If you have been taking over-the-counter (OTC) cold remedies for your cough and sore throat all week, give your body a break. Cold remedies, like cough syrups and sore throat sprays, do nothing to cure your cold. If your cold does is not accompanied by other symptoms, like a fever or green mucous, you can treat the ailment at home.
Lemon and Honey
Drinking a mixture of warm water, lemon juice and honey may help relieve symptoms of a cough and sore throat, says the Mayo Clinic. By boiling water, then adding lemon and honey to taste and sipping it slowly, you can help loosen mucous in your chest and in the back of your throat. As you sip the mixture, inhale the steam that emerges from the cup and breathe in deeply. The steam from the water can help loosen chest congestion, which causes coughing and irritates the throat. Drink the lemon and honey mixture throughout the day as needed to reduce a cough and sore throat.
Steam and Water Vapor
Inhaling steam from the shower, or water vapor from a humidifier, can help loosen the mucous in the nasal passages, the throat and in the chest. If you have a humidifier, run it overnight and prop your head up with a pillow to help prevent coughing and lubricate the throat. If you do not have a humidifier, take a warm shower, recommends "The Doctors Book of Home Remedies." If you wake up in the middle of the night with a cough and sore throat, fill the bathroom sink with warm water. Place a towel over your head as you inhale the steam.
Salt Water
When your throat is raw and irritated, gargle with salt water to help soothe it, recommends the Mayo Clinic. Apply 2 tsp. of table salt to a glass of warm water, and stir thoroughly. Gargle, mouthful by mouthful, and spit the water out, until all the water in the glass is gone. A dry cough can be triggered by a sore, irritated throat, so continue to gargle with salt water as often as necessary throughout the day to relieve the symptoms of both a sore throat and a dry cough.
