How to Naturally Relieve a Sore Throat and Cough
As we transition into winter weather, loaded with darker days and busy schedules, we are inevitably met with winter’s sister season: the cold and flu season. We indulge in sugary treats, fill up our calendars and turn the dials of our heaters on without a beat. Oftentimes, when we catch a cold or feel run down, our bodies have been quietly warning us to slow down, rest and take care for a while. It’s as if the towel has been thrown in, and our immune system calls for a time out so that we can intentionally become nourished and rebuild our immunity.
The TCM Theory on Colds and Flus
In Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM, we get sick when our natural defenses, called ‘Wei Qi’, are too weak to fight off external pathogens that include wind, heat and cold. The external pathogens are known as ‘External Winds’ which cause our dreaded colds and flus. Essentially, colds are defined as either Wind-Cold or Wind-Heat.
Wind-Cold symptoms:
Chills
Sneezing
Stiffness (you usually feel this in your neck)
Headaches
Clear phlegm
Wind-Heat symptoms:
Sore throat
An aversion to warmth or heat
Fever
Yellow or green phlegm
Best home remedies for sore throat and cough
When you’re on the verge of getting sick, there are many ways to find relief right away. Here are our top TCM guided tips on fighting a cold at home.
Drink plenty of warm or lukewarm water. If you can drink at least half a gallon of water throughout the day, you’re on the right track.
Gargle with saltwater. Take 1/2 tsp of sea salt or table salt and dissolve into a glass of warm water. Gargle and repeat this hourly.
Have a spoonful of honey. For a sore throat and dry cough, honey is the best natural cough drop. Eastern medicine states that honey is neither cooling or heating which makes it balanced within the yin and yang. It will neutralize toxins, relieve pain and moisten any dryness in your throat.
When cooking, try to steam and boil your food. Avoid anything fried, baked or sauteed.
Use an oregano essential oil on the bottom of your feet. Press into point Kidney 1 (located on the sole of the foot, in a slight depression created when the foot is pointed downward, about 1/3 of the distance between the tips of the toes and the heel) and cover your feet with socks. This will pull out any excess heat from the body and allow for a better night's rest.
Cough and Cold Tips for Kids
For cold and flu season + fevers: First Defense and Yin Chiao Jr. tincture. Belladonna when a fever strikes.
For coughs: Source Naturals Cough syrup when their lungs are hit.
PS - that tip we suggested about using oil on the bottoms of your feet and covering them up with socks? This works wonders with children too. And for bedtime, make the bedroom as cold as can be. This works like a charm to get them to sleep through the night when they’re sick.
Herbs to relieve a sore throat naturally
Note: It’s best to have these herbs on hand when you’re feeling healthy so that you can have them readily available when you start to feel sick.
Yin Chiao is packed with JinYin Hua (Honeysuckle Flower) and Lian Qiao (Forsythia Fruit). This is our go to herbal remedy at the onset of a cold. If you’re feeling a tickle in your throat, Yin Chiao’s antiviral properties will lessen the duration of your illness and give you relief right away.
Gui Zhi Tang treats the onset of a cold that involves headaches, low-grade fever, stiff neck, nasal congestion, and chills.
Zinc supports and improves the immune system, maintains healthy tissue growth, and increases the antioxidant reserves that protect the body from free radical damage.
Echinacea boosts the immune system and will decrease the length of your cold.
Chinese licorice soothes a sore throat and moistens the lungs.
Finally, we recommend acupuncture and/or a telemedicine session with one of our master herbalists to combat a cold and flu naturally. This would give you the one-two punch to find relief and realignment so that you can feel strong throughout the winter season. To book your appointments for telemedicine or an acupuncture session, click here.(https://magnoliawellnessoc.janeapp.com/).
For more resources on how to boost your immune system: