Magic tip: how to stop a persistent tickly cough

This is nothing to do with cats, but I feel that I have to try and get this great tip out there. It really is good, and I don't see anyone mentioning it on the internet. 

It is based on personal first-hand experience, and I feel confident that it will work a lot of the time. Tickly coughs are common after an upper respiratory viral disease: a cold or Covid Omicron for example.

I had a tickly cough for weeks and it was driving me mad. I also felt under the weather with a headache. I don't know if the source of the cough was the same as for the headache, but I think it was. It may have been Covid Omicron which is like a cold.

TCP can cure a persistent tickly cough. Image in the public domain.

I got rid of the cough by gargling with diluted TCP at about 1 part TCP with 3 parts of water, which is a liquid antiseptic based on halogenated phenols.  Make the concentration as strong as you can take, even 1:1 and you might drink a little of it at the end. But only a little bit. If you want to pass on this last bit of advice that's fine.

I gargled three times in the evening and in the morning the cough was 90% gone. It felt like I'd gone to heaven. I did the same thing again yesterday and this morning and the cough has gone.

I also used Corsodyl mouthwash after the gargling just to be sure both bacteria and viruses were being killed. Although, phenol disinfectant can kill a wide variety of microbes such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

My research indicates that low concentrations of phenol cause bacterial death by deactivation of essential enzyme systems.

Phenols have a broad range of disinfection capabilities. They are effective against bacteria, micro-bacteria and fungi. They are also effective against envelope (easy to cure) viruses such as influenza. Therefore, phenol is more effective against bacteria and on that bases I wonder if a tickly cough is mainly caused by bacteria on the throat.

Phenol-based disinfectants have a high potency in disinfection of hospitals. Phenol derivatives can deactivate viruses such as HIV and other hydrophilic viruses within minutes at a concentration range of 0.5-5%. 

They deactivate pathogens by inducing membrane damage which leads to the leakage of intracellular components and denaturing of proteins! 

That's very technical but I'm just trying to add a little bit of meat to the bone here to try and explain why TCP is effective at reducing or eliminating the tickly cough after an upper respiratory viral infection possibly followed by a secondary bacterial infection and I think it is effective against post a Covid Omicron infection.

Gargling with TCP is unpleasant, but the result is pleasant. Mouth washing with Corsodyl hurts if you do it after you have brushed your teeth so do both the TCP gargle and mouth wash before brushing your teeth.

Give it a try if you have a bad tickly cough that is upsetting you. You might get lucky. If it works for you, please leave a comment. There is no danger and downside to the best of my knowledge. This is an over-the-counter treatment not requiring a prescription which is why I feel that I can talk about it here.