No-Nonsense Tickly Throat Cure

With cold weather comes cold season - and the dry, tickly cough that sneaks up on you at the worst times.

It strikes in the most inopportune situations - crowded movie theatres, school exams, bedtime - and often without warning. A niggling, scratchy, tickle in your throat that you just can’t cough away. Throat lozenges help sometimes; coughing rarely does. But you can’t stop it. So what can you do to combat this sickly symptom that is more annoyance than danger?

A tickle in your throat is most often caused by a dry breathing passage, which is exascerbated when you breathe cold, non-humid air. Have you ever noticed that the tickle is much worse whenever you inhale? Then this solution is for you.

To provide warm, humid air for your throat, place the neckline of your shirt over your mouth (you can also use a scarf or blanket if you have one nearby). The goal is to create a pocket of your own exhalations in this small space, and as breathing is - in fact - a “wet” action, the air will become warm and humid. In more extreme instances, you may need to cup your hand at your chin to trap your exhalations in an even smaller space. Within a minute or two, you should feel the recycled air in this space warming up and your shirt becoming mildly damp. The tickle in your throat should dissipate soon thereafter.

It’s not the most glamorous of poses, but when you’re stuck in a situation where your cough becomes embarassing, who cares if you look like Michael Jackson walking into a courthouse? At least everyone’s not staring at you because you’re interrupting their enjoyment of Atonement.