upper right picture of dry desert with cracked ground. Center graphic of person coughing. Text reads, Dry Unproductive Cough. Lower left cup of tea. Lower right pictures of mullein and marshmallow.

An herbal approach for dry coughs is to bring cooling moisture and support the cough to become productive.

 

Here are some remedies to help bring more moisture into the lungs and help move mucus:

  • Teas with Marshmallow (not the candy, but the herb) and or Mullein.
  • Cold infusion of:
    • Cold (as opposed to hot) because it’ll best draw out constituents from the herbs that moisten your mucus membranes
  • Use a humidifier and/or stay in a steamy bathroom to bring in moisture.
  • See my post on herbal steams here. The herbs of choice for your steam are Mullein, Marshmallow, or Astragalus.

 

Spastic Coughs

Calm blue background. Text reads, Spastic Coughs. Center icon of person coughing with hand to chest and squiggles associated with spastic cough. Lower images left to right: thyme, rosemary, elder berry syrup bottle, ginger and cinnamon.

Coughs that have a spasmodic quality to them can be cared for by supporting the lungs and assisting the immune system with managing mucus.

Teas with Rosemary or Thyme may help.

Learn more about Rosemary and Thyme here.

• Both have expectorant properties and can support your body with a cough if it’s trying to expel mucus. • Thyme has antitussive properties.

Teas with Cinnamon and Ginger

Learn more about Cinnamon & Ginger here.

• Both of these herbs are antispasmodic. • Too much ginger can be too intense of a flavor, or overheating for some. Especially dried ginger! So you may need to blend a small amount into a mix of herbs.

Wild Cherry Bark

Learn more about Wild Cherry Bark here.

• May help calm the cough and make mucus easier to move out. • Not for use while pregnant or lactating • Do not use with extremely low blood pressure or cardiovascular or respiratory depression. • This herb needs to be dosed in moderation, so check an herbalism book for reference or follow directions of a trusted herbal practitioner or herbal remedy maker.

Other considerations for spastic coughs.

  • Research and/or talk with an herbal practitioner (link for more info) about herbs with bronchodilator actions.
    • I’m not including more info because supporting your body with these herbs may need more guidance than can come from a blog post.
    • You may also find support from acupuncture practitioners, especially if they have an herbal component to their work
  • Additionally, after an extended period of repetitive coughing, some people wind up with acid reflux that has no other symptoms but perpetuates coughing. You may need to see a healthcare provider to help sort this out.
  • If your cough does not improve within a couple of days, it’s best to see your nurse practitioner, doctor or PCP.

 

When to Seek Medical Care for Coughs

There are times to get medical support for coughs. If you have a cough and you’re struggling to breathe, or the cough is extreme, painful and uncontrolled, or it’s been over a week and you don’t know the cause, you may want to see your nurse practitioner, doctor or PCP.

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Wish you wellness,

-Quai