There is nothing worse than having a nagging cough. Coughing can keep you up at night, interfere with your work and make you feel just plain miserable.
Coughing is a natural response to irritation or a blocked airway and often accompanies allergies, colds or the flu. There are many effective home remedies for coughing in general, but it helps to know what caused a cough in the first place.
A temporary block in the airway, say, from food particles accidentally entering the airway while swallowing, may make you cough hard, but it usually gets resolved pretty quickly. Bacterial and viral infections of the throat may initiate shallow, but painful coughing. Tackling the infection is the best way to resolve this kind of a cough.

TYPES OF COUGH

If it’s a dry cough, irritation of the airway lining could be the reason. Respiratory allergens often produce this type of coughing. Remedies that suppress coughing work better here because the bouts of coughing may further aggravate the airway.
Respiratory tract infections usually produce a deep cough that may bring up phlegm. It is good to get rid of this thick mucus that would otherwise clog the airway. A home remedy that lightens the mucus and facilitates its expulsion is preferable until the infection gets resolved. But a dry cough may persist even after the infections clear up because the mucosal lining of the airway may have suffered damage. Keeping the airway moist with increased hydration is the key here.