Cough is a repetitively occurring reflex action that clears the throat of mucus or foreign irritants. It happens when cells along the air ways get irritated and cause a chain of events. Frequent coughing indicates diseases. Viruses and bacteria cause the host to cough. A cough can be categorized by its duration, character, quality, and timing.
Types of cough and its causes
1. Acute cough – defined as lasting not more than three weeks. Common causes off acute cough are common cold, flu, inhaling an irritant, whooping cough, stained or pulled abdominal muscle.
2. Chronic cough – a cough that may begin with an upper respiratory tract infection and lasts for three to eight weeks. Cigarette smoke is the most common cause of chronic cough. The most common conditions to consider are post infectious cough, allergies, post nasal drip, bacterial sinusitis, and asthma.
There is no sure way to prevent cough, but here are some tips on how to reduce the risk:
• Wash your hands frequently during the cold and flu season.
• Avoid interacting with people with cold and flu.
• Don’t smoke
• Avoid exposure to second hand smoke
• Increase fluid intake
If cough remains untreated
Some cases, cough naturally disappears within a week or two. It won’t typically cause any long-lasting damage. A severe cough may give reason of temporary problems such as:
• Tiredness
• Dizziness
• Headaches
• Fracture ribs
These may cease when cough disappears. A cough is a symptom of a more severe condition, unlikely to left on its own. If left untreated, the illness could worsen and cause other indications.
Treatment for cough
1. Self-Treatment – a cough that results from virus can’t be treated with antibiotics. You can soothe it in the following ways:
• Keep hydrated. Drink plenty of water.
• Elevate your head when sleeping.
• Use cough drops to soothe your throat.
• Gargle hot salt water regularly to remove mucus.
• Avoid irritants such as smoke and dust.
• Use decongestant to unblock your nose and ease breathing.
2. There are several kinds of cough medicines.
• Expectorants. These help the mucus become skinny and make it easier to cough if you have a fecund cough.
o Use a medicine if cough produces thick mucus. Drink plenty of water also.
o Find for expectorants having guaifenesin, like Robitussin and Mucinex.
• Suppressants. These control or restrain the cough response and doing great for a dry, hacking cough that retains you alert.
o Use cough suppressants intelligently. Don’t conquer a productive cough too much.
o Inquire to your doctor about an effective coug