Homeopathy for Coughs
12 December 2025 | by The Contemporary College of Homeopathy
A guide to the range of Homeopathic remedies for winter coughs
HOMEOPATHY FOR COUGHS
by Doerte Evers - CCH Graduate 2025
Coughs everywhere. How come so many people are coughing these days? Why can’t I get rid of this cough? It has been going on for a while. If you are sick of your cough, there is a wonderful method to treat coughs gently, rapidly and permanently. We will get to that in a minute, but let’s first have a look at the reasons why coughs exist.
Generally, a cough is a reflex reaction designed to keep your airways clear from irritants. There may be various reasons as to why your airways react with coughs. The reasons can be anything from colds, viral infections, allergies, asthma to serious illnesses may cause your lungs to produce a cough.
The wonderful treatment helping you heal from a cough is homeopathy. A more than 200-year-old method founded by Samuel Hahnemann heals people all over the world reliably without side effects. Wouldn’t that be something you would like to try? Especially if you keep getting those coughs? Why not treat the root cause and get better over all? Let’s see what homeopathy can do for you.
Coughs can be treated excellently with homeopathy. Once you decide to give homeopathy a try, you will find it very different from what you are used to by seeing your doctor. By answering a lot of weird questions, like what makes the cough better or worse, are you thirsty or not thirsty, is there a discharge and what colour does it have, the homeopath will choose a matching remedy, the simillimum. The remedies are selected by the unique symptoms you are experiencing tell the homeopath which remedy to choose.
Each remedy has the ability to produce and also resolve a cough of a particular character. The right remedy match will stimulate a healing response quickly in an acute condition. If you have a longer-term respiratory condition such as asthma, or if you get recurrent coughs or respiratory infections, this will need professional constitutional attention to determine the appropriate course of treatment for you.
Below are a handful of remedies when treating coughs at home. Please note, when you suffer from chronic coughs and serious underlying illnesses, seek help from a professional homeopath. There is so much homeopathy can do for you to improve your health and homeopaths are out there to help you heal.
Generally, there are two types of cough: dry or chesty coughs.
Dry coughs
Dry coughs do not produce mucus; people may describe them as dry or thick. These coughs are more likely to be located in the larynx but can also be located in the lungs, they are coughs that irritate the lungs and throat.
ACONITE
Aconite is one of the main remedies for croup. Croup is a barking, rasping cough occurring in childhood that often comes with breathing difficulties. It is usually needed in the early stages. A cough that responds to Aconite will be worse at night, particularly around midnight, dry in character, with a dry mouth and thirst, and shortness of breath. The patient will often feel anxious and restless. Acute ailments such as cough, cold and earache often come on after exposure to dry, cold wind, and will be sudden and violent in nature.
BELLADONNA
The Belladonna cough will be a dry, short, barking, croupy, cough with tickling in the trachea and rapid breathing. Coughing begins with irritation and a tickling sensation in the throat. The cough is more noticeable in bed at night. There is rapid breathing and pain in the larynx and stomach on coughing. A sudden high fever will develop. Hoarseness can develop quickly and lead to complete loss of voice. There can be a stiff neck from coughing, and the head will feel hot even if there is no marked fever. It will be worse for motion, deep breath and yawning. Coughing will cause irritation, which in turn will produce more coughing.
BRYONIA
Bryonia is a well-known homeopathic cough remedy and will help in cases where its main characteristics are matched by dryness and worse for movement. A typical Bryonia cough is dry, hard and painful, accompanied by a dry mouth and great thirst for water as well as dry chapped lips. The cough is so painful that the person needs to hold their head or chest when they cough, and the typical headache is frontal with a bursting sensation. The cough is aggravated by deep breathing, eating or talking.
DROSERA
This is another important remedy for whooping cough and has a distinctive character which makes it valuable in cough treatment in general. It is prescribed for coughs which are characterised by incessant or violent bouts of coughing that end in retching or vomiting. The cough is typically aggravated as soon as the individual lies down in bed and is often worse from midnight through the early hours. It may be accompanied by cold sweats. Bouts of coughing may make it difficult to breathe. The cough may be deep, chesty and painful, forcing the person to hold their head or chest when coughing. It is better for fresh air and during the day.
FERRUM PHOS
This remedy comes to aid when none of the others seem to bring relief. It is often needed in the early stages of inflammatory conditions, and although the symptoms tend not to be vivid, the cough is often characterised by stitching pains, and the mucus coughed up may be blood-streaked. Ailments often come on after exposure to cold, but the symptoms are not sudden and violent (compare Aconite). There may be hoarseness with the cough.
KALI CARB
A Kali Carb cough is not easy to spot, but a dominant symptom which may help you choose this remedy is the aggravation at 3 am. The coughs are dry, hard and choking. There can be a shortness of breath, which is helped by sitting up or bending forward. They are better for warmth and warm weather.
NUX VOMICA
Nux vomica is needed when there is a dry, distressing, racking, suffocative cough accompanied by tickling and violent fits. The larynx may feel raw, and the mucus sour. When mucus is hawked up, it may cause vomiting. It is another remedy where the coughs are better for hot drinks. They are worse for getting cold, for cold air on waking up, for the slightest movement of the chest and after eating.
PHOSPHORUS
This is a remedy with a broad spectrum of action in homeopathic treatment and is often indicated in respiratory complaints. The cough is typically a dry, persistent tickling cough, which is often worse in the evening or at night. They will feel better for sitting up and for cold drinks and worse for lying on the left side. One of the main characteristics of a Phosphorus cough is aggravation from change of temperature or weather, e.g. going from a warm room outside into the cold air. There may be pain and hoarseness in the larynx and throat. It is worse for coughing, and the mucus may vary from white, yellow, green or can be blood-streaked.
RUMEX
Rumex is a remedy mainly used in the treatment of coughs and has a distinctive character – the person who needs Rumex will be very sensitive to cold air. A tickling in the throat is aggravated by inhaling cold air, and the cough may be continuous, only eased by covering the mouth. The cough is aggravated by any change of air and will often be accompanied by a raw, burning sensation in the larynx.
SPONGIA
This is another well-known homeopathic cough remedy and (like Aconite) is one of the main remedies for croup. The Spongia cough has a characteristic barking, sawing sound, described in the literature as sounding like ‘sawing through a board’. It is typically dry and suffocating and comes on around midnight or in the early hours. Hoarseness is also typical. The cough is generally eased by warm food and drink.
Chesty coughs
Chesty coughs produce an excess of mucus or phlegm, also called wet coughs. However, a cough in the throat can also produce an excess of mucus.
ANT TART
Ant tart is one of the main remedies for a mucousy, rattling cough, when there is difficulty in coughing up the mucus. The chest sounds full of mucous, but with little to no ability to cough it up. The person affected will often feel weak and drowsy and wants to sit up with the cough, which can be accompanied by shortness of breath. The cough is often worse around 4 pm or around 4 am. There will be white and frothy sputum.
ARSENICUM
This is another remedy when the mucus is difficult to cough up. There can be white and frothy sputum, the patient does not want to be alone and is better for hot drinks and hot food. There is a shortness of breath and symptoms are worse between midnight and 2 am. Pronounced chilliness with the desire for fresh air may also be present.
HEPAR SULPH
When the cough has set in, one remedy to consider is Hepar Sulph. There is a lot of catarrh, with thick, yellow and ropy discharges. Hepar Sulph patients are irritable and chilly. They want to wrap the head up, need warmth and may be sensitive to tobacco smoke. Draughts make them worse, cold wind as well as motion and washing. The coughs can be croupy.
IPECAC
Ipecac is a remedy to think of when the cough is accompanied by a rattling sound and nausea. There can be vomiting but the vomiting does not ease the symptoms. The symptoms may have come in after food poisoning. It is a remedy for whooping cough.
KALI BICH
Kali Bich is a remedy to consider for croup. The mucus is difficult to cough, sticky and lumpy. Discharges can be stringy and might be as long as to reach one’s feet once the discharge comes up. It can be of green, yellow or white colour. Kali bich patients are impatient, better for heat and motion and worse for alcohol, especially beer. Short sleep helps to ease the symptoms.
LYCOPODIUM
When hot drinks make your cough better, one remedy to think of is Lycopodium. A patient needing Lycopodium has a constant, dry irritating cough, which is painful and disturbs sleep. Breathing may be fast and difficult. The mucus can be yellow, copious, white, green accompanied by a salty taste. The symptoms can be worse on going to sleep, in the morning and in the evening, especially between 4 am(pm) and 8 am(pm).
NATRUM MURIATICUM
It is useful for a lingering cough after a cold. There will be dryness of the mucous membranes and tickling in the throat area. The cough may be accompanied by a headache, which will feel much worse for every cough. There will be right-sided stitching pains just below the ribs when coughing. The eyes will water when coughing. If mucous is brought up, it will be clear. There is a desire to snack on salty foods. The symptoms are worse being caught in a draft, around 9-11 am, heat, in warm rooms and for lying down. They are better for open air, sweating, rest and sitting up.
NATRUM SULPHURICUM
The Natrum Sulphuricum patient experiences a cough that is worse for cold and damp weather, in the morning and accompanied by green mucus. The cough tends to be during the daytime only.
PULSATILLA
When you don’t know where to begin and which remedy fits, Pulsatilla is a good starting point. Everything will be set in motion. You might see from there which remedy is a better fit. Pulsatilla patients tend to be thirstless and weepy, accompanied by a green discharge and the symptoms are changeable. It is a remedy often used in acute ailments in childhood, where the picture matches. The typical Pulsatilla cough is one which becomes dry in the evening and at night and productive in the morning with yellow or greenish mucus which is coughed up on waking. The cough is worse for warmth and in stuffy rooms and better in the fresh air. It also tends to be worse when lying down to sleep, and the person will want company.
SEPIA
A remedy which I find very useful for the kind of cough that hits me from time to time. It has healed my coughs reliably. There is a cough in the morning on waking with a yellow mucus that is loose and easy to bring up. The voice can be hoarse. Causes can be overwork and dealing with stressful situations.
SULPHUR
Sulphur is a wonderful remedy for coughs with thick, yellowish and greenish mucus. The chest feels oppressed as if it had a load on it. The cough can be accompanied by wheezing and difficult breathing, especially at night. Sulphur patients are better from dry, warm weather, sweating and standing in the most uncomfortable position. They are worse at 11 am, for washing, full moon, warmth, periodically and for suppressions. The symptoms may have come on after exposure to the sun, the use of alcohol or overexertion.
TUBERCULINUM
Tuberculinum may be needed when there is a history of tuberculosis in the patient or in the family. It is a deep-acting remedy, mainly used for chronic issues. Tuberculinum patients feel better in the mountains, in pine forests and in warm weather. They crave cold milk and smoked meats. The cough is hard, dry, constant, accompanied by a shortness of breath and difficulty breathing. The mucus can be greenish or yellowish.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sources:
Karen Leadbeater: https://karenleadbeater.co.uk/top-ten-homeopathic-remedies-for-coughs/
Strbac, Lisa (2023): The Homeopath in your hand, Lisa Strbac, Printed in Poland by Amazon Fulfillment, Wroclaw
Castro, Miranda (1991): The Complete Homeopathy Handbook, New York, United States of America: St. Martin’s Publishing Group
Murphy, Robin (2021): MetaRepertory, Blacksburg, Virginia, Lotus Health Institute
Murphy, Robin (2020): Nature’s Materia Medica, Blacksburg, Virginia, Lotus Health Institute
Rachel Riches: https://rachaelricheshomeopathy.com/homeopathic-remedies-for-coughs/
Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/cough/basics/definition/sym-20050846
Zart, Birgit and Wischer, Heike (2007): Die homöopathische APONEO Hausapotheke, Tremmen, Vycho-doslovenske tlaciarne JSC, Kosice, Printed in Slovakia