Traveling With a Lingering Cough
Whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, the last thing you want to deal with on the road is a persistent cough — especially one that affects your sleep or makes it hard to get through the day. Your lingering cough may be the tail end of a recent cold, or perhaps you’re dealing with the aftermath of a more serious infection, like bronchitis or sinusitis. Either way, you don’t have to let it put a dent in your itinerary. Keeping your cough under control can be as easy as soothing your throat and listening to your body.
Ease Your Cough With Liquids
If you avoid drinking a lot of liquids when you’re traveling in the hopes that you’ll have to take fewer bathroom breaks along the way, it’s time to put that habit to rest. Drinking plenty of fluids can help ease your cough by soothing your throat and thinning your mucus. Choose cold beverages like ice water or juice if you find them most soothing, or if they happen to be the most convenient option. When hot beverages are available, give them a try — warm drinks usually provide relief as they help loosen mucus and ease congestion. Drinking hot tea with honey may be all you need to do to calm your lingering cough.
Give Yourself Some Support
When you’re well hydrated but your cough just won’t quit, it may be time to team up with the right over-the-counter cough medicine. Delsym® Adult 12-Hour Cough Relief works to help silence your cough for a full 12 hours. That means you need to take only one dose in the morning before starting your day of meetings or heading off into the wild blue yonder. Taking just one more dose helps to relieve your cough so you can go to bed and get the restful sleep you need to keep the next day’s agenda on track.
Steam Up the Hotel Bathroom
You may be far from home, but you still need to bathe, right? Treat your daily shower as a kind of springboard into soothing relief: breathing moist, humidified air can help soothe an irritated throat and quiet a cough. A long steamy shower can be just what you need to soothe your respiratory tract, loosen mucus and help it flow. If you’re lucky enough to have access to a humidifier or vaporizer, running it as you sleep can bring you relief.
Listen to Your Body
The most basic advice on how to feel better when you’re not 100 percent is something everyone’s been told at one time or another: be sure to get enough rest. Making sure you don’t overextend yourself can be hard when you’re traveling, and when back-to-back business meetings, exotic sites or red-eye flights are in the cards. But while you’re in the midst of all your plans, don’t forget to listen to your body. If you find that your cough gets worse as the day goes on — as coughs often do — find a way to wrap up your activities and relax.
Summary
Drinking plenty of liquids, using the right OTC cough medicine and getting enough rest can help you ease a lingering cough while you're on the road.
