Coughing is a protective function of your body: If foreign bodies get into your windpipe, your body tries to get rid of them quickly with a cough reflex. The cause of this is usually a cold. A particularly unpleasant cough is the chesty cough.
Find out here everything you need to know about chesty coughs and what you can do about them.
Table of contents
What Is A Chesty Cough?
Irritated cough is an unproductive, dry cough. It is triggered by irritation of the cough receptors on the lung mucosa. In addition to inhaled foreign bodies, inflammation of the mucous membrane of the airways is the most common trigger of an irritable cough.
Irritable cough is thus a constant companion of various respiratory tract infections, such as flu-like infections, bronchitis, or pharyngitis and strep throat. In most cases, irritable cough occurs before your body has time to remove the pathogens with the help of mucus and productive cough.
Irritative Cough: Usually Accompanied By These Symptoms
If an incipient cold is responsible for the cough, other typical cold symptoms may occur. These include:
- Headache
- Pain in the limbs
- Rhinitis
- Sore throat
- Hoarseness
- Mild fever
- Watering eyes
These accompanying symptoms can also be caused by an irritating cough.
Inflammation Of The Larynx
Hoarseness and a sore feeling in the throat.
Inflammation Of The Bronchial Tubes
Hoarseness to the point of loss of voice, a burning sensation under the breastbone.
Inflammation Of The Trachea
Chest pain, general cold symptoms, productive cough.
What Can I Do For An Irritating Cough?
Irritative cough is experienced by most people as particularly agonizing. The dry cough robs you of sleep at night and prolonged talking can become quite uncomfortable.
The most common advice is: Drink plenty of fluids, inhale, and take cough suppressants. But what to do if none of that helps? What else can you do to treat a chesty cough and what home remedies help against a chesty cough? Here you will find the answer.
Treatment Depends On The Cause Of The Irritable Cough
Basically, there are many different triggers for a chesty cough. Your doctor should definitely find out the cause of the irritating cough. Only then is targeted treatment possible.
The following causes and treatment measures at a glance.
Bronchitis
If bronchitis is suspected, you should see your doctor. He will prescribe an expectorant medication. If desired, this can also be on a purely herbal basis.
Side Effects Of Other Medicines
If you think that the irritating cough is the result of another medication, you should have this checked by your doctor to be sure and stop the medication if necessary.
Psychological Causes
An irritating cough does not always have to be caused by health problems. Sometimes it can also have psychological causes. Psychotherapy or speech therapy can successfully treat a coughing or throat clearing compulsion.
In some sessions, sufferers will learn how to better cope with a stressful or overwhelming situation.
Irritation Of The Respiratory Tract Due To Pollutants
Smokers are often affected by these causes. The harmful ingredients in cigarettes cause irritation of the airways. If symptoms persist, you should stop smoking.
Cough Irritation Due To Heartburn
Since heartburn is caused by rising stomach contents (stomach acid), this can also irritate the mucous membranes. In such cases you can also go to your doctor or to a pharmacy. There you will receive an acid-reducing remedy.
Home Remedies For Irritable Cough: What Helps?
We all know the well-known home remedies for irritable cough: hot steam, chest compresses and especially onion juice. They were always recommended to us by our parents and served to counteract the irritating cough in a natural way.
But what home remedies for cough are there anyway? Do they really deliver what they promise? You will find the answers in this section.
Wait And See And Drink Tea
This is not only a frequently used phrase, but a great remedy against the annoying mucus in the throat. But why is it so? Warm tea prevents the mucous membranes in the mouth and throat from becoming too dry.
It also helps to clear stuck mucus from the airways. In other words, coughing up is made easier for you with moist mucous membranes. The classics include thyme tea and onion tea when it comes to the best home remedies for irritable cough.
No matter which tea you ultimately choose, you should drink at least 1 liter of it a day for a particularly fast effect. In addition, you should drink the same amount of water.
Tip: If you like your tea sweet, you should add honey. This way it not only tastes better, but is twice as effective due to the soothing effect of honey.
Hot Vapors Against Phlegm In The Throat
Another very successful method against irritable cough: inhalation. Especially inhalations with sage are said to relieve the pain in the throat. Take a handful of sage, put it in a pot and pour about 2 liters of boiling water over it. Allow to cool slightly and inhale and exhale in deep puffs.
The steam transports the soothing ingredients of the sage directly to the mucous membranes. As a result, the stubborn mucus in the throat is loosened.
Chest Compress With Potatoes
Many people are enthusiastic about the effect of a hot potato wrap. All you have to do is boil 4-6 potatoes until soft and then mash them. Put the mixture into a tea towel. When the chest wrap has cooled down a bit, you can put it on your chest.
Tip: In the evening, the chest compress is particularly effective, as it makes it easier to fall asleep due to the warmth and relaxation.
When Should I See A Doctor?
A simple cough is not a reason for most people to see a doctor immediately. However, if you suffer from these symptoms in addition to the cough, a trip to the doctor is recommended:
- High fever.
- Breathing problems
- Chest pain.
- General feeling of illness.
Basically, you should make an appointment with your doctor if the cough lasts longer than 4 weeks. Your doctor will ask you about the previous course of the disease and accompanying symptoms. Subsequently, an appropriate therapy will be carried out.
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