Here are the top remedies for stopping cough naturally. 

1. Ear Seeds & Ear Acupressure for Cough

Similar to reflexology, ear acupressure, or auriculotherapy, is a microsystem of healing that is found on the ear. It has been used for thousands of years. According to Chinese medicine, applying pressure to specific points on the ear has a healing effect on the body.

Coughing is initiated cough receptors in the lungs that send signals to your brain by way of the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve innervates the concha of the ear where most of the stop cough points are located.

You can apply pressure with an ear probe or a clean rounded toothpick to stimulate these points or an easier way is to use ear acupressure is with ear seeds. The general points for treating cough are shown in Figure 1 below.

2. Nebulize HOCL from Brio Tech

Nebulizing with saline is a common way to help bring soothing relief to the lungs and stop cough. We can take this process a step further by using a handheld nebulizer to breath in soothing relief and lung support using Brio Tech HOCL.

3. Honey & Lemons

When it comes to cough, what works really well is raw, dark amber honey.

Buckwheat honey has received the most research for cough, but you can use any dark amber raw honey like avocado or blackberry. Local dark honey is great, too. 

WARNING: For children, 12 months or younger do not give them honey.

Lemon, honey and ginger tea is a great way to soothe a sore throat and calm a cough. Honey helps to break up mucus and the astringent nature of lemon juice does the same thing while also providing vitamin C.

PRO TIP: Don’t buy honey cough syrups from the drug store. They may contain honey and herbs or medicines but most also have preservatives and “natural flavor” that's anything but natural.

4. Eliminate Dairy for Phlegmy Cough

Why give up dairy? In Chinese medicine, excess mucus is considered a form of dampness.  Certain foods, like dairy and other rich, fatty, or fried foods, are also considered damp. So, eating damp foods like milk, cheese or yogurt while you have a wet, phlegmy cough can contribute to excess mucus production.

5. Herbal Tea

Herbs like licorice root, mullein, sage leaves, wild cherry bark and slippery elm can be made into a tea with a little honey to calm a cough. If you’re in a rush or you don’t have these herbs on hand you should be able to pick up a tea called Throat Coat by Traditional Medicinals.

6. Essential Oil Chest Rub

Essential oils can help break up chest and nasal congestion when used in a chest rub for adults and children ages 6 and up. But if you’re like me you don’t want to use petrochemicals, like those contained in Vick’s Vapor Rub. Instead, you can 1 drop each of your chosen essential oils in about 1 TBS. organic olive oil and make your own herbal oil.

If you prefer a salve, then I recommend Maty's All Natural Vapor Chest Rub.  Essential oils should never be applied directly to the skin.  In children younger than 6, please check the essential oils for safety.

7. Essential Oil Steam Bath

A warm steamy bath can also help a nighttime cough. Start a hot bath using the shower, close the bathroom door and let the room get steamy. Add a few drops of essential oils such as wild mountain sage or fir needle into the tub to soothe a cough and open up the chest.

8. Organic Poached Pears with Cinnamon for Dry Cough

 This is a personal favorite for dry, tickly coughs. Eat 1/2 to 1 pear before bed. It is so delicious and it feels great on a dry, scratchy throat.

9. Herbs to Support Chronic Cough & Asthma

When a cough goes on too long, it is said in Chinese medicine that the lungs become deficient and weak causing chronic cough and asthma. Many patients with asthma, particularly pediatric patients, struggle with "breakthrough" symptoms despite using medications.

That's where Dr. Xiu-Min Li, internationally renowned professor of pediatrics and director of The Center for Integrative Medicine for Allergies and Wellness at Mount Sinai, comes in.

She has done a large body of research on Chinese herbs to help with asthma. She is the author of  ASHMI (Anti-Asthma Herbal Formula) formula, which has been subjected to rigorous scientific study. According to research, four weeks of use of ASHMI in adults has nearly the same effect on the body as prednisone, without lowering immunity or other negative side effects.

While ASHMI is not currently available for purchase, Allergy Research Group has a similar formulation, Phytocort, which can provide cough relief for many people when nothing else seems to be working. If you need a liquid formula, check out Pulmasoothe by China Herb Co.

Common Sense Caution

If you have questions or concerns about your cough you should contact a medical doctor or qualified health care provider.

RED FLAG: Coughing may be due to another more serious illness. If a cough comes on suddenly with high fever, restlessness, difficulty breathing, wheezing, lethargy, chest tightness and/or difficulty swallowing seek immediate medical attention. If a lingering cough is associated with wheezing, chest tightness, difficulty breathing it may be a sign of asthma. Rarely, but sometimes, a chronic cough may be caused by tuberculosis.