10 Best Cough Syrups 2025 in the United States

Modern medicine hasn't developed the cure for the common cold, but there are many products to relieve cold symptoms. There are two types of cough:

1. The dry cough is a result of irritation resulting from an allergy or a minor cold infection. But you can't manage to “cough up” any phlegm.

2. A productive cough makes you cough up phlegm that the body produces to fight the infection. There are cough syrups that work to loosen up that mucus, or to make it not so thick. Then you can cough it out more easily. So, based on how you feel, you can choose the right type of cough syrup. Here is a guide to some of the best cough syrups on the market.

• Expectorants: These are cough syrups that makes the body produce mucus with more water in it. This makes the mucus not so thick, so it's easier to cough it up. (All cough syrups have some sort of expectorant in them.)

• Mucolytics: There are cough syrups that dissolve thick mucus. They also make it easier to cough up the phlegm.

• Suppressant: These block the body's reflex to cough. This is better for the dry cough. (Since there isn't any mucus to cough up, the best thing is to try to calm your body from coughing.)

• Combination Medicine: These are also called “multi-symptom” syrups. These are cough syrups that combine several things: both expectorant, and suppressant, and a decongestant, and a pain reliever, and antihistamine (which gets rid of allergy symptoms).

• Night remedies: A cough can make it difficult to sleep at night. There are syrups that have additives to make you drowsy, which are recommended for nighttime use. 

• Flavor: Some people complain about the taste of cough syrup. When you want to give a cough syrup to a child, the taste is even more important. Companies now have worked hard to improve the taste of their cough syrups—take that into account when buying one.

• Side effects: Some cold remedies are known to make people drowsy. When taking a cough syrup during the day, make sure that you can stay alert, and that the cough syrup won't put you to sleep. Other syrups can make people feel anxious and short of breath. Also, pay attention to the dosage, and don't exceed it.

• Speed at which it works: Some people noted that certain cough suppressants stopped their cough immediately. Also, take note of how long each dosage of cough medicine is supposed to be effective. Most say that they work for up to 5 hours—some are intended to keep you from coughing for 12 hours! They have a formula which releases the drug slowly into your system, so that it works over a longer period of time.

• What's “DM” or “DXM”?: Since the chemical names are so long, a lot of remedies are known by an abbreviation. You might see cough syrup with DM, or DXM. That stands for Dextromethorphan—which is commonly used as a cough suppressant.

• Immune system boost: Since there is no real cure for cold or flu (just things that relieve symptoms), it's recommended to try to strengthen the body to fight the illness. So look for cough syrups that have ingredients that boost the immune system, like Vitamin C or zinc.

• Drink lots of fluids: The expectorants in cough syrups work on taking water from the system to make the mucus more diluted. So it's important to drink fluids, so that the medicine will have with what to work to be effective.

Delsym– is a company that markets a full line of over-the-counter cough syrups for adults and children. They are part of RB (=Reckitt Benckiser) North American Product Information website, which was founded in 1999. They make consumer goods for health, hygiene and the home. They provide product information about their household and personal care products: ingredients and their function, a materials safety data sheet, and ways of searching through the particular products.

Creomulsion-- was founded in Griffin, Georgia in 1920. Their first product was cough and cold syrup. They have developed several products for treating cold and allergy symptoms, as well as cough syrups and suppressants.

Flora – has been manufacturing herbal products since 1965, based on pharmaceutical work of Dr. Otto Greither in making herbal remedies. They are based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. They make herbal laxatives, herbal teas, and organic oils.

Gaia Herbs—is a company manufacturing organic and herbal remedies, based in Brevard, North Carolina. They make treatments for strengthening the immune system, as well as formulas and extracts that improve bodily functions.