12 Home Remedies for Cough from Honey to Heat
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In this post, we’ll cover some of the most effective home remedies for cough. Most of these remedies are safe for children and adults, and you may already have them in your pantry. Plus, they don’t have the side effects of commercial products.
What Causes a Cough?
Coughing is your body’s natural reaction to clear something out of your airways that shouldn’t be there. It’s most commonly associated with colds and flu, allergies, asthma or acid reflux. Treat the underlying condition and you should get some cough relief.
For instance, inside the home you can reduce indoor allergens by getting rid of carpet, vacuuming regularly and using air filtration.
Natural Decongestants may help eliminate sinus drainage, removing that source of throat irritation.
Note: In the coughing photos in the post, I’m demonstrating coughing into your arm. This is the preferred option to keep your germs to yourself.
Even with coughing into a tissue and frequent hand washing, when you cover your mouth with your hands, there’s more risk of sharing any illness with those around you.
When You Need More Than Home Remedies for Cough
Remember – If coughing is severe, hangs around more than a couple weeks or produces thick mucus, please see a trained medical professional.
If you can’t breathe or start coughing up blood, get emergency medical attention.
#1 – Our Go to Home Remedy for Cough – Honey and Cinnamon
A spoonful of honey for cough is one of the easiest and best home remedies for cough. We recommend getting honey from a local organic beekeeper, if you cant get local, get your favorite pure raw honey.
In a study comparing the use of honey, dextromorphin and no treatment for coughing children, “parents rated honey most favorably for symptomatic relief of their child’s nocturnal cough and sleep difficulty due to upper respiratory tract infection.”
Add cinnamon, and you get an extra dose of antibacterial and anti-viral herbal goodness. Note: The CDC recommends that raw honey not be used for children under 2 years of age due to botulism concerns.
To make a homemade cough syrup with honey and cinnamon, pour about ½ cup of honey into a small container ( I used an 8 ounce mason jar) and mix in about ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon.
For children over two and adults, treat a cough with a spoonful of honey or honey and cinnamon as needed. Both cinnamon and honey are anti-bacterial and anti-viral, and the honey coats and soothes the throat.
#2 – Lemon Juice
Lemon juice helps to loosen and clear phlegm. It also gives you a dose of immune boosting vitamin C. See “Vitamin C for Colds – How Much Do You Need and Best Food Sources” for more vitamin C information.
To use lemon as a cough remedy, you can mix it with your honey, make a lemon gargle (1/4 cup water plus 2 tablespoons lemon), or mix up a cup of warm honey sweetened lemonade.
The Coconut Mama made up a sweet and gentle honey and lemon cough medicine for her little girl using 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 4 tablespoon of honey, and 2 tablespoons coconut oil, stirred together and gently heated until the coconut oil is melted. She recommends using one spoonful as needed for cough, or stirring it into hot tea.
Store your homemade cough syrup in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to one month. This cough remedy is good for dry and scratchy throats.
#3 – Elderberry Syrup
Elderberry syrup is a great home remedy for coughs, especially for kids.
We have two different elderberry syrup recipes on the site. See “How to Make Elderberry Syrup with Fresh or Dried Elderberries” for the recipes.
You can also order real elderberry syrup online. Gaia Herbs Black Elderberry Syrup is USDA certified organic elderberry syrup.
Order Gaia Herbs Black Elderberry Syrup here
#4 – Herbal Tea
Hot herbal tea helps to ease congestion, keep you hydrated and soothe irritated tissues. Some of the best herbal teas for cough remedies include:
- Ginger tea
- Sage
- Thyme
- Linden (also known as tilia or basswood)
- Lemon balm
- Horehound (more commonly used in cough and sore throat lozenges and syrups)
- Rosemary
- Peppermint
To make herbal tea, place one teaspoon of dried herb (or several slices of fresh ginger) in a mug and cover with eight ounces of warm water.
Cover with a lid or plate to trap the steam and steep for about 10 minutes. Strain and add honey and lemon if desired.
You can also use several herbs together, such as in this herbal cold and flu tea recipe, or buy herbal tea bags such as Gypsy Cold Care.
#5 – Herbal Cough Lozenges
You can purchase herbal lozenges like: Honey Lemon Ricola, Berry Ricola or Ludens Wild Cherry. If you are planning ahead you can make your own. The herbs soothe as well as fight the underlying illness. Menthol cough drops numb the throat, which is good for cough suppressing.
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Here is a great tutorial recently with two different easy homemade cough lozenge recipes.
#6 – Steam
Few things are more comforting than a warm, steamy shower for loosening congestion and opening air ways. This is likely to provide only temporary relief, but it sure feels good.
Keeping a humidifier running to add moisture to the air will also help a dry cough/itchy throat. This is one of the safest cough remedies for small children.
Note: Make sure to keep your humidifier clean, so you’re not growing mold or bacteria.
#7 – Cold Air
We came across this remedy by accident when our youngest had a croupy cough as a baby.
During the course of taking him in to the ER one night when he was really miserable, we found that transporting him in the cold air helped to relieve his cough.
The doctor advised us to use this trick again as needed if he was hit with another coughing attack. The cold air helps reduce the swelling and inflammation in the throat.
This treatment by Dr. Cindy Gellner in an interview with The Scope University of Utah Health Radio:
Dr. Gellner: That barking cough you hear is called croup, a sound that can cause a lot of concern and rightfully so. …
So what is croup?
Croup is actually a viral infection of the vocal cords and the trachea, which is the windpipe. It causes a tight, low pitched, barking cough.
It actually sounds like your child is a seal with how they’re barking. They can also have a hoarse voice leading up to it.
Sometimes they have a vibrating, raspy sound when they breathe in called stridor. …
So how can you treat stridor?
One of the best things to do when you’re at home is get the shower all steamy up and get your child in the bathroom, because warm, moist air seems to work best to relax the vocal cords and break the stridor. A humidifier, not a hot vaporizer, but a cool mist humidifier also will help with getting the swelling down.
Cold air also helps relieve stridor. If it’s cold outside, take your child outdoors. If it’s not cold outside, you can actually hold your child in front of an open freezer door and have them take a few deep breaths in.
#8 – Herbal Cough Syrup
There are many variations of herbal cough syrup, but this season I’ve been using Rosemary Gladstar’s “Cough-be-Gone and Sore Throat Syrup”.
It’s made with an assortment of herbs and sweetened with honey. You can find the full recipe at this Herbal Cold and Cough Care article.
#9 – Peppermint
Sucking on a peppermint candy or sipping a small amount of peppermint schnapps may also help calm a cough. Peppermint tea is another option.
If cough is accompanied by sinus drainage and mild upset stomach due to sinus drainage, peppermint tea will also calm the stomach upset.
#10 – Milk and Butter or Golden Milk
Combine 1 cup of warm milk with two tablespoons sweet butter to relieve dry coughs.
This works better for a dry, unproductive cough (not much mucus), because it coats and relaxes the throat.
Warm coconut milk blended into golden milk with turmeric and other spices coats the throat and reduces inflammation.
My friend Jessica has three recipe variations for golden milk on her website. You can also purchase golden milk powder online to mix into your coconut milk.
#11 – Booze
There’s a reason many over the counter medications contain alcohol. Alcohol kills bacteria and acts as a counter-irritant in the throat (thus the burn on the way down).
Adults may opt for a simple shot of liquor as a home remedy to calm their cough. Mom used to dose us with a spoonful of peppermint schnapps.
#12 – Slippery Elm and Marshmallow Root
Slippery elm is good for sore throats and sore bellies. It was commonly used in colonial America.
Because it is hydrophilic and absorbs a lot of water, it gets a slippery, somewhat gelatinous texture mixed with warm water. Marshmallow root behaves similarly.
I made up a batch of slippery elm for a scratchy cough using about 1 cup water and 2 tablespoons powdered slippery elm, and seasoned it with just a sprinkle of salt and a dab of honey.
Did we miss any home remedies for cough?
Did your favorite home remedies for cough not make the list? Leave us a comment and let us know.
You may also enjoy other posts in our Home Remedies series, including:
- 12 Home Remedies for Earaches
- 15 Home Remedies for Seasonal Allergies
- Natural Remedies for Common Colds and Flu
This post is provided for general information only and is not meant to replace a trained healthcare provider. If pain is severe, incapacitating or lasts more than 24 hours, please see a trained health professional for treatment.
Originally posted in 2012, last updated in 2022.