Dry and tickly or chesty and productive? Omega Pharma explains how its new range could put an end to the confusion around different cough types  

 

It's that time of year when coughs start rearing their head in pharmacies. As wintery weather sets in, patients will often come in searching for a cure for colds and flu – often accompanied by an irritating cough. Typically, this is the point when the pharmacy team will ask which category the cough falls into: the productive cough – often described as "chesty or mucus" – or the dry and tickly variety known as the non-productive cough. Usually, this will guide the choice of remedy recommended. The problem is customers may be unsure which category they fall into. Also, coughs can change from dry to chesty and sometimes back to dry again before they disappear completely.

A new remedy

This is where Omega Pharma hopes its new range of cough remedies – Bronchostop – will come in useful. The remedies contain a unique combination of ingredients to relieve any type of cough: thyme herb extract, acting as an expectorant, and marshmallow root extract, acting as a demulcent¹. Bronchostop is licensed as a traditional herbal medicinal product and comes in either a syrup form for treatment at home, or pastilles for an on-the-go solution. Both forms have the advantage of being alcohol-free and non-drowsy, the syrup is also sugar-free and suitable for diabetics. 

A £2.5m multimedia campaign

To support the launch of the range, Omega Pharma is launching a £2.5 million multimedia campaign, which will run from now until February. The consumer campaign will include advertising on prime time TV and PR, as well as in-store support. For the pharmacy campaign, Omega Pharma have partnered with a celebrity to take the Hassle out of Cough: David Hasselhoff. Omega Pharma hopes the campaign will attract attention, but also hopes to get an educational message across by providing free training for pharmacists on coughs on omegapharmatraining.co.uk. This can be found on and can help staff know what questions to ask patients, as well as when to refer to the pharmacist. So if your patients are starting to come in with that irritating wintry cough, it may be worth a look.

The Bronchostop range

	Bronchostop pastilles Pack sizes: 10, 20 or 40 pastilles Dosage: 1-2 pastilles every four hours RRP: Starts at £2.99 for 10 pastilles
	Bronchostop syrup Pack sizes: 120ml; 200ml; 400ml Dosage: 15ml every four hours RRP: Starts at £5.99 for 120ml

To order, contact Omega Pharma on [email protected]

For prescribing information please click here.

¹Bronchostop is a traditional herbal medicine for the relief of any cough, based on traditional use only. Thyme Herb Extract: HMPC Community Herbal Monograph - Thymus vulgaris L. and Thymus zygis L. Marshmallow Root Extract: HMPC Community Herbal Monograph - Althaea officinalis L.