{"id":7346,"date":"2024-06-28T11:27:14","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T17:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/?p=7346"},"modified":"2024-06-28T11:27:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-28T17:27:52","slug":"what-to-know-about-chronic-coughing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/what-to-know-about-chronic-coughing\/","title":{"rendered":"What To Know About Chronic Coughing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Chronic coughing, a cough lasting longer than eight weeks, affects approximately <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/34918623\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10% of the population<\/a>. While an occasional cough might be a minor annoyance, chronic coughing can have more severe consequences. It can disrupt your sleep, lead to exhaustion, and, in extreme cases, cause <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/chronic-cough\/symptoms-causes\/syc-20351575\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">vomiting, lightheadedness and even rib fractures<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Causes Chronic Coughing?<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1254\" height=\"836\" src=\"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Coughing-woman-holding-her-chest.jpg\" alt=\"Coughing woman holding her chest.\" class=\"wp-image-7349\" style=\"width:439px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Coughing-woman-holding-her-chest.jpg 1254w, https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Coughing-woman-holding-her-chest-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1254px) 100vw, 1254px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>While throat irritants like smoke, allergens or mucus tend to cause minor coughing, the underlying causes of <a href=\"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/ent\/chronic-cough\/\">chronic cases<\/a> are a little harder to pin down. Three of the most common chronic cough causes include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Postnasal drip<\/strong>. When excess mucus from the nasal passages <a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/diseases\/23082-postnasal-drip\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">drips down the back of the throat<\/a>, throat clearing, sore throat and chronic coughing can result.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)<\/strong>. GERD is a condition wherein stomach acid <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/gerd\/symptoms-causes\/syc-20361940\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">repeatedly rises through the esophagus<\/a>, irritating the throat and causing a cough.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Asthma<\/strong>. Asthma is a common chronic lung condition caused by inflammation and muscle tightening in the airways. Symptoms include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath and chest tightening. Asthma symptoms may come and go and vary in severity depending on the trigger and patient.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Postnasal drip, GERD and asthma account for approximately <a href=\"https:\/\/my.clevelandclinic.org\/health\/symptoms\/15048-chronic-cough-overview#possible-causes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">90% of chronic cough cases<\/a>. Other causes include but are not limited to allergies, bronchiectasis, bronchitis, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), fungal infections, nontuberculous mycobacteria infections, sinus conditions and upper respiratory infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Can You Manage Chronic Coughing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To diagnose your chronic cough and find the underlying cause, your provider will likely conduct a physical exam and request lab, lung function or imaging tests. Your treatment will depend on the underlying cause but may include one or more of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Decongestants to manage postnasal drip<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sleeping with your head elevated<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Steroids or bronchodilators for airway inflammation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Antibiotics for bacterial causes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nasal sprays or antihistamines to manage allergy symptoms<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Changing diet or activity levels to manage GERD symptoms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also help relieve chronic cough and <a href=\"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/ent\/sore-throat\/\">throat soreness<\/a> through a few home remedies:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Drink plenty of fluids<\/strong>. Drink at least eight glasses of water a day. If you struggle with getting enough fluids, try grabbing some healthy smoothies at Inta Juice for more exciting hydration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cough drops<\/strong>. Cough drops, popsicles and lollipops can help soothe your sore throat. &nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Saltwater<\/strong>. Gargle with warm salt water to help your soothe throat and clear mucus.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Coughing can quickly turn from a little annoyance into a constant presence in your life. Contact Alpine Ear Nose &#038; Throat PC today to discuss your symptoms and treatment options with one of our specialists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><ul class=\"related-posts\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/how-to-care-for-a-child-following-a-tonsillectomy\/\" class=\"related-post\">How to Care for a Child Following a Tonsillectomy<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/when-to-see-an-ent-specialist-for-vertigo\/\" class=\"related-post\">When To See An ENT Specialist For Vertigo<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/what-to-know-about-pregnancy-rhinitis\/\" class=\"related-post\">What to Know About Pregnancy Rhinitis<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chronic coughing, a cough lasting longer than eight weeks, affects approximately 10% of the population. While an occasional cough might be a minor annoyance, chronic coughing can have more severe consequences. It can disrupt your sleep, lead to exhaustion, and, in extreme cases, cause vomiting, lightheadedness and even rib fractures. What Causes Chronic Coughing? While&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ear-nose-and-throat-doctor","category-throat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7346"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7346"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7351,"href":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7346\/revisions\/7351"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alpineent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}