Do Cough Drops Actually Work?

It’s that time of the year again, where everyone, especially college students seem to have the classic runny nose, sore throat and most importantly the cough. Naturally all students freak out over how they can’t be sick because they have to focus on their school work and be active enough to go out and enjoy themselves in such a fast paced environment. Unfortunately there isn’t much that can be done regarding having the common cold as it is a virus. Students resort to taking as many over the counter medications as possible to alleviate any and all pain. One of the biggest culprits in this instance are cough drops. Some people hate  the taste of cough drops, some people love it. Personally, I follow a rule with the better the taste, the least effective it is. This led me to wonder: Do cough drops really work? Will they actually remove or at least help get rid of my cough? Or is it a complete placebo effect where the user feels as though taking the cough drops will actually do something beneficial to them.

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Cough drops are a medicated lozenge sucked to relieve a cough and/or sore throat. The medication within these drops are used to help soothe and lubricate any irritated throat tissue. Now, cough drops have become  more widely popular as a result of the good taste associated with them, which unfortunately has led most cough drops to consist of mostly sugar. Cough drops based on the company drastically vary based on what’s inside of them and cough drops with methanol are best since the methanol acts as an agent that temporarily “numbs” the nerves in your throat which get irritated from the symptoms of the cold. Although it seems that even these “best” type of cough drops aren’t that great (ZocDoc 2015).
The Monell Chemical Senses Center suggests that sucrose and menthol, two common ingredients in cough drops reduce coughing. In June 2012 there was a study issued in Pulmonary Pharmacology and Therapeutics where 12 healthy adults inhaled the burning ingredient in chill peppers after each inhalation, and the more they inhaled the more they coughed. Both Sucrose and menthol increased the amount of coughing needed to relieve a cough that would clear their throats, which is the role of cough drops. Sucrose was able to increase the cough threshold by about 45% whole menthol increased it by approximately 25%. This study not only supports that cough drops work, but it shows that sweet flavorings improve our coughs. Therefore, sweeter cough drops could be better, which many people claim are the least effective flavors (Monell 2012).

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According to the new guidelines from the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) there is little medical evidence that supports the use of cough drops. They continue to suggest that for an acute cough the best alternatives are antihistamine with a decongestant like Robitussin Allergy or Vicks NyQuil (ABC News 2006). Personally speaking, I know whenever I take cough drops I need to continuously be using them or else immediately my symptoms of a sore throat and cough come back.
Whether or not cough drops works remains unknown. Personally, I think more research needs to be conducted for a clearer answer, but it seems as though cough drops definitely do more of a benefit to a sore throat and cough than a disadvantage. Cough drops certainly aren’t the best option to relieve the pain, there are better medications, but based on what we know about them there is no harm with trying to use cough drops.

Works Cited:

Do Cough Drops Work? (2015 ). In Zoc Doc. Retrieved from https://www.zocdoc.com/answers/
4547/do-cough-drops-work

Stein, L. (2012 ). Sweet Minty Relief for Cough. In Monell Chemical Senses Center . Retrieved
from http://www.monell.org/images/uploads/Cough_final.pdf

Victory, J. (2006). Throw Out Those Cough Drops, Group Says. In ABC News . Retrieved from
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=1486831

 

7 thoughts on “Do Cough Drops Actually Work?

  1. John Wilson Mcavoy

    This post caught my eye as I had just put another cough drop in, trying to fight this tremendous cough that has stunted my sleep for the past few days. Every night ends up the same way, I try to go to bed, I lay down, suddenly I cant resist the urge to cough, and then I move to the couch as to not keep my room mate up all night with my coughing. I must have gone through two bags of cough drops in the past 5 days, and I find they have the same effect on me as you, they seem to work while in use, but once they are gone so is their effect. this website has a few remedies that i found useful, especially the honey!
    http://www.healthline.com/health/allergies/best-natural-cough-remedies#5

  2. Kory M Barbanel

    I think that cough drops actually work. Whenever i have a cough i always leave them by my bed because i feel better during sleeping directly after i eat one. Whether there are actual medical benefits or not that is to be determined however they are definitely good at the placebo effect if not.

  3. Ryan Edward Schmidt

    I have just gotten over a cold that entailed a few bags of cough drops. I found them effective and soothing on my throat. although this is the case, people need to be aware that they are pure sugar and can be quite damaging to the teeth.

  4. Madeline Nicole Policastro

    I never really used cough drops for pain relief. I was told when I was younger that things like lolly pops or lozenges almost make you feel hydrated and help soothe pain in the throat. However I like this article because many do not realize that their cough drops are not working because they are basically just sugar. If someone is looking for actual relief for their throat they should definitely try the worst tasting drops as they help more and often contain less sugar.

  5. Isabelle Torhus

    It is easy to turn to over the counter medicine to treat our health problems, but sometimes you can get relief from more natural ingredients.

    A study was done in 2014 to evaluate if honey is effective in suppressing cough in children, compared to not treating it, or using dextromethorphan, used in cough medicine.

    They conducted randomized controlled trials in participants between the age 2-18. Honey was better than no treatment, and there was no significant reduction in cough with honey versus cough medicine.

    Source: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ebch.1970/full

  6. Rachel Wynn Evans

    I have always found cough drops to be very effective for temporary pain relief, but mainly for sore throats as opposed to actual coughs. The way they work is to coat the throat with a dull medication to ease irritation. Not only does this soothe pain that might be felt, it may also temporarily dehabiliate a cough, for the throat is not as bothered and itchy as before the drop itself. Here are doe other possible ways to kick a cough to the curb: http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/cough-relief-how-lose-bad-cough

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