Coughing
One of the most important reflexes that aids in protecting the airway and lungs is called coughing. It is normal to occasionally cough to ease in clearing the throat and airway of irritants such as smoke, germs, mucus, gas, dust and bad swallowing of food and liquids. Coughing at speeds close to 50 miles in an hour is able to propel particles and air out of the throat and lungs and that is useful for health.
Coughing at night can be short or long periods and are due to symptoms of a wide variety of conditions such as cold, allergies, flu, bronchitis, and asthma. A short term period of nighttime cough can disappear in a week or two depending on its severity.
If a person experience the following symptoms, it is best to see a doctor immediately due to its seriousness; breathing difficulty or shortness, shallow or rapid breathing, wheezing, chest pain, fever, blood or yellow or green phlegm or mucus, vomiting while coughing, and unexplained loss of weight.
Types of Cough
There are different types of cough; dry, wet, whopping, choking, chronic cough. In case there is breathing difficulty, chest pain, rapid heartbeat, or swollen legs or ankles while a person is having dry cough, then it can be a serious or life-threatening disorder that requires immediate medical attention.
Dry cough or is also known as hacking cough has a consistent tone because it is caused by irritation or airway inflammation and free from the mucus sound. When the mucus shifts in the airway and sounds wet or coughing up mucus or phlegm, then it is known as wet cough.
The most common causes that trigger chronic or neurogenic cough even though it is difficult to identify, but it can be due to external stimuli such as the use of tobacco, postnasal drip, asthma, acid reflux or an underlying disease and it has been for a duration of more than two months.
COVID
COVID cough is normally a dry cough or an unproductive cough which does not produce any phlegm or mucus through a tickle in the throat or lungs irritation.
However, COVID-19 also does cause wet cough where someone coughs up yellow or green phlegm or mucus that shows lungs bacterial infection, noisier breathing than normal, and short of breath.
If the pneumonia caused by COVID-19 is severe, then the lung tissue infection and inflammation will cause excessive mucus production that leads to a chronic wet and productive cough which will take months or years to recover from due to damage to the lungs and lingering symptoms.
Healthy Habits
Vaccination is a great way to avoid the potential risk and reduce the complications of getting sick but there are many good health habits that will help protect our health. Always make sure to avoid close contact with those who are sick and keep distance away from others when you are sick.
In case you fall sick, then make sure to stay at home and avoid public places or going to school or going to work. When you sneeze or cough, cover your nose and mouth with a handkerchief, tissue, clean cloth or elbow.
Clean hands by washing using soap and water and in case if its not available then use hand rub that is based on alcohol. Avoid using your hand to touch your eyes, nose and mouth. Clean and disinfect frequent used places, things and material. Make sure to get enough sleep, be active, reduce stress, drink plenty of water and eat healthy food.
Honey
You can soothe a sore throat by drinking tea or warm lemon water mixed with honey but as a matter of fact honey itself is more than effective to suppress cough. According to a study among children aged 1 to 5 with upper respiratory airways infections were given 1 table teaspoon of honey before going to sleep and it was able to improve sleep and to mitigate cough at night time and. Apart from that honey is worth a try because it is cheap and was found to be as effective as dextromethorphan-one of the ingredients in cough suppressant. It is advisable not to feed honey to a child below the age of 1 due to the risk of infant bolutlis,
Common Cough Fact or Fiction Revealed
It is a myth that all coughs are infectious and contagious. Asthma, chronic pulmonary disorders , or allergies does not cause contagious cough but if the cough is due to lung infection such as common cold or an influenza virus, then it will be contagious and infectious.
It is a myth that antibiotics will cure colds. Studies have proven that antibiotics cannot cure a cold and if the cough like pneumonia is caused by bacterial infections then antibiotics work.
It is a myth that youth have dry cough due to tobacco misuse but it is a fact that they will incur asthma and wheezing apart from dry cough.
It is not totally true that vaccinations can prevent coughing. According to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), vaccination will not protect against the common cold but it will protect against seasonal influenza and prevent pertussis or whooping cough.
It is a fact that cold weather which is dry can irritate and cause coughs to people with chronic lung diseases, asthma, COPD, or bronchitis that can cause wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.
It is a myth that drinking milk increases phlegm in children because there is no evidence to support that milk increases the production of mucus. But many people will feel that their mucus gets thicker and saliva harder to swallow after drinking milk due to the milk's texture.
It is a fact that drinking hot food provides relief from most symptoms of runny nose, common cold and flu, cough, sneezing, sore throat, chillness and tiredness.
Finally, breathing through the mouth increases infections because germs and pollutants are being inhaled into the lungs.
Home Remedy
An easy and simple home remedy for dry cough. Get 15 grams of each of the items; licorice root, black raisins, skin removed almond made into a paste. Make a fine paste by grinding it and roll the paste into rounded balls and eat 2 balls 4 times every day for a period of 15 days.