Coltsfoot helps soothe a sore throat
and clear congestion

Expectorants help break up congestion and clear mucus from the lungs. A favorite in my home is coltsfoot tea, flavored with a bit anise and cinnamon, with a drop of raw honey and a bit of lemon.

Using Aromatherapy

Inhaling peppermint's volatile oils makes you feel as if you can breathe easier, even when airflow is not actually increasing. The beauty of using real essential oils in a vaporizer, or aroma lamp, is that they act on many levels to relieve congestion. One the physical level they help you to breathe easier, while the antibacterial action helps cleanse the air of germs. Just as importantly, the light, refreshing scents clear away the mental fatigue and lift your spirits.

The aromatic oils of Angelica , Eucalyptus , and Hyssop all have expectorant properties and can be used in chest massages and aroma lamps to help ease breathing and break up congestion.

Herbs Used for Congestion/Chest & Sinus

Angelica * Anise Seed * Bayberry * Black Mustard * Cajeput * Calamus * Camphor * Cardamom * Colt's Foot * Elder * Elecampane * Eucalyptus * Eyebright * Fennel * Goldenrod * Holy Basil * Horseradish * Hyssop * Juniper * Licorice * Meadowsweet * Mullein * Peppermint * Pleurisy Root * Spikenard * St. John's Wort * Thyme * Wild Cherry *

Angelica For: Congestion
Profile	Warming and stimulating to the lungs, angelica is used to ease congestion in flu and colds.

Anise essential oil For: Influenza, sinusitis, Congestion, ease breath
Profile	Influenza, sinusitis, and other respiratory ailments. The essential oil in anise seeds stimulates secretions from the linings of the throat and lungs. They both contain creosol and alpha-pinene, which help to loosen bronchial secretions. Anise essential oil can be diffused to ease the breath of a cold sufferer, or blended in massage oils to ease chest congestion. Anise seeds make a tasty tea that are particularly appropriate in cases of unproductive cough. Used as a cough suppressant, anise is an ingredient in many cough medicines and lozenges. As an expectorant, anise helps to loosen and get rid of phlegm in the respiratory tract. Phyllis A. Balch, Prescription for Herbal Healing (2002)

Anise Oil For: Expectorant
Profile	Anise is an expectorant that is also antiseptic to the mucous membranes. This means that anise helps to kill germs while it helps to clear the lungs of congestion. Marlene Ericksen, Healing with Aromatherapy (2000)

Boneset For: Congestion, Fever
Profile	Not really used to treat broken bones, boneset is nonetheless an excellent remedy for colds and congestion. Boneset treats colds by raising body temperature to kill the colds virus, but it also treats fevers by inducing perspiration to lower body temperature. The polysaccharides in boneset activate T-cells to fight bacterial infections. Moutain Rose Herbs. Learn Boneset. (2008-07-12),

Cardamom For: Decongestant
Profile	Cardamom is an expectorant and decongestant. It can be added to thyme and taken as a steam inhalant for congestion of the lungs. Marlene Ericksen, Healing with Aromatherapy (2000)

Cayenne (capsicum) For: Expectorant, lungs
Profile	The antioxidants in peppers support the lungs, and the capsicum thins mucus,allowing you to expel it easier.

Coffee For: Ease Breathing
Profile	Coffee accelerates the heart, increases blood flow, and encourages breathing. Other substances in coffee including theobromine and theophylline, help expand lung passages and inhibit bronchospasms. James Duke, The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook (2000)

Coltsfoot For: Bronchitis, cough, laryngitis, and pneumonia
Profile	Coltsfoot relieves congestion. This property makes it useful in treating bronchitis, cough, laryngitis, and pneumonia. Small doses of coltsfoot open the bronchial passages, although large doses close them. The herb also contains mucilages that coat the throat, relieving irritation. Phyllis A. Balch, Prescription for Herbal Healing (2002)

comfrey For: Lungs, Skin, Congestion
Profile	Literally a one-herb pharmacy - healing for any kind of respiratory disease. It is a cell proliferant, and is healing for internal and external use. This wonder plant contains potassium, calcium, phoshorus, iron, magnesium, and cobalt. It is rich in Vitamin B and C and E. Adele Dawson, Herbs: Partners in Life (2000)

Comfrey root For: Coughs, congestion
Profile	The root is more effectual than the leaves and is the part usually used in cases of coughs. It is highly esteemed for all pulmonary complaints, consumption and bleeding of the lungs. Maud Grieve, Modern Herbal Vol 1 (1931)

Elecampane For: Bronchial congestion
Profile	Elecampane, notably the phytochemical inulin, is a pretty good expectorant assisting in breaking up bronchial congestion. Inulin also aids in maintaining a good balance of intestinal bacteria. James Duke, The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook (2000)

Eucalyptus For: Bronchial congestion,cold
Profile	The pungent vapors of eucalyptus help break up phlegm and bronchial congestion, a welcome action for anyone with bronchitis or a cold. It's cineole is an antiseptic that helps combat bad breath, fight spasms, and kill bacteria and fungi. James Duke, The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook (2000)

Eucalyptus oil For: Encourages breathing
Profile	Eucalyptus opens the lungs and encourages breathing by increasing oxygen in the cells. Eucalyptol, found in many over-the-counter remedies, loosens phlegm in the chest and helps to open clogged nasal passages. It also kills several types of bacteria and viruses, including Bacillus subtilis and several strains of Streptococcus Phyllis A. Balch, Prescription for Herbal Healing (2002)

Eyebright For: Congestion
Profile	Eyebright is often used as an eyewash or in a compress to treat sore, itchy eyes. Eyebright is also a traditional remedy for nasal congestion and catarrh and may be taken as a tea. As a mouthwash or gargle, eyebright may be employed for inflammations of the mouth and throat. Richard Mabey, The New Age Herbalist (1988)

Fennel For: Coughs
Profile	Syrup prepared from Fennel juice was formerly given for chronic coughs. Fennel helps clear mucus from the lungs Maud Grieve, Modern Herbal Vol 1 (1931)

Honeysuckle For: Bronchitis, chest congestion
Profile	I regard honeysuckle and forsythia* as safe and effective, although they are not listed as GRAS by the FDA ( whose ways are a mystery to me). I wouldn't hesitate to use them for bronchitis and the chest congestion of colds and flu. Chinese studies have confirmed centuries of folkloric use. James Duke, The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook (2000)

Horseradish For: Lung infections
Profile	Horseradish is a powerful circulatory stimulant with antibiotic properties due to the mustard oil it contains. It is effective for lung and urinary infections because mustard oil is excreted through these channels Richard Mabey, The New Age Herbalist (1988)

Hyssop For: Congestion
Profile	The pytochemical marrubin helps break up congestion. Two other chemicals, diosmin and ursolic acid relieve inflammation. Hyssop is our best source of diosin, which protects capillaries and eases tissue swelling. James Duke, The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook (2000)

Juniper berries For: Colds, coughs and excessive phlegm
Profile	Steam inhalations of the berries are an excellent treatment for colds, coughs and excessive phlegm. Richard Mabey, The New Age Herbalist (1988)

LungWort For: Colds Cough and Lung Congestion
	Pulmonaria officinalis has been used to treat chest, cold and lung complains since the middle ages, when the Doctrine of Signatures determined its use for the lungs from the resemblence of the spotted leaves to a diseased lung. Modern herbalists value lungwort for its a high mucilage content, making it quite useful in treating coughs, including whooping cough, asthma and coughs arising from tuberculosis. Dried Lungwort leave is used in herbal teas, and tinctures in combination with mullein, coltsfoot, mallow and other herbs in cough and cold remedies. . Lungwort Herb Profile. (), Mountain Rose Herbs

Parsley For: Allergies, Congestion
Profile	Parsley helps to inhibit the body's release of histamines, which explains its use by naturopathic healers for colds and congestion. James Duke, The Green Pharmacy Herbal Handbook (2000)

Peppermint For: Allergies, ease breathing
Profile	Inhaling peppermint's volatile oils makes you feel as if you can breathe easier, even when airflow is not actually increasing. Drink a cup of mint tea, or use the essential oil in steam inhalation to ease the breath. Linda B. White, M.D., The Herbal Drugstore (2003)

Pleurisy root For: Chest Congestion
Profile	Pleurisy root acts as an expectorant and relieves pain and congestion in the lungs.

Pleurisy Root For: Chest Congestion, rheumatism
Profile	It possesses a specific action on the lungs, assisting exporation, subduing inflammation and exerting a general mild tonic effect, making it valuable in all chest complains. It has also been used with great advantage in diarrhaea, dysentery and acute and chronic rheumatism, in low typhoid states and in eczema. Maud Grieve, Modern Herbal Volume 2 (1931)

Saw Palmetto For: Congestion, Colds
Profile	The berries have a toning and soothing influence on mucous membranes throughout the body as well as an expectorant property, making this a useful remedy for colds and catarrh (the isolated oil is an effective inhalant). It has a traditional use for asthma and bronchitis. The herb is also used to treat urinary disorders and enuresis. It is reputed to be mildly sedative to the nervous system. Richard Mabey, The New Age Herbalist (1988)

Congestion/Chest & Sinus Information

• Bronchitis :
  Herbs for bronchitis that help expand lung passages and inhibit bronchospasms. Common home remedies that soothe sore throats, are expectorant, anti-inflammatory, and directly antiviral..
• Colds :
  Cold care is one area where herbs really shine because of the many helpful properties these healing plants have.
• Cough :
  Herbal cough remedies that work better than commercial brands. Learn how to make at home yourself.
• Influenza :
  Fight colds and flu and swine flue with these free home remedies.
• Sinusitis :
  Simple herbal home remedies and alternative treatments for sinus infections and colds
• Sore Throat/Laryngitis :
  A warm herbal infusion of soothing herbs will help comfort a sore throat. Honey and lemon not only add to the taste but to the healing process as well. You can also apply the healing power of herbs directly by herbal gargles and steam inhalations.