Experts say coughs play a role in clearing irritants and infections from the body, but a persistent cough can be irritating. While I am yet to come across any study which has found how to prevent coughs, medical professionals have found its many causes to include allergies, infections and acid influx.

But what’s a cough?

Harvard Health describes a cough as a voluntary, conscious act or an uncontrollable reflex. In the latter case, stimulation of nerves in the larynx (voice box) and respiratory tract initiates the entire process. These nerves can be irritated by infections, allergies, cold air, tumors, chemical agents such as smoke, mechanical factors such as dust particles, or by normal body fluids such as nasal mucus or stomach acid.

A cough begins with an initial gasp that draws air deep into the lungs. Next, the glottis snaps shut, putting a lid over the trachea, or windpipe. The third step is the forceful contraction of the muscles of the chest cage, abdomen, and diaphragm. In normal breathing, these muscles push air gently from the lungs up through the nose and mouth.

But when the glottis is closed, the air can't move out, so tremendous pressure builds up in the air passages. Finally, the glottis swings open and the air rushes out. And it is quite a rush; in a vigorous cough, the air travels out at nearly the speed of sound, creating the barking or whooping noise that we call a cough.

However, as stated earlier, there are types of coughs. The ones that come and go (a couple of days) and those that persist for a long time.

This article is for the former. It is advised to seek medical attention if your cough persists for weeks.

So what are the solutions to those annoying coughs?

The first thought is to go to the pharmacy and get medication. Which is wise because cough suppressants are popular and usually promise to suppress your cough reflex and provide comfort. But if you’ve had a number of cough mixtures after that cold, then you know the cough mixtures do little.

In this case, what do you do? Go natural, yes, go natural. You don’t need to spend so much, you can prepare your own cough lozenges with the everyday ingredient you use at home.

How? All you need is ginger, sugar, honey and some lemon. And oh, an airtight container to store your finished product.

The video below from @Blossom provides a step by step guide on how to get your lozenges done. Watch.

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DIY All-Natural Cough Drops! Prepare for this flu season 🤒and make your own homemade lemon ginger cough drops! 🤗

A post shared by Blossom (@blossom) on Jan 24, 2017 at 12:36pm PST