Chest Cold Remedies

[starbase_318]

I know some out here have been passed down their grandma's secret cold medicine recipes. The chest cold seems to hurt the worse. The sinus cavity isn't running but I have a horribble cough coming from deep down in my lungs. There's a little mucus but not much considering the cough...Please pass along your secret weapon. I'd prefer if it wasn't honey based..

[grndma1]

An oldie but a goodie that my Mom and grandma always used was good old Vicks Salve on the chest, with a warm hand towel laid on top of it.

[noreply66]

An oldie but a goodie that my Mom and grandma always used was good old Vicks Salve on the chest, with a warm hand towel laid on top of it.

Always worked for me when I was young

[biggdowgg]

An oldie but a goodie that my Mom and grandma always used was good old Vicks Salve on the chest, with a warm hand towel laid on top of it.

been there, done that....... 8)

[BubbleGumTiger]

I always found honey and a shot of my ol buddy Jimmy Beam or his Uncle George Dickel always cleared my chest congestion out......

[WhiteWhiskers]

Now if you put the Vick in the Beam or Dickel before you drink it, it works ever quicker and better.

[caglewis]

Use a cool-mist vaporizer/humidifier in your bedroom at night every night all year-round.
The processed indoor air we breathe [both winter and summer] is so dry that the mucous membranes of our airways are much more easily irritated and vulnerable to infection. Providing moisture has both a soothing and preventive effect. Viral organisms [like the flu and common cold] just need to be treated symptomatically [anti-cough and runny nose] by any of the host of OTC meds available and preventive measures. Bacterial organisisms, however, are far worse, can progress to pneumonia, and require antibiotics - and a Dr to properly diagnose and treat. High temperature and prolonged [>5 days] unrelieved time of symptoms should send you to a Dr rather than home remedies.

[Runner]

Keep Vicks on the bottom of your feet and wear socks. The Vicks will absorb up through your body and push the cold out of your chest. I have been doing this for years whenever I get a chest cold without having to take any other types of medication.

Doctors sort of frown on using Vicks on the chest anymore because they found that many people end up with pneumonia because the Vick drives the cold deeper into your chest by doing it that way

[Burg_Grad_77]

Runner, I've heard that same thing about the Vicks on the chest.

[caglewis]

NOT TRUE - bacteria [e.g. staph, strep, etc] are much more likely than viruses to invade "deeper" - into the lungs rather than the upper airways of the nose and throat and connected sinus cavities, and they would be unaffected by Vicks at all - let alone by where it's APPLIED. That's HANDWASHING!
Moisture and activity have way greater effect than any medicine or salve on lung function. Active people breathe more deeply, expand their lungs more fully, and cough more effectively to rid their bodies of both the organisms and the habitat promoting/supporting their growth. Keeping your airways moist and air effectively moving all the way to the bottom promotes loosening and expulsion [rather than thickening/pooling] of mucous. Whether you happen to be exposed to a viral or a bacterial organism is just luck-of-the-draw. How well you moisturize and exercise your airway top to bottom depends more on you than on Vicks. Vicks is a soothing agent whose inhaled vapors tend to relax the airway relieving spasm constriction due to upper airway irritation - comforting, but not curative or preventive against either organism - and its base salve helps relieve the skin irritation of noses and lips [and dry chafed feet, too - but that has nothing to do with chest congestion].
I love Vicks VapoRub! I use it all the time - if I want it for soothing respiratory irritation, I apply it up close my nose so I inhale the Vapor effect; if I want it for soothing skin irritation, I apply it wherever needed for the Rub effect. It's a great product - but it won't cause or prevent pneumonia!

[Runner]

I still prefer to listen what the AMA says on the subject. They have more knowledge of the problems that Vicks causes than any individual.

[mstangmom]

Just getting over the chest congestion and stuffy nose I found that Daytime theraflu for daytime and nighttime theraflu for bedtime worked GREAT dayquil/nightquil was ok but the theraflu worked GREAT. still got a little sinus problems but the chest is cleared up and I can function. little expensive but well worth it in my book.

[blue53]

I've found hanging out with my friend from Tennessee and some ice cubes helps most of my ailments.

[NorthernLight]

I've found hanging out with my friend from Tennessee and some ice cubes helps most of my ailments.

Here in NC our glass is half full and clear w/o the ice.. The slight burn while sipping it means its working. Try a full glass and you may sleep for a couple of days. Add some apple or strawberry early to the process to kill the corn taste.

[blue53]

I've found hanging out with my friend from Tennessee and some ice cubes helps most of my ailments.

Here in NC our glass is half full and clear w/o the ice.. The slight burn while sipping it means its working. Try a full glass and you may sleep for a couple of days. Add some apple or strawberry early to the process to kill the corn taste.

Good stuff. comes in a quart jar?? nothing better to warm you from the inside.

[mustang_lvr]

An oldie but a goodie that my Mom and grandma always used was good old Vicks Salve on the chest, with a warm hand towel laid on top of it.

same here
little too hot sometimes