Open Source Apothecary At Home / Breathing and airways
Breathing and airways
Cold, cough, sinus, asthma, allergy
Cold, cough, sinus, asthma and allergy. Honey has better trial evidence for cough than most cough medicines. Saline irrigation genuinely helps sinus symptoms. Beyond that, this section is mostly about what does not work, and about the specific symptoms — breathlessness, a cough with blood, a throat closing — that are not respiratory infections to be treated at home.
5 entries
Asthma: the herbs are adjuncts and the inhaler is the treatment
Asthma kills people who reduce their preventer inhaler. Nothing on this page is a substitute for it.
safetyCoughs and colds: honey, zinc, and the honest list
Honey beats most cough medicines in trials and is the only thing on this page a child can be given safely. Above one year.
remedyHay fever and allergic rhinitis
Saline, an antihistamine and a steroid nasal spray beat every herb here. One herb has trials and a liver warning.
remedySinusitis: irrigation, time, and when antibiotics are actually needed
Most acute sinusitis is viral and resolves. Saline irrigation helps and antibiotics mostly do not.
remedySore throat
Most sore throats are viral. Honey, salt and sage are the useful measures, and antibiotics rarely change anything.
remedy