A tickly cough cannot be suffered in silence, unlike a sore throat, so there’s the added element of feeling bad about invading people’s air space with your noise. Such was my upbringing: always be considerate of other people, even when you’re not deliberately being selfish creating the noise.
So, the tickly cough remedy was a most fortuitous discovery. A sub-continental Indian technician at the university where I used to work heard me coughing and complaining to the porters about it, and told me about this South American Indian (Amazonian) remedy. For someone like me who’s very keen on natural remedies, it’s an extra bonus that it should be a non-chemical solution.
Sip some chilli water whenever the tickly cough threatens to erupt. Just enough to line the walls of your throat. The chilli water will quell that tickly sensation.
Recipe: soak any form of chilli (powder, flakes, whole, dried, fresh) in some water — strength to suit. That’s it, as simple as that.
I’d carry this chilli water around in a mineral water bottle (light and convenient), and sip it every time the tickly cough threatened to erupt. Bus journeys became much less embarrassing after I discovered this remedy.
Chilli is a common cooking ingredient, so even if it doesn’t quite zap that cough, I’m not pumping my system up with chemicals. Can’t lose.
(London, 2011)
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