Last week I travelled to another part of the country to only acquire seasonal flu for the first time in the past 5 years, which always, in my case, leads to acute laryngitis. This has been the scene every time I catch the flu.
There are some unique features in my ailment. My voice changes are not profound, but the cough is like the one in whooping cough, requiring a very forced effort as a compulsion. It is usually a dry and allergic cough that makes the person sitting next to me panic.
And the last night was pathetic. I tried a fluticasone and formoterol puff to alleviate the cough, as it was obstructing my sleep. I kept coughing continuously and barking for almost 3 hours. There was a relief for 15 minutes, so I took another dose, causing me rebound tachycardia with centralization of blood flow as a side effect, along with the worsening of cough, which I assumed would not happen to me. My arms, legs, and back fell numb, and all I was aware of was a pounding heart, so I quickly grabbed my mother’s metoprolol 25 mg tablet, which caused the throbbing heart to calm in about 10 minutes, after which I slept.
I had to board a flight this morning to travel back to my workplace abode. I kept coughing along the way back, recollecting about a friend who had gifted me rosemary leaves when I was only 19 years old because of my helplessness to manage this cough. She asked me to boil the dried leaves and drink the decoction. It was an amazing experience when my laryngitis recovered in just one drink. It seemed like a Sanjeevni Booti for cough.
I do not have a rosemary plant here, though now I feel like growing it. But never mind, it is not a priority.
But I did something different today: I applied lavender essential oil neat on my nares, temples, and neck copiously and then covered my face and neck with an intense moisturizer.
Then I drank hibiscus tea intermittently, thrice in an hour’s time. I prepared it for myself through the electric kettle. This relief lasted for 3 hours, after which another paroxysm began, prompting me to prepare honey lemon tea, reapply a small amount of lavender oil, and set out to write this post.
I feel somewhat relieved of my refractory laryngitis that did not even reduce after antihistamine tablets, puffs, some herbal remedies, and steam inhalation.
Lavender is my favorite oil for treating acne, a remedy for insomnia, and a meditation aid that helps calm any negativity and allows me to breathe clearly. For the first time in my life, I have used the oil for acute laryngeal inflammation, and it has soothed my paroxysms that are also causing muscle pains and headaches that were difficult to bear with a blocked nose.
Nature is abundant, and natural extracts are far better at healing common ailments along with drugs. For example, even if the puffs did not work, a tablet of antihistamine and anti-migraine medicine relieved my headache and running nose. The rest was just lavender at my rescue.
Many times honey gives up because mine is a very difficult case to treat; it really is a barking cough that brings all intestinal contents out with all the pressure from attempting diaphragmatic efforts to cough.
This lavender thing turned out to be comforting. The swooshing sounds have subsided, and I feel a relief with some heaviness in my throat that, now that I am sure, lavender will heal within this week.
So this weekend I spent on healing my laryngeal inflammation that manifested after 5 years. But I am more in control this time, more into the writing and innovative mode to cure my ailment naturally, as that tachycardia was dreadful, and if I hadn’t taken metoprolol, I would have been dead. At least, it seemed like that.
Try lavender; the purple herb is fantabulously useful for coughs, too. I am proud of the fact that at least this was available today because rosemary leaves of quality are very tedious to find. I thought, “I need to buy seeds of rosemary to grow it at home,” but by the second reflection, is it better to spend less money when lavender oil bottles lie unused in my closet? Let me utilize them.
I feel doctors must support these hacks that are actually evidence-based to improve refractory coughs and colds. One would never regret recommending them. However, examine for allergy and quantity of use of essential oils to prevent side effects. It should not be too much. Consult a health practitioner for their encouragement and feel happy to come back to health.
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