Chronic Or Persistent Cough: Causes and Treatment

Chronic cough is an affliction that many Singaporeans face. While an occasional or transient cough is a normal healthy response, chronic cough (generally defined as lasting for more than eight weeks) is not. In fact, chronic coughing can affect your health in direct and indirect ways.

Apart from perhaps indicating more serious illnesses, violent, persistent coughing can cause minor forms of damage to your body. This includes chronic muscular pain as coughing fits strain the chest muscles, throat inflammation, or even damage to your diaphragm from the forced coughing movements.

Moreover, chronic coughing can affect quality of life significantly. If the cough is persistent at night, frequent interruptions in sleep and long-term loss of sleep quality can occur. It can also result in social embarrassment due to uncontrollable coughing fits, bouts of headaches or even loss of urinary control among elderly folks.

In this article, we'll explore more about the common causes and treatments of chronic cough and where to find care from one of the best cough specialists Singapore has to offer.

Common causes of chronic cough (lasting more than eight weeks)

• Postnasal drip
  This is a condition where chronic coughing is caused by the mucus in the nose dripping down the back of the throat. It can be caused by triggers which cause your nose to produce more mucus, such as allergies, hay fever, nasal polyps as well as nasal/sinus infections.
• Acid reflux
  Acid reflux is commonly caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease (known as GERD). In this case, acid in the stomach can wash up the food pipe (esophagus) and irritate the throat, thereby causing persistent coughing.
  
• Asthma
  Chronic cough can be a presentation of asthma. There may be other symptoms associated with asthma such as chest tightness, shortness of breath and/or wheezing. 
• Side-effects of medication
  For example, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor medicines, which are used to treat high blood pressure, can cause chronic or persistent coughing.
• Lung disease caused by smoking or second-hand smoke
  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a form of lung damage that causes cough and breathlessness to get steadily worse over time, and is a known cause of chronic cough. This mainly affects smokers.
  
  

Home remedies to alleviate persistent or chronic cough

There are a few remedies for anyone experiencing cough to try and bring relief to the symptoms of cough:

• Drink plenty of fluids
  Liquid helps thin the mucus in your throat. Warm liquids, such as broth, tea or juice, can soothe your throat.
  
• Consider taking honey
  A teaspoon of honey may help loosen a cough and bring relief for throat irritation.
  
• Moisturize the air
  Use a cool-mist humidifier or take a steamy shower in the case of excessive dry coughing.
  
• Avoid smoking or any forms of tobacco smoke
  Smoking or breathing in second-hand smoke irritates your lungs and worsens coughs. If you smoke, this is a good time to consider quitting altogether.
• Try cough suppressants
  Cough suppressants can bring initial relief to your symptoms. 

However, these measures are intended to relieve the symptoms of cough, and not treat the underlying disease. If the cough is persistent, it is  important to seek a cough specialist for proper diagnosis and treatment.

What are the evaluation and treatments for chronic or persistent cough?

Visiting a lung specialist to determine the cause of chronic cough is crucial to providing effective treatment. In assessing your cough, your lung specialist will take a detailed history and physical examination, followed by initial investigations such as chest X-ray and lung function testing. The appropriate treatments for chronic cough will depend on the likely underlying cause of your cough.

• For coughs caused by smoking
  If you are currently smoking, your doctor will discuss with you your readiness to quit and provide assistance to achieve this goal. Some patients may have underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) from chronic smoking. This will require inhalers to open up the airways (bronchodilators) in addition to smoking cessation. 
• For coughs caused by medication
  Your doctor may switch you to another medicine that doesn't have a cough as a side effect.
• For coughs caused by postnasal drips
  Your doctor may prescribe the use of medications to reduce the nasal congestion, such as antihistamines or inhaled nasal steroids . 
• For coughs caused by asthma
  Your doctor will assess for symptoms of asthma and will also perform lung function testing. If required, controller inhalers to reduce the airway inflammation associated with asthma will be recommended. 
• For coughs caused by acid reflux
  
  

For some conditions involving GERD, your specialist may recommend a combination of lifestyle modifications and prescription medications. Lifestyle modifications include:

• Using pillows to prop up your head when you're lying down.
• Avoiding foods that cause acid reflux (such as chocolates, colas, red wines).
• Avoiding eating right before bedtime.

Are you experiencing chronic or persistent coughing? Get specialist care at Respiratory Medical Associates

Respiratory Medical Associates is an established specialist group that is recognised as one of Singapore's leading experts in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic or persistent coughs. Our cough specialists are certified to be able to effectively diagnose and treat coughs that don't go away, including associated diseases such as lung infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis and more.

With the rise of Covid-19, we have taken stringent steps in ensuring our patients and staffs' safety by going above and beyond the mandated protocols.

In addition, we also treat chronic disorders such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (a lung disease caused by smoking), lung fibrosis, obstructive sleep apnea, as well as food and drug allergy.

Enquire now at https://www.respmed-associates.sg/