Flu Cough Treatment

The flu is a common illness, especially in the winter months. With the illness come many symptoms, including a cough. Typically, the flu must run its course. There are anti-viral medications to help shorten the time you are sick, but typically there is no cure for the flu. You must treat the symptoms as they arise. One of the main symptoms of the flu is a cough, and knowing your options to treat the cough can be beneficial.

Oral Expectorants

• Guaifenesin is a common form of over-the-counter expectorant. An expectorant is a medication that thins the mucus in the lungs so it is easier to cough up. Guaifenesin increases the leaking of fluid out of the lung tissue and into the airway. This helps loosen phlegm and allows for a productive cough that reduces chest congestion. Take guaifenesin with plenty of water to help liquify the lung secreations. Clearing out the mucus will help reduce your cough.

Oral Suppressants

• Cough suppressants are medications that suppress the cough. They can either be over the counter or by prescription. Two main cough suppressants are codeine and dextromethorphan.

  Codeine is a prescription narcotic. It works on the brain to suppress the cough. Codeine also has pain-relieving properties but has the potential to cause addiction. Hydrocodone is a codeine derivative and also a narcotic. It acts in the same manner as codeine.

  Dextromethorphan relieves coughs by acting on the brain like codeine and hydrocodone, but it is not a narcotic. It is also a mucus thinner, which means that it will help the mucus break up and become easier to cough up.

  All of these medications have potential side effects. The most common are nausea, drowsiness or dizziness. If you experience any side effects you should let your doctor know right away.

Topical Medications

• A topical medication is one you rub on your skin to penetrate your chest and your breathing passages. Camphor and menthol are the most common forms of this treatment. You should coat your throat, neck and chest area with a thick layer of the medicine to get the best effect. The soothing vapors can help with breathing, but they also help soothe your cough. They help to loosen phlegm and help you to bring the phlegm up, or cough it up, so that it does not sit in your lungs and cause infection.

  The vapors also have an anesthetic effect. Sometimes your chest wall muscles can hurt or ache from all the coughing and the anesthetic effect will help to numb and soothe the aches.