A tickling cough can come on in dry weather, at the tail end of a cold, or due to allergies or medications that irritate the throat. Smoke, a chill and even nervousness can also bring on an annoying cough. Home remedies can often be as effective as over-the-counter medications for a simple dry cough; if your cough is accompanied by fever or does not dissipate in a few days, however, see a doctor to rule out more serious causes.
Hot Liquids
Tea and chicken soup are tried-and-true traditional treatments for dry, tickling coughs and mild colds. In the Rodale Press Doctor's Book of Home Remedies, Dr. Penelope Shar of Bangor, Maine, advises hot tea with honey to soothe a ticklish throat, while Dr. Sally Wenzel of the University of Colorado School of Medicine advises that continuous drinking of any liquids, including water, juice, broth and chicken soup, will help dislodge that annoying tickle. The University of Maryland Medical Center states that liquids help by thinning the mucous in your throat. Pauline Molette Black, collecting Nebraska folk remedies in 1935, particularly recommended elderberry blossom tea as cure for a cough.
Steam
Steam can also help soothe the throat and ease away a tickling cough. Wenzel recommends using a vaporizer, while Shar suggests breathing in the steam from a steeping cup of tea and honey. The University of Maryland Medical Center concurs, advising that a vaporizer or hot shower will create a moist environment that will relieve a cough. Draping your head with a towel over a bowl of steaming water or tea creates an instant vaporizer; remove the water from the stove first and do not put your face to close to the water, to avoid steam burns.
Homemade Cough Syrup
Black collected numerous folk-remedy cough syrup recipes. Some of these include kerosene or skunk grease, which would not likely be advisable today, but others stand the test of time, including a combination of vinegar, butter and molasses, or a blend of slippery elm bark tea, licorice and honey. The University of Maryland Medical Center advises focusing on the honey, noting that a 2007 study found honey to be more effective than OTC cough syrups. Take the honey straight by the spoonful, or add it to herb tea or warm water. Never give honey to a child under the age of 1, however.
