Cough is a natural reaction of the body to irritation of the inner lining of the respiratory system. Every person has experienced a cough when they come into contact with polluted air or when they have a cold. As a rule, the symptom disappears after the provocateur of its appearance disappears.
But a persistent cough is a very disturbing symptom that requires immediate medical attention and careful diagnosis. If the phenomenon does not disappear in 2-3 weeks, there is every reason to suspect the presence of somatic pathology, which can be dangerous to human life and he alth.
Smoker's cough
As a rule, a persistent cough torments heavy smokers. There is nothing pathological in this phenomenon: when tobacco smoke is inhaled, resins and various metals settle on the tissues of the respiratory system. As a result of this, the tissues begin to produce mucus, which protects the delicate membranes of the organs. But the mucus interferes with the natural ventilation of the lungs, so the body tries to get rid of it by pushing it out with air and rhythmic contractions of the chest. This process we call coughing.
Persistent cough in an adult who is a smoker is treated in one way - giving up the addiction. Depending on the length of smoking, it takes from several months to several years for the lungs to completely clear, so the cough will continue after stopping smoking, gradually decreasing.
It is important to note that absolutely all cigarettes, of any lightness and brand, as well as electronic devices for smoking and hookahs, have such a detrimental effect.
Cold
The most common cause of a cough is a cold, that is, an acute respiratory disease. In most cases, cough occurs after the main symptoms of the disease - sore throat, high body temperature, intoxication have already passed. Thus, a person may already feel he althy, but a constant cough will worsen his general well-being.
In this case, it is important to fully rely on the attending physician and follow his recommendations. Listening to the lungs through a phonendoscope, the doctor controls the process, preventing inflammation or pleural effusion. If necessary, he can prescribe a fluorography or chest x-ray for the patient.
In order to get rid of a cough as quickly as possible, you need to keep your chest warm, press it with special warming ointments before going to bed, drink hot milk, and take medication prescribed by a doctor.
Throat cough
Sometimespatients complain of a persistent cough that does not come from the chest, but from the throat. That is, when air is inhaled through the nose or through the mouth, an unpleasant tickling sensation occurs, followed by a cough.
This happens to smokers, since hot smoke passing through the mucous membrane of the larynx causes chronic irritation, and the phenomenon is also observed in chronic diseases of the nasopharynx. Tonsillitis, pharyngitis, sinusitis are diseases in which microorganisms that cause inflammation are present on the tissues of the nasopharynx. To protect tissues, the body increases mucus secretion, and the body tries to get rid of it by coughing.
Therefore, a persistent cough coming from the throat is a reason to immediately visit an otolaryngologist, take a smear for culture and undergo the necessary treatment, after which the cough will disappear on its own.
Chest cough
If the cough comes from the chest, but there is no sputum, or there is very little sputum, then tracheitis may be diagnosed.
The trachea is the part of the respiratory system located between the larynx and the bronchi. As a rule, the infection enters these tissues in a descending line, develops against the background of the presence of tonsillitis, pharyngitis, sinusitis. Sometimes tracheitis occurs as an independent disease, and a persistent dry cough is the only symptom of the disease.
With tracheitis, the patient remains in good he alth. Attacks of severe coughing, irritating the larynx, torment at night, and in the morning they pass.yourself.
There is a way of differential diagnosis of this disease: the doctor asks the patient to inhale a large amount of air into the lungs, and exhale it slowly. As a rule, in patients with tracheitis, this causes an attack of severe coughing. Also, people suffering from tracheitis can be recognized by the way they talk - they try to speak without filling their lungs completely, breathing “at half strength”.
Pleurisy
If a strong persistent cough without fever is a sure sign of tracheitis, then a similar clinical picture against the background of elevated body temperature is called pleurisy. Speaking in a language understandable to a person far from medicine, the pleura is a membrane that surrounds each lung. It can become inflamed under the influence of viruses, bacteria or allergens.
Persistent cough, the causes of which lie in the inflammatory processes of the pleura, can hardly go unnoticed for a long time. The clinical picture of the pathology is extremely difficult, patients complain of chest pain when the diaphragm moves, high temperature.
Diagnosis of the disease includes not only mandatory measures for the treatment of inflammatory processes, but also the collection of pleural fluid for laboratory analysis, lung tomography and even pleural biopsy. For therapy, it is extremely important to differentiate pathology from other diseases and determine the causative agent of the pathological process.
Tuberculosis
Cough that lasts for a long time, coupled with fever, chills and weight loss with a normal dietdiet is a sure sign that you should be screened for tuberculosis. This can be done using fluorography.
Allergy
Allergic cough can last for a long time, but in most cases it is periodic seasonal. An exacerbation can occur in spring, when there is a lot of pollen from plants in the air, or in winter, when under the influence of cold inhaled air, the respiratory mucosa is irritated.
Allergic cough is a symptom, the elimination of which requires treatment of the allergy itself.
Cough in children
According to statistics, such a problem as a constant cough is more common in a child than in adults. First, the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract in a child is more delicate and sensitive, so inhaling polluted air causes him a strong cough with a greater degree of probability than in an adult in similar conditions.
Persistent cough in a child under the age of 2-3 years can be triggered by a small object entering the respiratory tract. Therefore, if the symptom does not fit into the clinical picture of respiratory infections, inhalation of a foreign object can be suspected by the child, and this fact should be checked using an x-ray or endoscopy.
Don't worry if a child's coughing fits are rare and without sputum - in this way the lungs are just trying to clear themselves of dust and dirt, such a cough can be called physiological. But the constant cough and sore throat are alarmingsigns that require a visit to the doctor, diagnosis and systematic treatment.
How to get rid of a cough?
In order to cure a cough, there are two groups of drugs: the first group eliminates the cause of the cough, the second muffles the symptom. Often people use only drugs from the second group, but this leads to the fact that the disease, not being cured, becomes chronic.
In order to eliminate a cough, you need to identify what is causing it: a virus, a bacterium or an allergen. This is done with a blood test and culture of sputum from the lungs. Based on the results, the doctor prescribes antibiotics, antivirals, or antihistamines to the patient.
But until they work, you need to use drugs that stop the spasms that cause coughing fits and remove phlegm.
The duration of treatment and the frequency of taking drugs per day is determined by the attending physician. For the greatest effectiveness, drug treatment can be supplemented with physiotherapy, climatotherapy, traditional medicine recipes.
Traditional medicine
It's easy to make a cough suppressant at home. But for this you need to know about the need for prior consultation with your doctor, remember that herbs have active ingredients, an overdose of which can be dangerous.
When coughing, drinking plenty of water is useful, so herbal decoctions are very useful for coughing of any etiology. For decoction, you must select the herb:
- mint;
- chamomile;
- coltsfoot.
Before making a homemade cough suppressant, bring half a liter of water to a boil, add 2 tablespoons of dry herbs, remove the pot from the heat, cover and steep for two hours.
The order of drinking is different depending on which herbs are used. As a rule, the drink is consumed three times a day, half an hour before meals. For more specific advice, ask your doctor.
Thus, a persistent cough and sore throat is an alarming sign that requires a visit to a doctor and treatment. Modern medicine is able to effectively treat all diseases whose symptom is cough, so the prognosis is usually good.
