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Persistent cough, cold and flu can drain body of all its energy. It's very common and mostly not taken seriously but it can be difficult to deal with. Experts usually prescribe over-the-counter medicines to treat the symptoms and suggest taking rest, but that doesn't always help. While medicines play their role, cough's symptoms take their own time to disappear. Recovering from cough and cold makes you feel tired and low on energy. You may want to lie down and rest but that becomes tough to achieve. It is because cough symptoms get worse at night.
There are a few reasons behind why cough gets worse at night. It makes the sleep time uncomfortable. Knowing these reasons can help you feel better by finding an alternate solution to them. Following are the reasons:
Experts believe that the major reason why we cough all the more at night is because of gravitational pull. It's because the moment you lie down, the mucus inside starts to accumulate at one point that makes coughing worse. Gravitational pull is a natural phenomenon, you can't kill but you can tweak the way you sleep during the infection. Make sure to elevate the level of your head when you lie down on bed. Keep a pillow under your head which will prevent the mucus to get collected at the back of the throat. It will make breathing better and you can sleep comfortably.
Doctors also believe that cough is healthy for body as it makes the airway and throat clear. So, if you feel you're cursed with cough, remember it's also helping you to keep your body healthy. Therefore, before your bed, make sure you clear your throat of mucus. Try to cough a little and spit the mucus out. It relieves your throat of irritation for a while and you can use this time to fall asleep. Having green tea can also soothe the irritated throat and making you fall asleep easily.
Colder and drier air makes the night-time cough worse. It also irritates the skin and adds to the cough symptoms. Installing a heater in the room in which you sleep can sort colder air issue, but it doesn't add any humidity to the dry environment. To treat this, you can place bowls of water in your room. The water, when evaporates, adds humidity to the air. This may relieve you from the cough and make you fall asleep faster.
Make sure to drink plenty of fluids during the day. It tingles the irritated throat, but it keeps you hydrated and prevent dry cough that can hurt your throat even more. You may feel better having lukewarm water with honey and ginger. It also helps in clearing the mucus from throat. Avoid caffeinated drinks till the cough gets better.
Before bed time, have a throat soother candy or a cough syrup as it decreases the temptation to cough. This can help in smooth sleep at night.
Manage your allergies that may add to your coughing. Make sure you sleep on a clean bed, change clothes everyday and sanitise the objects you touch. This helps in preventing the spread of allergies making bedtime cough better.