The cold of winter has brought a high rate of respiratory infections, which have tripled a month after going back to school. Most of the common colds on these dates come with a particularly annoying symptom: coughing. Especially when he doesn’t let us rest at night.
Is there something on the market to kill it? Popular wisdom is full of grandmother’s remedies: putting a cut onion on the nightstand, gargling, putting on a neck collar with alcohol, taking honey and lemon… But the reality is that none of these alleged ‘solutions’ have scientific evidence.
«Cough is a defense mechanism of the lung»
Doctor Jesus Molina
Coordinator of the Semfyc Working Group
What is a cough and how to get rid of it
The first thing to understand is that the cough “is a lung defense mechanism», explains to ABC doctor Jesús Molina, coordinator of the Respiratory Diseases Working Group of the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (Semfyc). It is the lung itself that causes coughing to remove secretions at the bronchial level. «You don’t have to pull it off so that it can do its cleaning function. And this must be explained to the patients, “says the expert.
The doctor recognizes that the cough is very hard to remove and that it is also almost the last symptom that disappears in these viral pictures. “Colds last 7 days whether you treat them or not,” he says. Although any pain reliever can relieve the general symptoms of a cold, the cough can be persistent. And if it does not let us sleep, before taking medication, we must consult with the specialist.
exist drugs with proven evidence to put an end to it, but their prescription will be at the discretion of a doctor, who will assess the benefits and risks of taking them, since they cancel the cough reflex, which is necessary to expectorate and avoid infections.
“Grandma’s remedies have no objective efficacy”
Doctor Jesus Molina
Group Coordinator
“Grandma’s remedies have no objective efficacy,” says Dr. Molina. In the case of honey, it can relieve “something” at the pharyngeal level, softening the throat a bit, but it will not take away our cough either.
How to sleep to avoid coughing at night
to improve the cough at night, Dr. Molina recommends sleeping with a higher pillow than usual to reduce postnasal drip, which causes us to not stop coughing. With the same objective, nasal washes are recommended before going to bed to prevent mucus from starting to drip from behind and stimulate coughing.
Sleep with the highest pillow
Do a nasal wash before bed
Use a humidifier or place bowls with water
No fumes
Avoid places with smoke
Take honey to soothe the throat
Heating, which causes dryness at the pharyngeal level, worsens the situation, so it is advisable to look for a cooler and more humid environment. We can use humidifiers or place a bowl of water in the room where we are. You should also avoid smoking or being in an environment with tobacco smoke.