What are some home care recommendations for recurring coughs?
Cough is a common symptom of many diseases. If you cough repeatedly, it is recommended that you go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment first. Because a cough may be caused by a variety of reasons, it may be respiratory or non-respiratory.
We divide coughs into three major categories: The first category is acute cough, which lasts for less than three weeks. Acute respiratory infectious diseases are the main cause of acute cough. The second type is subacute cough, which lasts from three to eight weeks. In the acute stage, symptoms such as fever, sore throat, runny nose, and sneezing disappear, leaving only the cough. The third category is chronic cough, which lasts for more than eight weeks. Chronic cough can be caused by a variety of reasons, including respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or other systemic diseases such as reflux esophagitis. In addition, some medications can also cause coughing.
In terms of daily care in winter, first, pay attention to weather changes, especially pay attention to appropriately adding or removing clothing when going out. Second, indoors are generally relatively dry in winter, so everyone needs to maintain indoor humidity. Third, when going out, cough patients are advised to wear a mask to reduce the irritation of the cold air to the airway. Fourth, patients are not recommended to eat spicy and greasy food during coughing.
If I still cough during the recovery period from a respiratory disease, should I continue taking medication?
Coughing is a physiological reaction and a very important protective reaction in our airways, which can promote the discharge of respiratory secretions. In addition, it can also reduce the invasion of foreign matter and pathogenic microorganisms. After respiratory infection, the persistence of cough during the recovery period is called post-infectious cough, which is also a very important cause of subacute cough. Due to damage to the airway epithelium by pathogenic microorganisms, sensory nerves under the mucosa are exposed, causing airway hyperresponsiveness and triggering cough. This type of airway hyperresponsiveness will be induced when we are exposed to cold air, pungent odors, smoke, etc. The cough is mainly dry, and some patients will have a small amount of sputum. The duration is generally three to eight weeks. There is no need to continue taking antiviral drugs or antibacterial drugs during the recovery period of infection. Symptomatic treatment should be given priority and changes in cough should be continued to be observed. Especially for some elderly people and people with basic cardiopulmonary diseases, if their cough continues to worsen, or they even have a fever or difficulty breathing again, they need to seek medical treatment in time.
Text source: National Health Commission press conference
Text editing: Chen Xiuchao
Video clip: Li Jun