Top Three Trusted Homeopathy Remedies to Soothe Croup and Hoarse Coughs

A Canadian fall brings colourful leaves, colder, darker evenings and if your child is susceptible, then it’s also a time for colds, coughs and croup. If you’ve never experienced a child with croup, count yourself lucky – it can be frightening for both the parents and the child. Since croup attacks and swells the vocal cords, in young children it can cause a horrible sounding barking cough with a high pitched inspiratory wheeze that awakens the child from sleep. Leave it to homeopathy for croup to help the body recover.

For my kids, what worked best at that point was taking the child out of bed and into the bathroom to run a hot shower – the steam works to loosen the airways and ease breathing – which gives everyone a moment to calm down and decide next steps. That’s when I choose the best fitting homeopathic medicine to ensure that the child stays asleep and doesn’t suffer recurring attacks. As with most acute coughs and colds, a well selected homeopathic remedy can seem like a miracle but really only helps the body resolve the issue naturally. Even though croup sounds frightening, it’s not normally serious and breathing settles within a few minutes. Of course if your child really struggles to breathe or the lips turn blue, do call emergency services – it may not be croup or it may be a particularly severe case which requires extra attention. 

True to homeopathic fashion, you’ll need to choose the best remedy to suit the symptoms the child experiences. While there are more than just three remedies, Dr Boenninghausen, a German physician and homeopath, treated over 400 cases with these three remedies alone – and I’ve rarely used anything else especially in an acute situation. In Dr. Boenninghausen’s vast experience with croup, he discovered that very few every needed all three remedies – and while this was 150 years ago, the same three remedies work well today. They are: Aconitum napellis (Aconite), Spongia tosta (Spongia) and Hepar sulphuris calcareum (Hepar sulph) and they are usually given in that order, with exceptions… 

Aconitum napellis (Monkshood/Wolfsbane)

You won’t be able to tell the Aconite and Spongia apart just from symptoms alone because they both have that same dry, barking cough, wheezing with tight breathing and that anxious, suffocating breathing after awakening from sleep – even after being perfectly well during the day. If the child was exposed to a cold, dry wind  during the day and then wakens between 9:00 – 11:00 pm, then you must choose Aconite first. Aconite suits illnesses that develop suddenly and violently. This often happens in children who are normally quite strong and get sick quite suddenly. If there’s a fever, then it’s also Aconite that will work best. Aconite – when used early – can often head off an inflammation so it resolves and needs no more attention. But if you catch it late, then other remedies may follow, like Spongia in the case of croup, for instance.

Spongia tosta (toasted sponge)

Spongia can be chosen instead if the child is a little more run down, and gets sick a little more slowly, so the attack is later in the night, often around or just before midnight. There is no fever, but it’s also for that very dry, croupy, barking cough that sounds almost like a seal’s bark. Consider Spongia as the first remedy if the child has not been exposed to very cold weather – I tend to use it on the West Coast a little more often than Aconite, but it does depend on the child. 

Hepar sulphuris calcareum (calcium sulphide combination)

Hepar sulph is rarely a remedy for the beginning stages, but think of it when the barking cough is just a little looser with a bit of phlegm and tending to worsen towards morning. This third remedy for croup is for a very different set of symptoms so you can’t miss it in cases of croup. It’s also a fabulous loose cough remedy, not just for looser croupy, hoarse coughs, but also for loose coughs sensitive to cold weather or catching a chill. While we also think of Aconite for illness after cold weather exposure, the symptoms that call for Aconite are sudden and dry. Hepar sulph is used for phegmy coughs that develop more slowly and are worse in the morning.

If you’re at all familiar with homeopathy you’ll know that the homeopathic medicines must suit the person and not the illness, so remember Aconite for the sudden illness soon after falling asleep and after exposure to biting cold or cold, windy days, or Spongia for the super dry seal’s bark with waking around midnight – and then there’s Hepar sulph when the barking, hoarse cough gets a little looser and worsens towards morning. 

Since croup is a viral illness that affects the vocal cords, you’ll notice that kids with croup grow out of it and it doesn’t affect older children or adults with larger respiratory passages in the same way; you’ll typically only find croup in children under the age of five. But if the cough is barking or hoarse and affecting the vocal cords, then consider the same three remedies, choosing Aconite, Spongia or Hepar sulph, depending on the symptoms that suit best. 

Dose and potency:

Since the 30c potency is most popular, it’s easy to find and tends to work quickly, I would take the remedy you’ve chosen in a 30ch potency and repeat every 15 minutes if necessary or every time the child wakes. If the child is quite young, just dissolve a dose in 1/4 cup water, stir well and give a teaspoon as a dose.

Recurrences?

If your child does suffer from recurring attacks of cough or croup through the fall and winter, then a constitutional remedy is required and this needs the skill of a homeopathic practitioner. Also remember that while homeopathic remedies work very quickly in acute situations like croup, for chronic, recurring conditions, it takes a little more time for the body to rebalance itself.

Having homeopathic medicines at home just in case of illness often makes the nights go a little easier with little ones at home, giving peace of mind and a little more sleep!