Blog Post

Coughing helps your body clear obstructions and irritants from your airways and lungs. It’s a reflex reaction due to mild irritants like dust or more serious chronic conditions like asthma, among others. 

Often, the cough goes away when your body expels the source of irritation. But if your cough sticks around for long periods of time, you might be dealing with a serious condition that could mean long-term care. 

Residents of the Houston and Spring, Texas, area dealing with chronic coughing or other conditions can get treatment from our team at Houston Medical ER. If your cough has become chronic, find out why it’s happening and what we can do to help.

Facts about a chronic cough

We consider a cough as chronic if it persists for eight weeks or more in adults or longer than four weeks in children. 

Persistent coughing also makes sleeping more difficult and can occur with other symptoms like sore throat, hoarseness, heartburn, sour taste in your mouth, shortness of breath, wheezing, and nasal congestion.

Reasons for a lasting cough

Lots of things can interfere with proper breathing and cause coughing for extended periods. Here are just some of them.

Common causes

Many minor issues can become a nuisance and stick around with a lingering cough, like post nasal drip from an upper respiratory infection or other illnesses, allergic reactions to triggers, asthma attacks, and nonasthmatic eosinophilic or bacterial bronchitis. 

Medications that treat hypertension, like angiotensin-converting enzymes (ACE) inhibitors can also cause chronic coughing.

Rare causes

Many less likely but possible reasons for chronic coughs can be more of a health threat and include heart failure, bronchiolitis, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer, sarcoidosis, and interstitial lung disease.

Treatment options

To manage your coughing, we can test for bacteria in your phlegm or blood, examine your lung function, and do detailed medical imaging to get a closer look at what’s going on inside your body. 

Treatment options can vary widely depending on how minor or severe your issues are. We might recommend:

• Decongestants
• Nasal sprays
• Steroids
• Inhaled bronchodilators
• Antibiotics
• Medication changes

If gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD, the possible reason for heartburn) is involved, dietary changes may reduce your problem, and other changes around your house could help. 

To ease coughing, try these tips:

• Drinking more water daily
• Gargle with warm salt water to remove mucus
• Avoid respiratory irritants
• Use cough lozenges or other over-the-counter cough medication
• Use extra pillows at night to prop up your head

Chronic coughs can make you feel miserable, but they often respond to treatment, and we’re here to help in any way we can. Contact us at Houston Medical ER or stop by today if you are dealing with coughing that won't go away.