How to Use Folk Medicine to Treat Coughs

Folk medicine is a traditional, regionally-based form of medicine that relies heavily on natural, local ingredients. It's been used to treat just about everything from coughs to constipation to cancer. Before the advent of modern medicine, folk medicine was king. Today, you can use inexpensive folk medicine to treat your nagging cough. Follow these steps to find out how.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Apple cider vinegar
• Honey
• Internet access
• Herbal tea

Use Honey to Treat Coughs

1. Enjoy natural sweets. Recommended traditionally by folk medicine practitioners and others, honey--especially local honey--may be used to treat a cough.
2. Spoon a small amount of honey into the mouth, trying to get it to the back of the throat as directly as possible. The honey coats the lining of the throat and thereby relieve irritation.
3. Drink hot tea sweetened with honey for a double dose of folk medicine treatment. Herbal teas alone can boost the body's immune system. With honey they can soothe coughs and stuffy noses, too.

Embrace Apple Cider Vinegar

4. Care for your cough with vinegar. Known for decades as a panacea in the world of folk medicine, apple cider vinegar is packed with natural goodness.
5. Swallow a serving of apple cider vinegar to treat a cough. Apple cider is also recommended for a large number of other common ailments, including arthritis and dandruff!
6. Combine the powerful benefits of honey with apple cider vinegar. Mix equal measures of each in a glass of warm water to soothe a cough and treat the body to a nutrient-rich drink.

Cough Less with the Use of Tea

7. Drink hot cherrybark tea several times a day for cough relief. Find even more ideas for cough relief at Earthclinic.com (see Resources below).
8. Ease the irritation of a cough with herbs like Goldenseal. Goldenseal, also known as yellow root, has also been suggested for treating skin disorders and digestive maladies.

Tips & Warnings

• Begin new dietary practices with caution. Treat a cough or cold or the combination of both through learned research.
• A miracle drug in the annals of folk medicine, apple cider vinegar is broadly revered and inexpensively procured.
• If you're coughing up a bloody discharge, seek medical attention immediately.
• If you're worried about driving yourself to a hospital because of the spasms brought on by a horrible cough, have a friend or neighbor take you.
• Consult MayoClinic.com to learn how educate yourself about alternative medicine claims (see Resources below). Learn how to assess those claims before you make your treatment decision.