Identifying A Persistent Cough

By Author: WBN
Total Articles: 16
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What is a persistent cough?
Chronic cough or persistent cough is the cough that persists over a longer than normal time. Chronic cough cannot be called a disease but it does require a few cough remedies and treatments. A persistent cough is usually a symptom of an underlying condition. Even then, it is a very common problem and you might need to pay some visits to your doctor.

Types of persistent cough
There are many different types of persistent or chronic coughs. Some of them are as follows:

Chronic wet cough: A type of persistent cough that produces sputum, i.e., mucus, chronic wet cough indicates either the presence of fluid in the lungs or bacterial infection.

Whooping cough: This type of cough is called whooping cough because of the sound it produces post-coughing, which can be a sign of some kind of serious infection. You should get it checked by your doctor as soon as possible. Whooping cough is known to be highly contagious and proves to be fatal for children under the age of 1.

Dry cough: It is a type of persistent cough that is not involved in any kind of mucus production. ...
... A dry cough is very irritating for the throat and lungs and can be a sign of sinus problems or viral infections. There are many easily available methods of dry cough treatment.

Barking cough: In barking cough, the trachea or windpipe is swollen and thus produces a harsh or barking sound while coughing. Barking cough is mostly found in children and happens because of viral illnesses or croups.

Stress cough: This is the kind of cough which is not related to any infection and doesn’t even produce mucus. When you’re under stress, your body reacts by performing a reflexive spasm of the airways.

Causes of persistent cough
Some common causes of cough include:

●Cigarette smoking is the biggest and most common reason behind a persisting, chronic cough
●Wheezing or difficulty in breathing is often because of Asthma, which is a disease of our airways. There have been some cases of asthma where the person has severe cough as their sole symptom, where lung function tests are completely normal. That kind of asthma is called cough-variant asthma. Asthma symptoms can get worse by exposure to smoke, pollen, perfumes, air pollutants or cold air.
●GERD or Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease where stomach acid and other contents flow back towards the esophagus. When this happens, there is a spasm in the airways as a reflex which causes coughing and shortness of breath.
●Postnasal drip and sinus problems are also the causes behind chronic cough with mucus. Since this is a condition that is difficult to detect, a CT scan might become necessary for an appropriate sinus diagnosis.
●Chronic cough can also be a result of inhaling objects that are foreign or uninvited into the lungs.
●Infections can be prevented with healthy habits and taking appropriate home medications like an ayurvedic cough syrup during the early stages. When these infections mature into bronchitis or pneumonia, they stop responding to antibiotics and develop upper respiratory tract infections along with prolonged cough.