I found a good video to answer your questions about Croup Cough.

I will never forget the first time I came down with croup, or whooping cough. It has the telltale sound of a seal barking when a person coughs. It is known as Pertussis in the medical field, and children these days are vaccinated for whooping cough, though in my day a person had to suffer with it and hope the mucous did not completely close off their throats so they could breathe.

It was the late seventies and the middle of the night. I hadn’t been feeling well for a few days with cold-like symptoms–coughing, stuffy nose, headache, fevers, and body aches. I awoke in the middle of the night feeling like I couldn’t swallow. I had to cough so badly, but when I did, it was just a dry, hacking, barking cough. It hurt and burned my throat. My mother was frenzied. I was the first of her children to ever come down with croup. After several phone calls to the pediatrician, I was put into a hot shower, where the steam and moisture filled my lungs. I was able to start coughing up some of the mucous that was clogging my airways and slowly suffocating me. My lips turned from a pale blue back to their rosy pink color, and the color began returning to my cheeks. It was frightening, but the worst of the illness was over. A course of antibiotics cleared the rest of the illness, and from there I was fine.

When I entered fourth grade, there was a wonderful Language Arts teacher who had also suffered croup in her childhood. She, unfortunately, did not receive the same care I was given as medical advances to understand and treat the illness had not yet come to light. She had a constant, barking cough. And though it had been decades since her bout with croup, she still suffered from a chronic cough that lasted her entire life. It’s interesting how just a few decades of medical advances can change a person’s life. Later in life, when I had children of my own, there was an outbreak of croup at my son’s daycare center. Even though my son had been vaccinated for Pertussis, there were other children at the center who had not been vaccinated. It was spreading quickly among the children in the center.

My son became ill shortly after, and although he had been vaccinated to prevent the illness, he had still become infected with croup. Evidently, the vaccine is extremely effective, but if a child’s immune system is struggling for some reason, they can become ill with croup. He had chronic reactive airway disease at the time, and the croup almost killed him at the young age of two. Fortunately, with a hefty course of IV antibiotics, steroids, oxygen, and a long hospital stay, he recovered fully. It gave my family quite a scare, though, and none of us will ever forget the gurgling sounds of our young son suffocating on the fluid in his lungs, and the hacking, barking cough that was the tell-tale sign of a case of croup.

Croup is most likely viral in origin, and can be identified by a gasping sound with each breath, a hoarse cough and a labored tightness and pulling in the chest. Now, we all know antibiotics don’t work for viral infections, so what does?

Natural remedies for croup cough have been documented since ancient times. In a book on “Gypsy Healing Remedies”written in the early 1800’s, a mixture of chamomile leaves, flowers and sheep fat rubbed on the neck and chest was thought to cure this condition. I can’t say if this works or not, I have never tried it. It almost sounds plausible though, as chamomile leaves and flowers are a relaxant and herbs can be absorbed through the skin, so who knows, maybe it relaxed the lungs and diaphragm enough to stop some of the coughing. If the coughing lessened, maybe the child could get some sleep and that would increase their immune function.

In Native American cultures many herbs were used for treating conditions and it was thought by some that the application of mud mixed with ashes from a fire ( cool, of course) would stop the hacking cough associated with croup. I’m not sure how that one would work, but I do think you would be adding minerals to the body, absorbed through the skin. Remember, the skin is your largest organ system and it absorbers everything. Maybe the increase in minerals increased immune function enough to fight the viral infection. In the 1988 edition of Merck’s Manual, the reference text for M.D.s of that day, it lists 35 different natural remedies for croup including things like lime water spray, sodium bicarbonate, petroleum, and lactic acid applied as a spray to dissolve the developing membrane. This was before doctors used pharmaceuticals, and homeopathy was popular. Homeopathy for croup would include Belladonna, Aconite, Spongia, and Hepar Sulph.

Today we have other natural tools to use, including supplements. Garlic supplements have been proven to fight viral infections and can be taken by anyone, including a child with no adverse side effects. Echanicea, another herb has been shown to increase immune system function and, along with doses of vitamin C, would be a reasonable choice for first line defense against the croup.

Croup Cough aka Crouping Cough It is typically a childhood illness caused by one of the multitude of viruses that also cause the common cold. Adults can get it also, although for them it is usually less debilitating.

Stridor, which is a wheezing, whistling noise produced in the throat as the victim tries to breathe or speak, is a hallmark characteristic of croup. The illness causes the windpipes and voicebox to swell and the result is some difficulty breathing and eventually the crouping cough which some people describe as a seal’s bark. The disease can occur at anytime of the year but it seems to be more prevalent in the fall and winter. For children the symptoms resemble a cold - aches, pains, fatigue, runny nose, and cough - in the early stages, usually with fever. The child will become hoarse and finally the characteristic barking cough will occur. For adults the symptoms are usually sore throat followed by laryngitis. In adults the disease can be almost benign.

Treatment: antibiotics are useless since Crouping Cough is caused by a virus. Instead, the typical support and symptom alleviation methods used for colds and flu should be used. Try treating the fever with ibuprofen or acetaminophen based medicines being careful to reduce the dosage to the appropriate amount if treating a child. The cough, which can be very painful, can be alleviated with cough suppressants. A medicine which consists of only cough suppressant without a blend of other ingredients is best. Look for dextromethorpham in the active ingredient list.

Otherwise, have the victim drink plenty of fluids, rest and sleep as much as possible. It is normal for the appetite to be suppressed, don’t worry if a child does not wish to eat. That is normal and swallowing is probably painful anyhow. Try warm soups: the warm vapor may help alleviate the swelling in the throat. For breathing difficulty try temperature change. Warm humid vapor from any source, a hot shower, or sitting in a hot humid bathroom can help. Sometimes cool night outdoor air will alleviate the problem. If breathing difficulty becomes severe a trip to an emergency room is warranted.

Croup cough occurs commonly in young children and is characterized by a harsh sounding cough that sounds severe, but is rarely serious. Croup most often starts a few days after the start of a common cold, and causes swelling in the windpipe and breathing tubes leading to the tell-tale barking cough.

Croup symptoms often improve during the day and worsen at night. The total duration of symptoms may last anywhere from 2 to 5 days. The diagnosis of croup should be made by a health care professional and may be done over the phone. Although there is no magic bullet cure for the cough you can help alleviate the symptoms with some at-home treatments.

The most important thing you can do as a parent is try and keep your child calm during a croup cough attack – be calm yourself, and your child will be re-assured. Breathing in moist air for ten minutes helps a croup attack. Moist air can come from a sink filled with hot water or a humidifier. If an attack occurs at night try to use moist air to reduce the coughing and then place your child back in bad with a humidifier nearby. Make sure your child takes in plenty of water to keep hydrated since dry throats make the symptoms worse. If your child has a croup cough attack lasting more than 30 minutes, or the period of croup lasts more than 5 days, consider seeking professional medical help. You may be prescribed medication to help speed up the healing process.

You should also call your doctor if your child has trouble swallowing, has blue lips or fingernails, or becomes listless. Cough medication and antibiotics do not help with croup cough symptoms and have not been found to shorten the duration of croup. To prevent your child from getting croup cough in the first place is to keep your child away from others who have croup or croup symptoms. Anyone in contact with someone who has croup cough should wash their hands thoroughly and avoid letting children play or come in contact with other children that have croup. If your child experiences severe difficulty breathing call your local emergency services immediately.