A viral cough can be very aggressive and can make your throat completely sore and inflamed. Your son has had this problem for a week now, so his throat may be hurting a lot and eating solid food may not really be an option.
It is important that your son receives adequate nourishment in order to boost his immune system so that his body can fight off the infection. You can give him thick hot broths and soups. You can steam vegetables and then blend them and mix this paste into a soup to add to its nutritional value. The soup should not be spicy as this will aggravate his throat and cause even more irritation and can make his cough worse. Add plenty of garlic to his soups to prevent further infection as garlic helps to boost the immune system as well as fight off infection. Do not give him any raw fruits or vegetables as the fiber in them can irritate his throat. Steam his vegetables or fruits and then puree them before giving them to him. He can also have steamed fruits like apples or peaches with a little honey poured over them. Make sure that he has an adequate quantity of protein as protein helps to fight off infection by strengthening the body and immune system. Skinless chicken is a good source of protein. If you son has trouble swallowing even shredded chicken, you can blend a little steamed chicken and add it to his soup.
Honey is a good source of energy as well as several vitamins and minerals. It also has strong anti-microbial properties. A honey and raw onion juice mixture is very effective in getting rid of phlegm. You can also clean and scrape a piece of ginger and chop it up into fine slices. Boil 1 ½ cups of water and add the ginger. Allow the liquid to boil for about 30 seconds to a minute and then put it off. Cover this with a lid and allow it to stand undisturbed for 20 minutes. After this you can strain this ginger tea and give it to your son. Ginger has strong antimicrobial properties and helps to fight the infection. In addition to this it helps to relieve irritation caused by hardened mucus. You could also make your son do a steam inhalation as this will help to unclog his nasal passages as well as loosen phlegm that may have hardened in his bronchial tubes and chest.
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