As the weather starts to change, and the temperature begins to drop, we may experience the so-called tickly cough. The indication for tickly cough to occur is the itchy feeling of the throat, causing us to instinctively try to cough. What’s more annoying is when the tickly cough occurs in the middle of important event, such as job interview or when you just want to have a nice rest after a long, tiring day. Well, actually there are some things that you can do to relieve the tickly cough.
Ease the tickly cough by drinking hot liquids
A way to relieve tickly cough is by keeping the throat moist, and you can do this by increasing your liquid intake. Tea as well as chicken soup are the traditional treatments for dry, tickling cough; and can help to alleviate the symptoms of mild colds as well. Honey and lemon can be mixed with the hot tea to soothe a ticklish throat. However, other liquids such as water, juice, broth, and chicken soup may also help to dislodge annoying tickle. Drinking more liquids will help to thin the mucous in your throat. Some also recommend drinking elderly blossom tea as a cure for a cough. However, you might want to avoid drinking dairy product, as it can make your mucous thicker.
Keep it humid to ease tickly cough
Another way to get rid of the tickly cough is to control the humidity. To invest in humidifier and place it in common areas such as bedroom or living room may help to keep the moist air to get in contact with your throat, so dry throat can be avoided. To take a hot shower and breathing in the moist air is also said as a way to soothe your dry tickling cough. Some also advise to breath in the steam coming from a steeping cup of tea and honey. To wear a turtleneck shirt or sweater may also do the trick. Pull the top of the turtle neck over your mouth and nose and breathe through to get warm air. This will moisten your throat and prevent the urge to cough.
Take medication to get rid of tickly cough
If your tickling cough gets worse, maybe it is time to start to think to take certain medications. Cough suppressant to fight a dry cough or expectorant to fight a weight cough are recommended to alleviate the tickly cough syndrome. If the cough is due to postnasal drip, taking decongestant can also help. However, do not take decongestants more than three days to prevent rebound congestion. There are also several folk-remedy cough syrup recipes that you could try. Most of them are combination of vinegar, butter and molasses, or a blend of slippery elm bark tea, licorice and honey. A study conducted in 2007 also found that honey was deemed to be more effective than cough syrups. Take the honey straight by the spoonful, or add it to herb tea or warm water. However, never give honey to a child under the age of 1.
The cause of tickly cough
Tickly cough can be pretty annoying as it may disturb your daily activities. It is getting more irritating as you have difficulties in sleeping due to this tickly cough! Imagine that you have a long, rough day and in the need of proper rest and you just cannot sleep because you are coughing for every 5 seconds. Actually, a cough is a normal response of our body to clear our airways from any dirt, dust, or other type of irritants. However, tickly cough is mostly caused by sore throat, due to dryness condition of our throat. Therefore, to drink water more frequently is considered as a way to prevent tickly cough. What other ways that we can do to relieve the tickly cough?
Drugs and medicines to treat tickly cough
There are several types of drugs and medicines which can be used to treat a cough are depending on the cause of it. For example, an acute infection, e.g. pneumonia, can be treated by using antibiotics, and a cough which is induced by asthma condition can be treated using bronchodilators. For cough that is caused by allergy, antihistamine will work best. In general, a physician would not prefer to suppress a productive cough; as it is considered as a way for body to clear the respiratory system from any dirt, dust, or any other infective agents. However, if the cough disturbs the rest of the patient or is associated with colds or flue, antitussives or expectorants can be used to treat such condition.
Antitussives are drugs used to suppress a cough; for example codeine which can depress the cough center in the brain. Usually, antitussives can cause several side effects such as the occurrence of drowsiness, nausea, and constipation. Dextromethorphan is another type of antitussives which can depresses the cough center of the brain without the side effects; while demulcents can relieve coughing by coating the irritated passageways.
Expectorants work by using another method to treat cough; which is by thinning the mucus. The examples of primary ingredients for expectorants are guaifenesin and terpin hydrate. However, actually some studies have found that increasing fluid intake will promote the same thinning effect as taking expectorants, in the condition of acute infections.
Alternative treatment of tickly cough
Coughs which can be caused by bacterial or viral infection of upper respiratory tract can be treated using botanical and homeopathic therapy. Some herbal and homeopathic cough formula can be an effective solution for your tickly cough problem. The simplest way to treat tickly cough is simply increasing fluid intake and breathing in warm, humidified air to loosen the chest congestion. It is also said that tea with the mix of honey and lemon is a pretty effective temporary home remedy for coughs caused by colds or flu (vitamin C can prevent the flu and cold). In term of food that you should avoid, it is wise to avoid dairy products as they can produce mucous which promotes the occurrence of cough.
Commonly, tickly cough is caused by environmental factors such as smog or dust; or may be caused by the after-effect of an allergic reaction or cold. Even though it is generally not dangerous, tickly cough can be very annoying and can disturb your activities. Imagine that you are in the need of plentiful rest and you just cannot sleep due to excessive, irritating tickly cough. However, there are certain things that you can do to ease tickly cough in a safe, effective way.
Drink to ease tickly cough
Drink water may help to ease the tickly cough, especially if the cough is caused due to accumulation of dust, exposure to polluted air, or dryness. It is known that cool fluids (e.g. water and fruit (non-citrus) juice) may help to ease tickly cough. However, avoid citrus juice and carbonated beverages as they can make the tickly cough worse. Milk can sometimes help to ease the condition when the cough is dry and tickly. However, keep in mind that milk can increase mucus production which makes the symptoms worse in some type of illnesses.
Some medications to treat tickly cough
Tickly cough can also be the residue of cold or other illness. At that time, taking a cough suppressant such as dextromethorphan may help to ease the situation. Several other types of cough suppressants are codeine, linctus, and pholcodine. Glycerin tablets may also help to ease tickly cough due to dust, polluted air, or dryness.
Tickly cough can also occur as the symptom of chronic nasal congestion or sinusitis; as there is a thin trickle of mucus that irritates the back of your throat is it makes its way out of the sinus passages. Then, the mucus stream or post-nasal drip provokes the cough. At this condition, tickly cough can be eased by taking antihistamine. The example of antihistamine which may help to ease your tickly cough in this condition is diphenhydramine; which can help to dry up the stream. To have suggestion from healthcare provider would be the best choice to choose the most effective medication.
Other things to do to ease tickly cough
Other than medications, there are several traditional ways which can be done to ease tickly cough. Honey is known as a natural and effective cough suppressant that can relieve the symptom of tickly cough that disturbs your sleep. Tickly cough can also be caused by sore throat. In this condition, tea or warm water with mixture of lemon and honey is known as traditional cure. Wild cherry as well as anise can also be brew as teas which may relieve dry, irritating coughs. However, you might want to consult with your physician before taking herbal remedy to treat your tickly cough. To have a sip of warm soup can also help, as it can thin mucus and lubricate dry, tickly throat. Any kind of soup may help, but avoid cream-based soups. Gargling a cup of warm water mixed with a tablespoon of salt for 30 seconds can also help to remove the mucus from the throat and relieve the soreness.
Have you experienced tickly cough at night, which is obviously one of the most annoying things that could happen to you after a long, tiring day? It is true that it might not be that dangerous, but it may disturb your sleeping time and put your mood off. In the next morning, there is a high probability that you will be very sleepy, and is easily irritated due to lack of sleep. Then, a productive day seems to be hard to be achieved in this state. Then, what can we do to treat the root of all problems: tickly cough?
What things cause tickly cough?
They say one of the keys to win a war is to know your enemy. Then, to know the cause of tickly cough will eventually help us find a way to treat it. Coughing is actually a reflex action started by stimulation of sensory nerves in the lining of the respiratory passages (the tubes we use to breathe). When we cough, there is an interval of our breathing pattern, and the larynx will close momentarily. The muscles of our chest and abdomen used for breathing will contract, and create the pressure which is needed to drive air out the lungs when the larynx re-opens.
This automatic reflex is intended to clear the airway from any kinds of dusts, dirt, or excessive secretions. Coughing is actually plays vital part of the defense mechanism of our body, as normally the lungs and the lower respiratory passages are sterile. Therefore, if there are dust and dirt which get into our lungs, bacteria may grow on them; and later on cause pneumonia or infection of breathing tubes. In the case of tickly cough, usually sore throat caused by accumulation of dust, dirt, and dry condition of throat are considered as the major cause. Tickly cough can also be the symptoms of chronic nasal congestion or sinusitis if there is a thin trickle of mucus that irritates the back of your throat as it makes its way out of the sinus passages.
Natural ways to get rid of tickly cough
There are several natural solutions to treat the annoying tickly cough. One of the most known is to drink the mixture of honey and lemon in warm water or warm tea, to relieve the symptoms of sore throat and dryness. To treat dry throat and to reduce the mucus buildup, consuming warm soup (without cream!) may also help. To relieve your sore throat, try to gargle a cup of warm water mixed with a tablespoon of salt for 30 seconds.
Some medications which can be used to treat tickly cough
If things get to be more serious, you might want to consider to use medicines to treat the tickly cough; especially if the condition of your throat is worsened to severe condition. Cough suppressant such as dextromethorphan, codeine, linctus, and pholcodine; as well as glycerin tablets; can be used to suppress the cough. For the tickly cough that may occur as the sign of sinusitis, consider to take antihistamine such as diphenhydramine. All things considered, always consult with a physician before you decide to rely on medications.
