Herbal steam bath for cough

So for my facebook friends, this is old news, but I started the blog while under a bit of duress from a nasty chest infection.  As my husband says, "You sound SO attractive when you cough like that."  I'm sure your mental picture is well-formed by that simple statement alone. 

I've long been a fan of Ricola's natural herbal cough drops, but this time decided to try the herbal steam bath.  I've read a lot about it, but never have given it a go myself.

I tried it when I came home from work early yesterday.  I put about 15 drops of Eucalyptus oil (a natural expectorant) into a bowl of freshly boiled water.  Put a white towel over my head and sat hunched over for 15 minutes.

Three things of note happened:
1. I opened my eyes to peer into the bowl to see what the oil looked like after I dropped it in.  Heed the warnings.  It burned like mad.
2. I immediately could not breathe in much.  It also kind of burned my nostrils and air passageways.  I did, however, begin to cough up gunk.  Mission accomplished momentarily.
3. The burn went away and the smell mellowed as time went on.  So did it's effects.  While I did remain relatively cough-less for the next few hours, did it make my cough and the gunk go away?  No.  But it helped.

Then I tried it again this morning before work to test again it's efficacy, this time adding slightly fewer drops (10).  This time:
1. I did not open my eyes.  Success! 
2. I did not cough right away.  Success in that I was able to breathe in more of the fumes, but less gunk came out.
3. I still had a cough when I was done, but I didn't feel like death warmed over today as I was headed out to work.  I had pep in my step, zip in my hip.  I'll take any day.

Conclusion: will definitely use again in the future.  May add additional oils, such as camphor (Vick's Vapor Rub, anyone?) and peppermint.  Also very refreshing for your face.  Splash on cold water when done and "voila!" Revived!