Coughs - the homeopathy remedies you need to know!

I run an interactive facebook group for my homeopathy followers. It started after I realised that there wasn't anything else like it out there. My goal is to run the group as holistically as possible - no spurious links being shared (I don't believe in trying to force opinions on to parents; if parents want to research different areas of healthcare for their family they will do so), no selling, keeping it about homeopathy and holistic treatments, and most importantly - having a positive support for parents to ask questions and get some good advice.

The group is busy and the majority of the questions and discussions are about the best way to treat 'acute' everyday illness in babies and children - so coughs, flu, ear infections, tummy bugs - but also a chance for parents to question whether I can help other health issues which are more serious.

Here in Ireland, the weather is damp! So there are always a lot of coughs going around. Over the years, I have learned about so many remedies for treating coughs that I wanted to share this info. A few weeks ago, I did a live video in the group explaining about all these remedies. I got great feedback and so many people watched the video. Because I believe in following the 'flow' of where life takes me, I posted a poll to see if people would like to see more videos - huge response to this! So the plan is to do a weekly video (this week it is Flu).

These videos are free to watch. I am a lecturer of homeopathy and have run workshops for a long time so I know and appreciate what parents are looking to learn.

So here's the remedies which you need to know.

The more well known remedies first ….

1. Aconite

Dry hard loud barking cough. Comes on suddenly. After exposure to cold or chill. Midnight is a big time for Aconite. Particularly with croup, will start close to this time. Good remedy for fever too, so if the cough is dry with a fever, worth looking at this. Coughs don’t tend to stay in the Aconite picture for long, so if you haven’t got it early you probably need to look at other remedies.

2. Spongia

Ok this one is a must-have remedy! Big remedy for Croup. But also brilliant for coughs that are really dry, barky and croupy sounding. Coughs can sound like a seal barking. There can be a whistle to the breathing too. Also has a time aggravation around midnight. There can be feeling that there’s something stuck in the throat. May be hoarse. Cough can be helped by eating or drinking. If there is any mucous at all, then it is not Spongia (more than likely it has moved on to Hepar-sulph).

3. Drosera

Violent, choking cough. Nearly like suffocating from the cough. This cough is hard and deep. Tickle in throat that sets off the cough. Coughs that come in spasms, and can end in gagging or even vomiting. Much worse at night, especially after lying down. Huge remedy for Whooping Cough.

4. Hepar-sulph

Rattly loose deep cough. Chesty & phlegmy cough. Phlegm is thick and yellow (from nose too). Feverish. (Be aware the cough can also be dry and croupy too, especially in the early stage). Hepar-sulph do not like the cold when they’re sick. Even a draft will set them off. They want to be wrapped up warm. They can be extremely moody when sick! Irritable, impatient, critical.

5. Phosphorous

This is a great all-round lung remedy. Dry hard tickling cough. But loose coughs too. Talking / laughing and changing air temperature can set off the cough. If there’s any nose discharge, it can be blood streaked. Great remedy for nosebleeds. Kids who get recurring coughs or asthma can do well on this. (Best not to treat asthma yourself though). This remedy is great for a cold that always goes to the chest. Phosphorous is usually thirsty and asks for cold drinks. And will want ice-cream. Anything cold! They are usually worse in the evening, particularly at dusk. Can be bad in morning too though. Chest can be painful during cough so child will sometimes hold it. Good remedy for a cough that stays after pneumonia.

6. Ant-tart

This is a very easy remedy to spot. The cough is rattling and loose. The breathing is rattling. You can hear the breathing in this remedy, you can hear the mucous rattling in the chest. Can have phlegm with this remedy. Will gasp with the cough, trying to catch breath.

7. Rumex

Real tickly cough. Tickle especially of the larynx and upper respiratory tract. Usually starts off with a raw burning in larynx, then cough starts. Set up by change in air temperature from changing rooms, or opening the fridge or an outside door. Or even when the air temperature drops during the night – so the person will cover their mouth to stop the coughing, or have their head under the duvet to breathe in the warm air.

8. Belladonna
Face will usually be flushed red with the cough and there’ll be an accompanying high fever. Dry violent cough. Headache usually. Chest will be sore from coughing. Moaning when they breathe. You’ll be able to feel the fever and heat off them even before you touch them. Throat will usually be red and inflamed. Or feel that way – hot and inflamed.

9. Bryonia

Dry Bry! Dry hacking really painful cough. This is slow onset cough. Child will be crying at the thought of coughing, and will hold their chest in anticipation. Very irritable picture – think ‘ bear with a sore head’. They will usually be thirsty. Will want to be left alone and keep really still as any movement makes them a lot worse.

10. Nux Vomica

Cough after been excessively busy, stressed or overworked, or over-indulgence in food, alcohol etc. Cough which is bad in the morning or starts around the 3 to 4 am time. Usually with a bursting headache. Very irritable.

11. Ignatia

Very emotional remedy. Cough that comes on after grief or an emotional upset. Usually a dry hollow spasmodic cough. The more they cough, the worse it gets.

12. Ipecac

This cough sounds ‘chesty’. You can hear a moist rattling wheezy sound – but ‘usually’ with no phlegm. Usually ends in gagging or vomiting. If it’s a baby, they will be difficult and frustrated.

13. Kali-bich

Rattling cough with sinuses. Loads of thick, stringy discharge which can be hard to get up. If there’s anything going on with the sinus, think of this remedy.

14. Pulsatilla

Very very easy remedy to spot, no matter what is going on. Child will be clingy and weepy. If it’s an adult, then they’ll be emotional, crying and feeling very sorry for themselves. This can be a dry or chesty cough with yellow green snot (or phlegm). Always better for fresh air and worse for stuffy rooms. Usually thirstless.

15. Arsenicum

Cough from an allergy or irritation in respiratory tract. Worse between midnight and 2 am. Better for warmth and warm drinks. They will be cold, restless and usually anxious. Thirsty for tiny sips of water (this is something you will observe if a child).

16. Calc Carb

Dry in the evening and night. Loose in the morning. < damp weather, drafts.

17. Chamomilla

Especially when brought on with teething in babies. The Chamomilla picture is angry and frustrated.

18. Rhus Tox

Dry, irritated coughs. < getting wet.

And the more obscure remedies –

19. Stannum

This is a deep cough which produces greenish phlegm. Phlegm will taste either salty or sickly sweet. Cough which is set off by mucous caught in the throat or larynx. Cough that gets triggered by doing anything – moving, laughing, walking. Person will feel weak and exhausted. Because Stannum is made from tin, the cough can sound ‘tinny’.

20. Dulcamara

Cough (and bronchitis) when the weather turns cold and particularly damp. It is also worse for physical activity so if your child plays sports out in damp evenings and this is bringing on a cough, or making a cough worse, think of Dulcamara. Throat is tickling and feels raw.

21. Corallium

DRY! Spasms of coughing, suffocating cough. Can sound like a machine-gun. Violent spasms of cough. Face can turn purple with the coughing, usually ending with vomiting up stringy type mucous.

22. Grindellia

This cough is OK during the day but comes on after going asleep. Smothering cough. Often needed in bronchitis. Usually chesty cough with mucous coming up, which then ends up making them feel better.

23. Sticta

Cough which comes on after a bad cold or flu. The striking characteristic about this is that the head cold dries up and within hours the cough starts. Dry, constant, hacking cough. Becomes exhausted with the cough. Cough which is made worse by coughing. Really bad at night and practically absent during the day. Person will be talking a good bit.

24. Sambucus

Big croup remedy, comes on around midnight. Suffocating cough. Feels like cough is strangling. Child will wake up suddenly with this suffocating cough, face might be blue. Nose might be blocked so difficult to breathe out. Breastfeeding baby who is struggling to feed and breathe because of cough. Could be sweating with the cough.

25. Nat-arsenicum

Racking cough with loads of green phlegm. Chest feels really tight.

26. Cuprum

Spasms of suffocating or choking cough. Dry hollow sounding cough. Coughs themselves out of breath and will be trembling afterwards. Cough better for cold drinks.

27. Coccus Cacti

Violent spasms of cough which produces clear ropy mucous – either coughed up, or even vomited. The mucous might be hanging from the mouth. But the cough can be dry too. Big remedy for Whooping Cough. The airways feel raw. Their worse times are first thing in the morning, around 7 am. Or around 11.30 pm at night. They are worse for becoming overheated, or in warm rooms. Much better for cold fresh air, or cold drinks / cold food.

28. Mentha

Frequent coughs and colds. Dry cough that is purely caused by breathing in air through the larynx. The larynx and throat will be sore, even externally. Swallowing is painful, like there’s a pin there. Voice will be husky. A big indication for this remedy is there are no major indications. So no real strong symptoms, just what I’ve mentioned here.

For coughs that linger for weeks and weeks, a miasmatic remedy is usually required. Sometimes the above remedies will get you 80% right but it just won’t completely go – this is where the miasmatic nosodes are needed. You will need to book in with a homeopath for this deeper treatment.

Hope this information helps.

Link to my facebook group --- https://www.facebook.com/groups/homeopathyforbabiesandchildren/
Website --- http://www.thehomeopathyclinic.ie