Cough

For persistent coughs and phlegm in the throat, the cause must be found out

Coughing is a defensive action caused by some kind of irritation to the trachea. Phlegm is formed by bacteria or dust and tracheal secretions. Coughs can be divided into dry and wet types. If you have a dry cough, you will feel dizzy and burning, and you will not be able to produce phlegm. Often seen in the early stages of colds, bronchitis and pneumonia. A dry cough that lasts for a long time may be tuberculosis. The symptoms of wet cough are non-stop coughing and phlegm in the throat.

Some cough symptoms intensify and may develop into a wet cough. It often occurs in diseases such as lung disease, bronchiectasis, and heart valves. If the cough is severe or the sputum is bloody or green, it is best to seek medical treatment as soon as possible. In addition, you should also pay attention to symptoms such as chest pain, headache, abdominal pain or fever. When relaxing at home, try not to exert physical exertion.

Effective and taboo foods

Effective foods: When you have a dry cough with some phlegm and mucus that is difficult to remove, you can eat pears, radish, honey, white fungus, lily root and loquat leaves, etc. . To use loquat leaves, first use a brush to remove the hair on the leaves and drink them as tea. If you have a wet cough with phlegm, it is suitable to eat tangerine peel or grapefruit.

When the body is hot and the phlegm is yellow-green, this situation is generally called hot cough. At this time, you can eat foods with cooling effects such as radish, winter melon, pears, seaweed, loquat leaves, and persimmons. It is better to eat radish raw when cut into pieces, and the effect is better than cooked.

If the body is cold, sometimes afraid of cold, the phlegm is transparent, and there is a cold feeling, it is a cold condition. Suitable foods include garlic, ginger, onions, tangerine peel, ginkgo, walnuts, etc. Add a little chopped ginger to water and drink it to keep warm. Adding apricots to it can treat coughs and asthma.

However, be aware that eating raw ginkgo can cause dizziness or cramps. Therefore, it must be cooked over fire. Adults can eat 10 pieces a day, and children can only eat 5 pieces. The fruits of nandina and the bark of cherry blossom trees are used when boiled and consumed.

Dry the Nandina fruits in the sun after they are ripe. For a day's consumption, add 10 grams of fruit to 600 grams of water, cook over slow fire, remove the water, and cook to half the amount. Divide into three servings and drink between meals. The bark of the cherry tree needs to be cut in June-July, the outer hard bark and green parts are removed, and then dried in the sun. The daily serving size is about 5-10. The method of decoction and consumption is the same as that of nandina fruit.

Jujube wine also has the effect of relieving coughs and reducing phlegm. The method is to use 18 liters of 35% soju, add 900 grams of dates (if they are big dates, only 300 grams), and store it in a dark place for 3 months. , let it ferment, and you can drink it directly, or mix it with rock sugar and honey.

Taboo foods: Excessive consumption of pork often produces phlegm. Therefore, it is better not to eat if you are prone to phlegm or have a fever. People with a lot of phlegm should not eat more sea cucumbers. People who are asthmatic or prone to coughing may develop symptoms such as fever, phlegm, and vomiting if they eat sashimi. You can only eat a small amount of grilled fish. In addition, glutinous rice and bamboo shoots can aggravate asthma or coughing, and should be avoided by those with cough symptoms.

A long-term cough is not necessarily caused by tuberculosis, just as a cough is not necessarily caused by a cold. According to traditional Chinese medicine, coughs can be roughly divided into four causes:

Cold and cough

That is, according to Western medicine, filtering viruses invade the upper respiratory tract and cause a series of reactions in the body's immune system. The mucosal secretions of the trachea and nasal passages increase, and the patient develops symptoms such as runny nose, nasal congestion, and phlegm. Because there is phlegm and saliva in the throat, reflex actions such as contraction and coughing are made to clear the phlegm. At the same time, the body attempts to kill bacteria by raising its temperature (fever). This will continue until the virus is defeated.

Cough due to lung heat

This situation is very common. The difference between cough caused by lung heat and cough caused by cold is that cough caused by lung heat may not be accompanied by symptoms such as body pain, fever, and hot and cold spells. Instead, it may be accompanied by symptoms such as dry mouth, bitter mouth, sore throat, yellowish and thick phlegm, etc. "Hot" sign. The reason why coughing occurs due to lung heat is because the body's heat is excessive and the mucosal tissue is congested, allowing bacteria to take advantage of it.

Weak Cough

This situation is different from the above two types of coughs. People who cough due to qi deficiency and kidney deficiency will not have earth-shattering coughs, nor will they be heavy, loud, or laborious. There are only two slight but continuous "cough" sounds. The patient always feels that his throat is itchy. If he talks too much or runs a few steps, his throat becomes uncomfortable and he can't help but cough lightly. You may have slightly gray-black phlegm when you cough. This kind of cough can last forever and stay with you for the rest of your life.

Lung disease

Cough caused by serious diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, and lung cancer. At this time, coughing is just one of the symptoms.

Classification and treatment of cough

Cough

Once your throat is itchy, it is difficult to control yourself from coughing in public. Although coughing is very annoying, it is not a disease in itself, but rather a protective reflex of the body.

We can determine the cause of a cough based on the duration and coughed up contents: Sudden coughs are often protective coughs caused by inhaling foreign bodies; coughs caused by colds often last for several days; usually Chronic and persistent coughs are mostly pathological, and the causes may be smoking, allergies, asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, tuberculosis, lung cancer, etc.

The nature, color, and viscosity of the coughed up material can tell us the nature and severity of the disease. Generally speaking, a cough accompanied by back and leg pain, fever, body temperature exceeding 39°C, headache, and sore throat can be judged as influenza; if the sputum turns yellow-green, it indicates ascending infection of the disease, mostly upper respiratory tract infection, Bronchitis, sinusitis, etc.; if the cough is accompanied by difficulty breathing, wheezing, and chest tightness, it can be diagnosed as bronchial asthma; if the cough is accompanied by pink bloody sputum or yellow rust-like sputum, accompanied by chest pain, headache, fever, and difficulty breathing, then Possibly infected with pneumonia.

Hemoptysis is a serious symptom. If it occurs, you should see a doctor immediately. The underlying cause may or may not be serious. So I have to go to the hospital for a system check. Sometimes bleeding gums and nosebleeds may be mistaken for hemoptysis. Hemoptysis is usually caused by rupture of the nasal cavity, throat, trachea, and pulmonary blood vessels. The most common cause is infection, such as bronchitis, tuberculosis, pneumonia, etc. Lung cancer and hemophilia can also cause massive hemoptysis.

●Use the body’s own power

Generally speaking, cough is not a fatal disease. If it is just a cough, nasal congestion, sore throat and other cold symptoms, there is no need to take medicine to allow the body’s own immunity. Just let the system deal with it. In fact, the occasional cold is good for training our body’s immune function. Abuse of antitussives not only reduces the body's ability to clean the respiratory tract, but may also mask serious illness. This harm is more serious when a cough is accompanied by a large amount of phlegm. Therefore, no matter you use antitussive medicine or secret recipe, you should not use it for more than 7 to 10 days. It is best to use it only at night to relieve cough.

●Take medications selectively

Generally speaking, coughs caused by bacteria can be treated with antibiotics, but antibiotics for viral colds do not work. If cold patients have thick phlegm, expectorants can be used to reduce phlegm secretion. Patients with dry cough can use throat lozenges, licorice tablets or cough syrup to reduce the body's susceptibility and relieve cough. But no matter which medicine you use, remember not to take it for too long, and it must be under the guidance of a doctor.

●Drink a lot of water

Taking in a lot of water can help thin the phlegm and make it easier to cough up. Boiled water and fruit and vegetable juices are good recovery drinks. Pear juice, Watermelon juice, apple juice, radish juice, etc. are all good medicines for relieving cough. You may wish to drink 4-5 large glasses of it every day. But be careful not to add sugar or salt. If you want something sweet, you can add a little honey. Honey can moisturize the lungs and relieve constipation, which is helpful for alleviating symptoms.

●Do not drink coffee and alcohol

Try to avoid drinking beverages containing caffeine and alcohol, because these beverages have a diuretic effect and cause body fluids to be consumed too quickly.

●Keep the air moist

Increasing indoor air humidity can help relieve coughs, sore throats, dry nasal passages and other discomforts. You can use a humidifier or teapot to boil water to humidify.

●Raise your pillows

If a cough keeps you tossing and turning, there is a way to relieve it. Try raising your pillow 20 centimeters and sleeping on your side. It prevents mucus accumulation and prevents irritating acidic substances in the stomach from flowing back into the esophagus and being aspirated.

●Acupressure treatment

A severe cough can cause upper back muscle contraction or even spasm. At this time, pressing the Chize point on the lung meridian can relieve the pain.

A balanced diet and replenishing water are the basic requirements for auxiliary treatment of cough patients. You should be careful not to eat spicy food to avoid aggravating the condition. At the same time, attention should also be paid to supplementing protein and various vitamins to help the body recover as soon as possible.

The following are recommended nutrients:

●Supplementary nutrients

① Vitamin C

1000-5000 mg per day, divided into several times . Promote tissue repair, resist the invasion of germs, allergens and other harmful substances, and enhance the body's immunity. Choose buffered vitamin C or calcium ascorbate for children.

② Vitamin a or b-carotene

15,000iu per day. It is an essential nutrient for the immune system, helps inflamed mucous membranes return to normal, fights infections and strengthens the immune system.

③ Vitamin E

Twice a day, 400iu each, increasing gradually. Used with Vitamin C, a powerful free radical scavenger for tissue recovery and improved breathing.

④Garlic essence capsules

3 times a day, 2 capsules each time. Natural antibiotic and immune booster.

⑤Calcium clamp mixture plus magnesium

1000 mg per day. It is an essential substance for recovery, it can promote blood circulation and improve breathing.

⑥Coenzyme q10

60 mg daily. Helps recovery and promotes blood circulation and improves breathing.

●Healthy medicinal diet

① Radish tea

Use 100 grams of white radish and 5 grams of tea leaves. Brew the tea in boiling water for 5 minutes and extract the juice; wash the white radish, slice it, put it in a pot and cook until mashed, then pour in the tea juice. Take 2 doses a day, taken warm at any time. It has the effects of clearing away heat and resolving phlegm, regulating qi and appetizing. It is suitable for coughs with excessive phlegm and poor appetite, etc. The raw materials of this tea are easy to obtain and the preparation is simple. It is suitable for those who cough due to lung heat and have a lot of phlegm.

② Apricot pear tea

Use 10 grams of bitter almonds, 1 large pear, and a little rock sugar. Peel and break the tips of the almonds; remove the cores of the pear and cut into pieces; add an appropriate amount of water and cook until the rock sugar dissolves. Drink instead of tea at any time. This tea can moisten the lungs and relieve cough. Suitable for dry-heat acute bronchitis and cough.

③Beixing Pig Lung Soup

Use 250 grams of pig lung, 10 grams of Beixin, appropriate amounts of ginger juice and refined salt. Cut the pig lungs into pieces, wash them, add some water to the soup with the apricots, add 1-2 tablespoons of ginger juice to the soup, and season with refined salt. Drink soup and eat pig lungs twice a day. This prescription relieves cough, resolves phlegm and nourishes the lungs. Suitable for chronic bronchitis, intestinal dryness and constipation.

④ Sand Duck Soup

Use 50 grams of North Adenophora ginseng, 30 grams of lily, 200 grams of duck meat, appropriate amounts of onions, ginger, and refined salt. Slice the ginseng and lilies; cut the duck meat into small pieces, add onion, ginger, etc., add refined salt, add an appropriate amount of water, and cook the soup until the duck meat is cooked. Eat duck meat and drink soup. Once a day or once every other day. It can nourish yin, clear away heat, moisten the lungs and relieve cough. It is suitable for coughs caused by yin deficiency and excessive fire, uncomfortable expectoration, and blood in the phlegm. It can also be used as daily dietary therapy for patients with obvious yin deficiency syndrome of pulmonary tuberculosis.

⑤ Tremella and rock sugar soup

Use 10 grams of tremella and 20 grams of rock sugar. First remove the stems of the white fungus, pick out the impurities, and soak it in cold boiled water until it swells and becomes soft. Then put the white fungus and rock sugar in a casserole, add an appropriate amount of water, and simmer for 90 minutes, until the white fungus is loose and the soup is thick. Take it at night, once every night. It can nourish yin and moisturize dryness, resolve phlegm and relieve cough. It is suitable for symptoms such as dry cough with less phlegm, difficulty in coughing up, and blood in the phlegm caused by insufficient lung yin.

⑥Yam and almond porridge

Use 100 grams each of yam, corn, 20 grams of almonds, and appropriate amount of ghee. Boil the yam, stir-fry the corn into powder; stir-fry the almonds, peel and sharpen them, and pound them into powder. Mix 10 grams of ground almonds with boiled water, appropriate amounts of yam and corn flour on an empty stomach every day, and take it with ghee. It can replenish the vital energy, warm the lungs and moisten the lungs. It is suitable for patients with weak spleen and weak lungs, and chronic cough due to lung deficiency.

⑦Scallion and pear soup

Use 7 scallions (with whiskers), 1 pear, and 9 grams of rock sugar. Add the above 3 flavors to boil in water. Eat pears and drink soup. 2 times a day. This recipe has the effect of clearing away heat and dispelling wind. It is suitable for symptoms such as wind-heat type cough, frequent and severe cough, dry throat and sore throat, and unpleasant expectoration.

●Herbal tea

① Mulberry drink

Use 5 grams each of mulberry leaves and chrysanthemum in a pot and fry for about half an hour, then add mint Fry 3 grams for a while, then add honey. This tea is very effective in treating symptoms such as cough, fever, cold and headache.

② Tangerine peel tea

Use tangerine peel (preferably fresh orange peel) and appropriate amount of sugar. Wash the tangerine peel with water, tear it into small pieces, put it in a cup, brew it with boiling water, and simmer it; pour out the simmered tangerine peel juice, add sugar to the juice, stir well, and drink it instead of tea. This tea can smoothen the qi, relieve cough, resolve phlegm, strengthen the stomach, relieve heat, and remove body temperature. It is suitable for those with weak spleen and stomach, cough and asthma, and it can also make the skin toned. It is most suitable for young girls to drink.

●Natural medicinal food

③ Onion honey

Onions and honey are very effective natural phlegm-reducing medicines. Cut the onions into thin slices and place them in the Fill a deep bottle with honey, leave it for 10-12 hours and then take it, one spoonful at a time, 4-5 times a day.

④Yupimi

Add slippery elm bark to a portion of boiling water and half a cup of honey to brew. It is very good for coughs and sore throats. Once prepared, store in a bottle and use 1 teaspoon every 3 to 4 hours.

⑤ Chrysanthemum wine

Tinctures made from chrysanthemum plants and goldenseal are most suitable for children. Add 8 to 10 drops into the liquid and use it every 3 hours until all symptoms disappear

●Danger Signs

If the following situations occur, you should see a doctor immediately.

*The cough lasts for 7-10 days.

*Cough up pink bloody sputum or yellow-green and rust-colored sputum.

*Fever exceeding 40℃.

*When a long-lasting cough is accompanied by one of the following symptoms: hoarseness, sore throat, shortness of breath, wheezing, chest pain, chest tightness, high fever, headache, back and leg pain, fatigue, rash, weight loss, etc. .