Common cough syrups in our life include loquat cough syrup, acute syrup, and cold cough syrup, whose main function is to suppress or stop coughing. Although cough syrup is a proprietary Chinese medicine, it is not without any side effects and failure to choose the right medicine can worsen the cough problem. Cough syrups should be treated under the guidance of a Chinese medicine practitioner, who should first distinguish between wind-cold and wind-heat coughs before choosing the right medicine.
What are the symptoms for which cough syrup is suitable?
Luo Han Guo Cough Syrup or Yuan Zhi Cough Syrup is suitable for people with unknown heat and cold; Sha Shen Cough Syrup is mainly used for treating dry cough with lung heat and relieving difficult cough and phlegm, dry cough, hot flashes, and persistent cough; Cold and Flu Cough Syrup is mainly used for treating cold and flu caused by external wind-heat; Loquat Cough Syrup can relieve cough with rebellious air and coughing phlegm; Acute Branch Syrup is suitable for cough caused by external wind-heat.
How to choose cough syrup?
1. Wind-heat cough
The symptoms of wind-heat cough are coughing and wheezing, chest tightness, sore throat, thick voice when wheezing, thick and yellow phlegm from coughing, redness at the tip and sides of the tongue, slightly yellow tongue coating, often accompanied by a yellow runny nose, headache, thirst, body fever and fear of wind. In this case, you can choose Chuanbei syrup, which is cold and slightly bitter and is used to treat wind-heat coughs, such as Chuanbei cough syrup, Chuanbei loquat, and Niubizi snake gall Chuanbei liquid.
2. Wind-cold cough
Wind-cold cough is characterized by a lot of sputum and thinness, a pale tongue with a white coating, often accompanied by a clear runny nose, nasal congestion and headache, chilliness, and lack of body sweat. In this case, you can choose apricot and sorrel, which is used to treat external cold and dryness and contains almonds and apricot and sorrel, and is used to treat wind-cold coughs, such as almond cough syrup and apricot and sorrel cough syrup; you can also choose orris cough syrup or hemihsia cough syrup.
What should I pay attention to when taking cough syrup?
1. You should not use random medication
If you have a mild cough and phlegm, drink more water and adjust the humidity in the room so that the coughing out of phlegm can be reduced and there is no need to use the medicine. Consider using medication only when coughing is frequent and affects sleep, but the duration of continuous medication should be controlled within three days.
2. Understand the duration of medication
Cough syrup is irritating and can stimulate the stomach mucosa before meals, thus causing gastrointestinal discomfort. It also contains too much sugar, which can promote the secretion of digestive juices. Using cough syrup before meals can affect the appetite; using it immediately after meals can cause nausea and vomiting. The medication should be scheduled 30~60 minutes after meals.
Warm Tips
After using cough syrup, the medication can cover the mucous membrane of the pharynx and reduce the irritation brought by inflammation to the mucous membrane of the pharynx, thus reducing coughing. You should not drink water within 5 minutes after using the medicine, otherwise, it will dilute the medicine and reduce the cough-suppressing effect. Not all coughs can be treated with cough syrup, and caution should be exercised especially in diabetics.