When acute cough is followed by white or yellowish discharge, we call it phlegm or mucus. This is the form in which your body discharges the irritants and bacteria from your air passages. Normally, the cough is followed by white mucus. White mucus is a sign of simple viral infection. However when you are coughing up yellow mucus, it’s time to take it a bit more seriously. There are many homemade remedies for cough, but before that one should know the reasons of this condition.
There are many reasons of coughing up yellow phlegm. The most common reason is cold. Other than that, smoking, dust particles, allergies to seasonal changes, asthma and viral infection can be the reason as well. The depth of infection can be judged by the color and thickness of mucus. If it contains blood, then it may be regarded as a serious throat infection. Otherwise, white, yellow (yellow phlegm) and brown mucus secretions can be cured at home.
Here are 5 major causes, following are them:
1. Bacterial bronchitis or viral infection: This disease forces your body to cough up the yellow mucus. This condition is a prominent sign of inflammation in your air passages. There are number of homemade remedies for acute bronchitis which might help you.
2. Viral pneumonia: In this case, you should not take the discharge of yellow phlegm lightly. You discharge yellow phlegm in pneumonia only when the condition and the infection is serious.
3. Chronic bronchitis: Chronic bronchitis is mostly caused by smoking or polluted environment. People working in coal mines or chemical factories might suffer from chronic bronchitis. In case of chronic bronchitis, it becomes difficult to pass oxygen from your lungs. Which results in severe coughing, followed by phlegm.
4. Tuberculosis: In severe condition, one might also discharge some blood with it. Fever, lack of energy and feeling of listlessness are some other symptoms. Tuberculosis cannot be treated with any homemade remedy. It is a serious condition in which you should seek medical help.
5. Lung cancer: Usually the yellow mucus turns into greenish or brownish color soon. If you also feel like having low appetite along with coughing up of yellow stuff, then a cancer test must be run.
Usually coughing up phlegm occurs at morning. Following are some effective remedies you can follow, however, if it still persists, it’s time for you to seek a doctor. This is because mucus release is usually the way of your air passages clearing the irritants. So if it persists, it means you might be suffering from nausea.
Natural remedies are used by our forefathers and their forefathers. The importance of these remedies is that they are all natural, with no side effects at all. They are safe and effective. Natural remedies can be herbal or homemade with simple ingredients we use daily. The most famous herbal remedies are Kali sulph, kali bich, thyme, marshmallow root etc.
However, for most people reading this, homemade remedies would prove to be more beneficial. Following are some of the best remedies of coughing up phlegm.
Honey is used in most of the coughing and general chronic disease curing remedies. Honey is blessed with some natural properties of anti inflammatory, anti viral, anti irritants etc. So honey can prove to be very beneficial when coughing up yellow or yellowish phlegm. There are many ways in which you can utilize honey. Boil a cup of water. Add a spoon full of honey in it. Stir it well. You can drink it or gargle with it. Also, a spoon full of honey alone would help too.
When thinking of lemon, you might get the taste of something sour which would hurt your throat more. However, lemon has some anti inflammatory properties. You can boil a cup of water. Add half lemon and one spoon of honey in it. It would instantly make you feel better. It also prevents the yellow mucus while coughing.
Apple cider vinegar
You might have heard a lot about apple cider vinegar when talking about losing weight. But you can also use it as a remedy for your cough. Adding some honey in it would make it taste better.
Cinnamon is very helpful in treating this condition. It gives you soothing effect and your throat feels less soar. You can simply boil some cinnamon in water and drink it directly. A spoon of honey would make it taste better.
A pinch of white pepper with a small amount of honey would help in providing relief. However, it may take a long time for permanent relief. This remedy would start working after 5 days.
As we have discussed earlier that grape helps in reducing mucus, you can mix grape juice with equal amount of honey in it. For example, if you take 1 tsp of grape juice then take 1 tsp of honey. It would eliminate phlegm. This is an effective and fast providing relief remedy.
Onion juice can also be regarded as a herbal remedy. However, as it is easy to make we can call it homemade remedy. Take a medium sized onion. Juice it up and add a lemon in it. Add this mixture in boiling water. After that, you can add a tsp of honey in it too.
Mint leaves have soothing effect. You can consume then directly or boil a cup of water. Add a few mint leaves in it. Drink the water directly or add honey in it if you want it to taste good.
Water is essential for the yellow mucu. As you are suffering from inflammation and irritation in your throat, drinking water would moisten your throat and will add more oxygen in your body. Drinking water makes breathing easier. Make sure that the water is not cold. It should be luke warm.
When having normal cough, suppressants can be taken. However, coughing up yellow or green phlegm is a more serious condition where one should not take nay medicine without medical assistance. These suppressants would start working negatively on your air passages. So it is suggested to avoid suppressants.
These are the few above mentioned homemade remedies that would help in curing your cough naturally. Other than that you can take steam. Steam clears the air passages. Your nose starts running and the mucus is released via your nose. Coughing up phlegm can be very painful during pregnancy. It is important to know that herbal remedies or homeopathic remedies must not be taken without consulting doctor during pregnancy. Honey, mint and lemon remedies might prove to be the best homemade coughing up phlegm remedies for women during pregnancy. Also for the patient of diabetics, all the herbal syrups shouldn’t be consumed without consultation of the doctor. Some syrup contains sugar for better taste. Coughing up phlegm has many forms; however, every form in its initial stage can be cured at home.
However, these above remedies would only work if the condition is mild and less serious. When suffering from some serious illness like lung cancer, tuberculosis and bronchitis, one must seek medical help instantly. The difference can be recognized when the simple inflammation wont go even after taking the remedies. Because usually when suffering from only infection or inflammation, these remedies work effectively. Coughing up yellow mucus can be very painful, so it is advised to consult a doctor too.