General characteristics

Whooping cough or pertussis is associated with the infectious bacteria Bordetella pertussis.
It begins as a cold like illness with mild coughing and runny nose etc before developing into the more characteristic whooping cough after a week or so. The violent coughing is spasmodic in nature and the 'whoop' is the noise made when inhaling after each coughing fit. The cough may be so violent as to fracture ribs, cause haemorrhage in the conjunctiva, fainting, vomiting and e.ven rupture of the lining of the lungs or possibly mild hernias. The convulsive coughing episodes occur in bouts and can be quite exhausting to the sufferer.
Whooping cough usually last from 3 to 6 weeks but can hang around for up to 2 months and although it seems more common amongst young children, older children and adults can have it too.
 
Healing objectives are to use herb and natural remedies to speed up healing and deal with any complications and to raise the immunity and vitality of the body by eating a good wholesome diet to provide the body with optimum nutrition.

Useful herbs

Teas made of equal parts of thyme, plantain leaf and sage dried herbs can be taken three times daily as a tea, to aid the body and chest area to help speed up resolution.

Fenugreek seeds can help relieve a dry and irritating cough.

A simple remedy can be made using fresh onions and garlic, both are excellent foods which help disinfect the airways and thin mucous secretions making them easier to expel. Chop a white onion (and a clove of chopped garlic if you wish), put in a bowl and add just enough good quality honey to cover the onion. Cover with a plate and leave for several hours or overnight. Spoon off the now liquid honey and take a tablespoon every hour or so. Make fresh every couple of days and store in the fridge.

 

In a large saucepan put a tablespoon each of balm of gilead buds, aniseeds, elecampagne root, marshmallow root, wild cherry bark and half a tablespoon of liquorice root. Add about 600ml of water, bring to the boil and simmer very gently for half an hour or so with the lid on. Turn off the heat and stand overnight or for at least 6 hours or so.

Next strain off the liquid (squeezing thoroughly to get as much liquid as possible from the herbs) and discard the herbs to the compost heap. Put the herbal liquid back in the pan and now add a tablespoon each of thyme, mullein leaf and white horehound and bring to the boil with the lid on. Once boiling, turn off the heat and stand as before, overnight or for about 6 hours. Strain the liquid from the herbs, squeezing thoroughly and add a tablespoon of slippery elm powder and a pinch of cayenne powder before pouring the liquid into a 1 litre glass bottle. You should have about 500ml of herbal liquid hopefully.

Add about 500ml of vegetable glycerine, close with a secure top and shake well to mix. The syrup can be taken in the dose of a teaspoon in a small glass of water up to 5 times daily for adults. Halve the dose for children 7 and over, quarter dose for children under 7 and do not give to babies under 1 year old, take the adult dose yourself and breast feed your baby. If you are not breastfeeding, a simple tea of liquorice root (half a teaspoon of liquorice root per cup) given 5 drops at a time every 2 hours or so should work fine. A kit containing all the ingredients you need (all the herbs and the glycerine) in the correct amount to make 500ml of this all purpose cough syrup is available from our shop.

Red clover tea is an age old remedy for whooping cough.

Use an additional immune boosting formula which could include echinacea, astragalus, elderflower, barberry root and siberian ginseng tinctures in equal parts. Use a teaspoon 3 times daily for a few weeks (adults) or reduce the dose by half for children aged 8 and upwards. Use a few drops in water for younger children until all signs of the cough are gone.

Antispasmodic and relaxing nervine herbs such as black cohosh, passionflower and crampbark can help to relieve the spasm.