How To Stop Coughing At Night
Doesn’t coughing at night suck? I’m not saying it’s the worst thing in the world but I will say it’s one of the most irritating. When I was a kid I had asthma. Fortunately I outgrew it for the most part. However when I get sick or it’s high allergy season my lungs tend to be my weak spot. The cold or whatever I have will almost always spend a few days in my lungs. Which of course makes me cough. And since I do a fair amount of talking to other people in my job that only serves to irritate my lungs and of course my throat. When it’s time to hit the sack and I turn out the light it starts calm. Then the tickle in the throat starts rearing it’s head. Before you know it that first cough turns into many. And finally I look everywhere for something that can help me figure out how to stop coughing at night.
What Causes Coughing At Night
We all know the various reasons we typically get a cough. The most common causes of a cough are virus’s like the cold and flu. Allergies can also make you cough on a regular basis. If you’re like me it could be you had asthma as a kid or you have it now. Irritants such as perfume or cigarette smoke or even cold air can make you cough. Even acid reflux can make you cough.
At night your cough can get worse for a variety of reasons. Here’s a few:
Gravity – This is the biggest culprit. When we lie down mucus automatically begins to pool. As in it pools in the back of our throats. Yum.
Dry environment – When your house is dry many times this can further irritate your throat and nose. This is further exaggerated in the winter when you have the benefit of going from cold air to warm dry air.
It’s nighttime – This sounds kind of funny to say but it’s true. When you’re sick your symptoms tend to get exacerbated at night. I’ve always noticed that when I’m sick I feel worse when I first get up and typically close to when I’m going to bed. Figures.
Types of Coughs
Something to remember that even though a cough sucks it’s doing your body good. A cough is a symptom of an illness. When you cough it’s your body attempting to get rid of foreign particles that are irritating it. Things such as mucus, bacteria, and allergans. There are two primary types of coughs.
Wet Cough – A wet cough is also known as a productive cough. A wet cough typically brings up mucus. This is the one that sounds like your chest is moving things around inside. And that’s because to some degree it is, mucus. A wet cough is typically caused by the cold or flu and are accompanied by other symptoms.
Dry Cough – A dry cough is the opposite. It’s a cough that doesn’t bring up any mucus. This one is particularly fun because it’s the one that causes that tickle in the back of your throat. These produce those lovely hacking type coughs. To further add to the fun they can last for long fits. These happen because there is an inflammation or irritation in your respiratory tract but no mucus to cough up.
How To Stop Coughing At Night
So now let’s get to the real reason you’ve read so far, how to stop coughing at night. If you suffer from coughing at night from time to time you’ll know that there is no single scientifically proven method to stop the cough. This is one of those area’s where you’ve got to try different things to see what works best for you. Here’s some to consider.
Keep hydrated – This of course is good advice anytime and in particular when you’re sick. It might also help ease your cough.
Put moisture in the air – Many people swear that using a humidifier in their room helps their cough. I use one all the time anyway. They don’t cost much and can be helpful for a cough.
Elevate your head – This is something that I usually don’t start with but many times wind up doing. I’ll lay down and feel fine then once I have a few coughing bouts will re-arrange my pillows so I’m propped up. Helps a ton.
A Few Other Ways On How To Stop Coughing At Night
Eat some honey – I’ve tried this a few times and it doesn’t seem to help me. I have several friends who say this is great for their coughs.
Have a cough drop – You know what I didn’t realize until recently? A cough drop is helpful but it’s not all about the “medicine” in a cough drop. A big part of why it helps is because you suck on it and that helps produce moisture for your throat. Cool.
Enjoy some tea – I’ve heard that green tea is supposed to be super helpful for a cough. Personally I like a cup of just about any kind of hot tea (no caffeine) a little before bed. Hot tea is good for your cough.
Use an expectorant – With the prevalence and affordability of guaifesin these days it’s easy to have an expectorant. These work by helping to clear the mucus and other secretions to make a cough more productive and get stuff out.
Further Reading
Here’s a few articles that contain expanded information on how to stop coughing at night. Worth a read if it’s something that bugs you more than you’d like.
Coughing at night: Home Remedies and causes – Medical News Today
How to Stop a Bad Cough: Day and Night Cough – Everyday Health
6 Ways to Sleep Soundly When You Have a Cold, a Cough, or the Flu – Sleep.org
Resources
Below I’ve listed a few resources that can help you with the coughing at night.
Pure Enrichment MistAire Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier – by Pure Enrichment
Honeywell Cool Moisture Console Humidifier – by Honeywell (called the best of the best)
LivePure Ultrasonic White Humidifier – Good in between humidifier
Mucinex 12 Hour Chest Congestion Expectorant – 100 Count, 600 MG
Snuggle-Pedic Ultra Luxury Bamboo Shredded Memory Foam Pillow – Snuggle-Pedic
Conclusion
Having a tough cough at night sucks. I’m hopeful with this article I’ve been able to provide some helpful information on how to stop coughing at night. Coughing at night can prevent you from getting the rest you need when you already feel crummy. Try out some of the methods provided here or in the related articles. They may be able to help you figure out how to stop coughing at night.
In good health,
Mat A.
My husband coughs at night and when he wakes up in the morning. We’re thinking of getting a humidifier. Else he also takes the honey in an infusion of ginger and green tea, which really helps.
But do you know why it happens? We’re going into winter here in canada, so i’m thinking that’s the reason why. But what else could cause this?
Hi Reyhana,
A humidifer should definitely help. Great to hear that he takes honey and ginger and green tea, sounds like a great combination! There are so many things that can cause a cough it’s difficult to say one thing specifically unless someone is sick. Good luck in the winter!
All of these are good tips, especially the honey. I have a cup of chamomile tea with some honey every night after dinner, and it does seem to help out.
Another thing I have started using is an air purifier. There are a lot of differents sizes available, but I just have a little one in my living room, and another in my bedroom for when I am sleeping. Be sure to get one that DOESN’T have the UV feature because they can cause trace amounts of ozone.
Great advice, thank you!
James,
Thank you for stopping by! I totally agree on the air purifier, I can’t believe I forgot to mention that one. My oldest daughter has bad allergies and putting an air purifier in her room helped her allergies and cough.
Have a good one!
I often get coughs as I teach and I often overstrain my vocal chords and thus end up with a dry cough. A humidifier definitely helped me, as it just takes that dryness out of the air.
I also tried honey but it didn’t help much, although tasted good.
The only other thing that helped me was sleeping on my side with three pillows, but unfortunately always wake up with a stiff neck when doing this.
Next time I am battling, I will try your suggestion of some hot tea.
Thanks for posting such a useful and informative article.
Michel,
Thanks for sharing your experiences. The hot tea seems to help me most of the time. There are certainly some times when I have to try several different things to get relief. Good luck!
Both honey and tea are good for coughs and colds. The way to do it is to let a piece of lemon stew in hot tea for a few minutes, and then add enough honey to sweeten it. It’s a good idea to drink this if you feel a cold coming on. It might also be a good idea to take a multivitamin every day. I don’t know whether multivitamins help with coughs, but they do help to keep colds at bay, and coughs often come with colds.
That’s a great idea with the lemon in the hot tea. Plus you add the honey so it’s like getting a double punch but in a good way. I think it’s always a good idea to have a multivitamin. Thanks again.
I have been searching for information about chronic coughs for awhile. I have a cough that runs 24/7 and its dry and horse. I can’t help but cough, if I don’t my eyes will water, but I still have to offer up the cough myself. I have tried honey, tea, expectorants – it all does a minimal amount of sedation of my coughs but its a chronic thing. I just purchased a Vicks Humidifier however, and used it at night it works really well. I guess I just need to keep the air moist or else it just acts up for me.
Sophia,
Sorry to hear that you have a chronic cough. Dry air is something that makes a lot of people cough. I think about the winter and how many people cough going into dry warm air from the outside. Glad to hear the humidifier is helping!