CHAMOMILE TEA FOR YOUR SORE THROAT OR THAT NASTY COUGH

We have been suffering from a sore throat when we were in KL last week. The air is still bad in KL and we were told that it is annual event. With the lack of trees and with KL being a valley, it is no wonder the bad air stays put and it difficult to be renewed. And of course, the peat fire is relentless, we could still see it from the plane takeoff.

Our throats continued to worsen until we finally lost our voices come the new week. We were using Kamillosan, a throat spray for disinfectn, but we eventually exhausted that half of bottle left of good old essential oil spray. 

This is what it consists of just in case you are wondering what makes it so 'essential'. 

Chamomile, Pepermint, Sage, oil, Anise, Pine Needle Oil, Bergamot Oil, Eucalyptol, Methyl Salicylate.

On the basis of essential oils and active substances of the Chamomile for acute and chronic diseases of the buccal, pharyngeal cavities.

Indications :

• inflammatory affections of the buccal and pharyngeal cavity
• parodontosis, acute gingivitis
• pain after tooth extraction and during second detition
• mucosal irritation cause by dental plates
• tonsillary angina
• canker sores
• bad breath 

Directions :

Apply the sprayer 3 times daily to the affected region of the buccal and pharyngeal cavity. Two shots applied with the spraying head correspond head correspond to a fully effective single dose. It is recommended to use the sprayer after meals.

Ok, and then what? It is finished and we actually are not even sure if we could get Kamillosan in Singapore. We bought it in Bangkok a while back. One might say, hey why not just go to the doc? We could, but we are simply too busy. We could, but we are also reluctant to drown ourselves with those syrups which make us drowsy. It is just not a good high!

So, we thought to ourselves and thought we try to self-medicate with our stash of herbal stuff. We have lavender, chamomile and rooibos tea. It seems that chamomile is certainly something to consider, considering it is one of the main herb in Kamillosan. We have always thought of chamomile tea as a relaxing tea and especially one to aid insomnia. Little did we know that there is much more to chamomile than we had initially known.

Chamomile tea is known to have healing properties and for many centuries it has been used as an elixir to cure a number of ailments, such as insomnia, back pain and anxiety. It's most common use, however, is as a muscle relaxer. A chamomile tea remedy relieves body pain, such as from menstrual cramps, and alleviates inflammation. A 2003 study published in the "Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy" discovered that chamomile tea was effective for reducing cough frequency and cough intensity in asthmatic patients. Consult your medical advisor before using herbal remedies to treat a condition in order to prevent an allergic reaction. If pregnant, avoid taking chamomile tea.
This was extracted from http://www.livestrong.com/

Naturally chamomile tea is not caffeinated, one of the reasons that it is so calming, but chamomile itself is a mild muscle relaxant, that can help relieve stress, anxiety and even depression. In addition to being calming though, chamomile tea offers health benefits for helping cure a cough as severe as bronchitis, a fever or inflammation of the skin. One study even suggest that chamomile may act as both an antimicrobial and an antioxidant. In the study for two weeks fourteen healthy people were observed, these volunteers drank five cups of chamomile tea every single day of the two week study. At the in of the two weeks researchers found that by drinking the chamomile tea the volunteer had produced an increase in hippurate, a substance that is associated with increased antibacterial activity and helps fight off common colds.
This was extracted from http://voices.yahoo.com/