How to Sleep Better When You Have a Cough

Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to sleep at night when you have a cough? Since sleep is such an essential component of optimal immune function, it’s very important to get sufficient rest when you’re sick. Unfortunately, lying down tends to stimulate the coughing response, which can make it challenging to get quality sleep and can even trigger your anxiety response. While anxiety medication for teens may help you calm down and fall asleep quicker, here are some other things you can do to sleep better despite your cough.

Sleeping completely flat on your back or side makes it easier for mucus to gather in your throat. This, in turn, can trigger coughing episodes that prevent you from falling asleep or wake you from your sleep. For this reason, it’s important to elevate your upper body as much as you comfortably can.

You can elevate your head and neck by sleeping in a recliner or by using a thicker pillow beneath your head. You may also want to try putting blocks of wood beneath the bedposts at the upper end of your bed. That way your entire bed will be naturally inclined and you don’t need to worry about getting a kinked neck from sleeping on too many thick pillows.

Post-nasal drip from your sinuses can irritate the throat and cause you to cough. Before bed, try clearing out your sinuses by gently blowing your nose and/or rinsing your sinuses out with a neti pot and saline water. Just be sure to use distilled water rather than tap water, which can potentially contain harmful contaminants.

Brillia Health offers a Cold-Flu Recovery product that may help boost your body’s natural immune response so you recover as quickly as possible. It may also soothe itchy sore throats that can contribute to coughing.

Before bed, drink a warm beverage containing soothing ingredients such as honey or lemon. Only drink 4 ounces or less, so you don’t wake in the night needing to use the bathroom. You may also want to add Cough Control tablets to your drink to further support healthy breathing and potentially reduce the severity of your coughs.

Steam is very effective at breaking up stubborn mucous so you can breathe more freely. It can also coat the airway passages to soothe dryness and irritation. If possible, place your head over a steam humidifier and breathe in the fumes for up to 10 minutes. Or, you can also go into your bathroom, close the door, and turn your shower on full heat while you sit someplace comfortable and breathe in the steam.

Another effective method for generating steam is boiling water in the stove. To make this even more effective, consider adding a few drops of peppermint, eucalyptus or rosemary essential oil to the pot. Then, hold your head over the steam (a safe distance away from the water) and breathe it in deeply for a few minutes.

These methods can all help relieve your symptoms and may minimize your coughing episodes so you can sleep better. When combined with anxiety medication for teens, they may help you relax enough to finally get some good rest at night.