I'm tormented by a dry cough, what should I do? Traditional methods of treating cough. Other causes of painful cough

Cough is the body's response to various stimuli. This symptom is accompanied by many respiratory and infectious diseases. Often a cough goes away on its own after a week, but it also happens that coughing lasts for an indefinite period, disrupting the usual way of life. If you have a persistent cough, you should consult a doctor who will find out the cause of the illness and prescribe treatment..

Causes of debilitating cough

A debilitating cough in adults and children can occur due to various reasons. Most often, the cause of such ailment is acute respiratory diseases. With a cold, in the first couple of days there is nonproductive cough, then the amount of sputum coughed up increases. In addition to the cold, a number of other diseases can lead to a painful cough:

Painful coughing attacks in children are most often caused by respiratory diseases and allergies. In adults, there are many more reasons for coughing.

Only a doctor can determine the cause of cough after collecting an anamnesis and examining the patient.

Treatment

For a dry cough, the patient is prescribed mucolytics to increase sputum production. Ambroxol and others may be prescribed medications based on it. ACC and Mucaltin help well; these drugs can be prescribed to children and adults. Most often, doctors prescribe Codelac Broncho, since this drug consists of several components.

If the cough is very annoying and prevents a person from getting proper rest, codeine-based antitussives are prescribed, for example, the drug Codelac with codeine. Take cough suppressants only as directed by your doctor. It is unacceptable to take mucolytics and codeine-based medications at the same time; this can lead to stagnation.

Cough lozenges based on herbal ingredients. There are many such drugs on pharmacy shelves; a doctor or pharmacist will help you choose lozenges.

If the cough is caused by allergies, prescribe antihistamines. You cannot do without such medications when treating with antibiotics.

Inhalations

If the cough is just annoying, you can try inhalation treatment. The advantage of this method is that medicinal solutions sprayed into an aerosol that settles on the surface respiratory organs and has a healing effect.

IN last years For inhalation it is often recommended to use a nebulizer. This device can be compressor or ultrasonic. The doctor prescribes the following medications for inhalation:

• Ambrobene.
• Lazolvan.
• Ventolin.
• Berodual.
• Saline solution.
• Mineral water without gas.

All medications are pre-diluted with saline in the proportions specified by the doctor. The duration of the procedure is 20 minutes. Up to 4 procedures can be performed per day, alternating medications.

For viral infections, inhalations with interferon solution can be performed. The duration of the procedure is 2 minutes, the remainder of the solution is poured out.

Only medicinal solutions can be poured into the nebulizer container; the use of syrups and mixtures is strictly prohibited!

Rubbing

Warming ointments will help reduce the intensity of the cough. It is especially good to rub the patient at night so that he can sleep normally. The following preparations can be used for rubbing:

• Dr. Mom rub.
• Dr. Theiss rub.
• Eucabalus.
• Turpentine ointment.

When coughing, you can rub the patient with a bear or badger fat. For the treatment of children younger age use Badger ointment.

The patient's back, chest and legs are rubbed. After rubbing, you need to put on a cotton T-shirt and lie under a blanket.

Mustard plasters and jars

If the cough is very painful, you can put mustard plasters on the patient. Such procedures activate blood circulation, improve metabolism and warm up well. soft fabrics. Put mustard compresses can be applied to the back and chest, while avoiding places where there are moles and birthmarks. Adults hold the mustard plasters for 15 minutes, for children they are placed through a layer of gauze and held for no more than 5 minutes.

Medical cupping is often performed on adults. This procedure is not very pleasant, but it is effective. Already after the first session, coughing attacks are reduced, and sputum is easily coughed up.

Cough remedies in folk medicine

You can treat a cough not only with medications, but with traditional medicine recipes. There are many ways to help relieve a severe cough in a relatively short time.

Radish

The most common cough remedy is black radish with honey. For cooking medicine take a large radish, peel it and cut it into thin slices. Place the pieces of root vegetables in layers, each coated with honey.

The jar of radish is left at room temperature for a couple of hours, after which they begin to drink a dessert spoon of the released juice every 2 hours.

If you are allergic to bee products, sugar is used to prepare the medicine.

Cough lozenges

You can also make cough drops at home. The advantage of these drugs is that you can be sure that the medicine is prepared from natural ingredients, without adding dyes and preservatives:

1. Pour 3 tablespoons into a dry cast iron frying pan granulated sugar. Place the dishes on low heat, stir the sugar constantly and bring until a caramel mass forms. Brown. Pour onto plates soaked cold water, in the form of candies. A wooden stick is inserted into each lollipop.
2. Pour ½ cup of sugar into a stainless steel pan and add 2 tablespoons of concentrated herbal decoction. A decoction is made from sage, plantain and chamomile. Boil the caramel mass until it turns light brown. Pour into candy form.

For improvement taste qualities You can add a drop of mint or citrus oil to the caramel mass.

You can suck cough drops prepared at home every hour. Children should be treated with lozenges only in the presence of adults.

Herbal decoctions

Drug treatment of cough is often supplemented with decoctions medicinal herbs. You can use ready-made breast collection, sold in a pharmacy, or you can take individual herbs. The following medicinal herbs can be used to treat cough:

• Sage.
• Plantain.
• Elder.
• Raspberries.
• Black currant.
• Chamomile.

You can take one or more of these herbs and brew them in a thermos. Based on the calculation, a tablespoon of plant material per 0.5 liter of water. Infuse the herbs for about an hour. Then filter and drink 1/3 glass, three times a day. The herbs can be brewed with a reserve; the remainder of the decoction is stored in the refrigerator for no more than a day.

Compresses

Warming compresses will help quickly cure a severe cough. They can be made from potatoes, cottage cheese or alcohol based:

1. A couple of large potato tubers are boiled, mashed with a fork until pureed, mixed with a tablespoon of honey and a teaspoon of aloe juice. Spread the resulting composition on a piece of cellophane and apply it to the chest. Warm the top with a scarf.
2. Mix a pack of cottage cheese with a tablespoon of honey, add a teaspoon alcohol tincture propolis and mix. Heat the mixture slightly in a steam bath and place it on cellophane. Apply to the chest. Secure with a scarf.

Good help and alcohol compresses. A piece of gauze, folded 4 times, is moistened in heated vodka and applied to the chest.

You need to keep the compresses for at least 2 hours. Children are recommended to undergo procedures during the lunchtime nap.

Which doctor should I contact?

At severe cough Initially contact a therapist. This doctor conducts initial examination, and if making a diagnosis is difficult, specialized specialists are involved - a pulmonologist or an allergist. If a patient has signs of tuberculosis, he is examined by a phthisiatrician.

With exhausting prolonged cough do not delay in seeing a doctor. For many diseases, the earlier treatment is started, the better the prognosis.

There is no such disease as cough. After all, this is just a sign of some illness. Its occurrence most often indicates that the body is trying to fight the microbes attacking it. Or that there is an allergen lurking somewhere nearby that irritates the respiratory tract. It happens that you feel completely normal all day, but at night a real nightmare begins - severe attacks do not allow you to sleep. A dry cough at night can even cause sleep disturbances. And inadequate rest leads to increased irritability and nervousness.

Causes

A dry cough at night can be caused by the onset of colds. A sick person who occupies a horizontal position in bed is unable to cough properly. Mucus secretions accumulate in the respiratory tract, which is what causes the need to cough.

If a dry cough in an adult lasts more than 2 weeks, this indicates the development of an infection in the body. And when it does not stop for more than 2 months, the disease has become chronic.

In some cases probable cause cough is determined by its characteristic features:

• barking - laryngotracheitis, whooping cough;
• deaf - obstructive bronchitis;
• paroxysmal - pleurisy;
• with a tear - a neoplasm in the trachea or larynx.

The most common causes of cough occurring at night are respiratory viral infections, bronchitis, whooping cough and bronchial asthma.

Sometimes it happens that a dry cough prevents you from sleeping at night, but the temperature is normal and there is no runny nose. In this case, many simply ignore this symptom and do not consult a doctor. The alarm begins to sound only after a couple of weeks or a month of night coughs.

It is important to visit a doctor in a timely manner. But how do you know which one to go to? The answer to this question will be given by the cause of the obsessive symptom that appears.

Long lasting night cough without an increase in temperature, it can indicate:

• need to finally quit bad habit- smoking;
• esophagitis;
• allergies;
• tuberculosis;
• heart failure;
• cancer;
• venereal disease.

When the respiratory organs have nothing to do with it

Most believe that people cough at night only when there are some problems with the respiratory system. However, a dry paroxysmal cough may appear for a reason that has nothing to do with the condition respiratory tract.

Often such attacks are prolonged, painful and even suffocating. Because of them, the quality of sleep seriously suffers. You can take cough syrup for weeks on end, but they will still recur. What to do in this case?

Many people do not know that a dry cough during sleep can cause a stomach disease - esophagitis. Acidity level gastric juice at healthy person usually normal. When it rises, part of what is in the stomach is thrown into the esophagus. As a result, heartburn is felt in the lower part. Cough receptors are located nearby in the same zone.

Note that attacks of “stomach” cough only bother you at night, when a person is in horizontal position. It is very easy to diagnose by the already mentioned heartburn. To solve the problem, you should consult a gastroenterologist.

For some cardiovascular diseases I also suffer from a dry cough. It has a very strong resemblance to the bronchial one - just as suffocating and hysterical. That is why it is called “cardiac bronchitis”. This symptom may be accompanied by shortness of breath and blue discoloration of the nasolabial triangle.

To check whether a person really started coughing at night due to heart problems, he needs to sit down during the next attack. If it becomes much easier, you can immediately make an appointment with a cardiologist. It is impossible to eliminate such a cough without curing the underlying ailment.

How to treat

Before prescribing treatment, the doctor must determine correct diagnosis. And for this, the patient needs to take a couple of tests and undergo several examinations. Most often, when complaining of a dry cough at night, the doctor prescribes:

• general or detailed blood test;
• fluorography (x-ray) of the chest;
• bronchography;
• fibrogastroduodenoscopy (if esophagitis is suspected).

The specialist selects a therapeutic course for the patient, taking into account the identified cause of the cough. If it is a respiratory disease, he prescribes expectorants, anti-inflammatory drugs and, if necessary, antibiotics.

How to calm a night cough without taking pharmaceutical drugs? Traditional medicine provides several effective advice. Still, it is advisable to use them in combination with drug treatment, so as not to trigger the disease.

Let's sum it up

If a dry cough begins to bother you at night due to adverse effects external factors, it is very easy to eliminate it. In this case, it is quite enough to use a humidifier, regularly ventilate the room and do wet cleaning.

Before you start drug treatment night cough, you need to visit a doctor. After all, if it is diagnosed serious pathology, some drugs may be contraindicated. Remember that only a specialist should prescribe any medications.

Every person is familiar with the problem of coughing. More from early childhood it haunts us for the rest of our lives. What and how do we not take to avoid this disease. Some rush to the pharmacy for modern medicines, while others rush headlong into traditional medicine, not trusting doctors and drugs - but where golden mean what to do and where to look for a cure for this seemingly simple disease.

To find this middle ground, you need to find out what a cough is. It comes in several types, which are divided according to the mechanisms of development and causes of occurrence. There are many reasons that cause dry skin, which is often long-lasting and does not bring the desired result. This various kinds diseases such as sinusitis, measles, tuberculosis, whooping cough, initial stage acute respiratory diseases, allergic exacerbations. It usually occurs against the background of the onset of inflammation of the mucous membranes or with fibrinous deposits in the bronchi or trachea.

One of the varieties of this type of cough is called " barking cough", which is characterized by the presence of a metallic overtone in the throat and usually occurs with laryngitis. Its appearance is caused by a change in the vocal cords.

All types of this disease require the use of various therapeutic methods. For example, treatment for a dry cough involves one way: if it is intrusive, therapy is aimed at suppressing it. But in most cases, therapy consists of intensifying the cough in order to transfer it from an unproductive state to a productive one. According to many experts, treatment of cough should be resorted to only when it is painful, intrusive, disrupts general health person. This includes a dry cough, the treatment of which does not cause mucus discharge; it remains intrusive and debilitating. That's why doctors call it counterproductive.

For it to become moist, mucus must form. Until it is there, a dry cough will cause a person a lot of trouble. It is impossible to sleep and breathe normally, the stomach is under the influence DC voltage, because during coughing muscle spasms occur, which is unpleasant, painful for a person, and also dangerous, since bleeding can sometimes be provoked. To avoid all this, you should immediately take action to calm your cough.

Preparations for dry cough in the form of mixtures, tablets, syrups are presented in pharmacies in a fairly wide range.

When you are exhausted by a dry cough, treatment will be effective with drugs that belong to the suppressive group. They also bring good results folk remedies against dry cough, so it is better to combine the use various drugs. To slightly alleviate the occurrence of a dry cough, you need to drink plenty of warm liquid throughout the day.

If you suffer from a dry cough, you can try starting treatment with hot tea - black or green. Ginger tea helps especially well. Tea with lemon and honey has also proven itself. One of the best ways to get rid of this disease - gargle with a solution of salt in warm water. All these folk methods will certainly help solve the problem faster. as soon as possible cough problem.

But the most effective remedies for dry cough are drugs that contain dextromethorphan. This medicine should be taken with caution, as directed, as it may cause side effects, especially for those people who have hypertension, disturbances in the functioning of the heart, prostate gland, chronic diseases respiratory tract.

Strong painful cough very easy to recognize. His attacks occur with different frequencies, but they always last a long time. The patient has a sore throat and lacks air. Sometimes there is chest pain. A painful cough is most often dry, without phlegm. This symptom can occur for various reasons, each of which requires a specific approach to treatment.

Painful cough treatment for tracheitis

Tracheitis is swelling of the trachea, accompanied by a hysterical, painful cough that is difficult to stop within a few minutes. To relieve attacks, patients are advised to take copious amounts of warm drink and use lozenges and tablets with extracts of eucalyptus, sage, and so on. Separately, this disease rarely occurs. Most often it accompanies the flu or pharyngitis. Treatment approach in in this case complex is required. It should include, first of all, drugs that actively fight the main symptom - these are sedative and antispasmodic mixtures, for example, Bronholitin, Gerbion or Suprimo-Broncho, as well as throat softening sprays - Hexoral, Inhalipt ", "Tantum Verde".

In addition to the above drugs, for tracheitis, antibiotics or antiviral agents are often prescribed for treatment, aimed at combating the underlying disease.

Treatment of painful cough with laryngitis

Swelling of the larynx with laryngitis is also always accompanied by a similar illness. This disease can occur in different forms. The most acute is accompanied by difficulty breathing and lack of air. In this case, patients are prescribed hormonal drugs injection. Most often when acute form Laryngitis requires a one-time injection of Prednesalone. Milder forms are treated with antibiotics and antiviral agents. Attacks of painful coughing are relieved by using inhalations with Ventalin or Berodual.

A painful cough, how to treat false croup or whooping cough?

These two diseases can only be diagnosed by a specialist. The approach to their treatment should be professional. In most cases, patients are indicated for hospitalization. In hospital from false croup and whooping cough, antibiotic injections are prescribed, as well as bronchodilators to combat the painful cough.

A cough is the body’s response to a certain irritant that affects the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract and can be painful. A cough may also indicate the presence foreign body or inflammatory process. If such a symptom does not last long, then it does not pose any danger, as it goes away quickly. If throat cough prolonged, this indicates the presence of a certain disease that needs to be eliminated and something urgently done.

How to stop an attack

If a person has a coughing attack at night, it will last a long time. The reason is that all processes in the body have slowed down. As a result, the mucus does not resolve, and all the phlegm slowly accumulates in the respiratory tract. The patient lies motionless during sleep, which is why attacks begin to bother him at night. To prevent coughing from tormenting at night, the patient should change his position from time to time.

A regular glass of water, to which you add in advance, will help calm coughing attacks. burnt sugar brown tint. Helps overcome coughing attacks Fresh air, which must be present in the patient’s room. Special air humidifiers help eliminate excess dryness in the room.

Helps overcome coughing attacks healing infusions from herbs. Here's yours positive influence chamomile, calendula.

A common cold can trigger a non-productive cough. You can eliminate it using folk ways. To soften the mucous membrane, you should take tincture of oregano. You can also drink tea with added ginger. This plant has a soothing effect on the throat. Before going to night rest, you can use eggnog, in which honey is added instead of sugar.

How to treat in adults and children

Realize therapeutic measures it is necessary only after the doctor has been able to accurately diagnose, determine the cause of the cough reflex, and also understand the type of cough: productive or unproductive. We also recommend that you read the instructions for use.

Treatment of dry cough

For a longer-lasting effect, it is worth using medications that can relieve irritation and provide an enveloping, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory effect. Such drugs are Herbion syrup based on plantain and. Doctors also often prescribe.

They contain the following components:

• plantain leaf extract, which softens the mucous membrane from irritants and eliminates infection;
• mallow flower extract, which has a softening and soothing effect;
• vitamin C, which increases immune strength and improves the body's resistance to infection

It is necessary to use antitussives that suppress the cough reflex in the brain only with the permission of the attending physician. It is not always possible to use such drugs, since they have many contraindications and lead to various complications. A popular drug is Mucaltin. This is a cheap but effective remedy. Before using it, be sure to read the instructions, from which it will become clear - or simply consult a doctor.

As for Herbion based on plantain, it has only a local effect, does not affect brain function, therefore, can be used to treat any type of cough, both in children and adults. You can find out the approximate price and read the instructions for using Gerbion for dry cough.

They also help to cope with a dry cough and transform it into a wet one, based on herbs, menthol and eucalyptus oil. With this treatment, it is possible to eliminate the spasm and facilitate the breathing process. But treatment with inhalations cannot be carried out when the cough is accompanied by a rise in temperature. Often doctors prescribe.

Treatment of wet cough and sputum

To alleviate the patient’s condition, it is necessary to use drugs in therapy whose action would be aimed at thinning the mucus, promoting its removal, and, if necessary, increasing the amount of sputum. In addition, during treatment wet cough the medications used must have an antimicrobial effect. Read about inexpensive and effective medicines is also possible .

Herbion based on primrose is an effective syrup for wet coughs for adults and children. Its composition is rich in the following components:

• plant extract of primrose roots, thanks to which phlegm is liquefied and quickly exploited. You will find instructions for using Gerbion for wet cough;
• thyme extract, which eliminates spasms of the respiratory tract, facilitates expectoration, and has an antibacterial effect;
• levomenthol, which has a cooling and antiseptic effect.

Features of treatment for children

It is much more difficult to cure a cough in a child than in an adult. Therefore, it is necessary to know exactly about dry cough, so that when using drugs you do not harm the health of the little patient.

This unpleasant symptom can be eliminated if you follow the following rules:

1. At the very beginning of the illness, you need to provide the child with peace, comfort, and monitor the humidity in his room.
2. Since cough occurs along with symptoms such as fever, weakness, runny nose, general malaise, then without complex therapy can't get by here.
3. With a dry cough caused by an acute respiratory infection, the child may experience vomiting reflex. Next, the cough becomes productive and sputum begins to be produced. At this point, it is advisable to give the baby expectorants.
4. For dry cough, treatment should be based on combination medications, providing wide range actions.
5. For infants, all medications used must contain only herbal ingredients.

Elimination after smoking (quit smoking and get rid of smoker's cough)

What to do if you quit smoking and have a cough? It is necessary to cure such a symptom as soon as it arises, and not sit and wait for it to turn into chronic form. Tobacco smoke affects the growth of cells that produce sputum. To relieve cough in a person who has stopped smoking, it is necessary to include in treatment medications aimed at thinning and removing mucus.

The most simple means For and exploitation of phlegm located in the bronchi, milk is considered. Thanks to it, it is possible not only to reduce the viscosity of sputum, but also to remove nicotine. But there are situations when the presented product is very difficult for a person to tolerate. Then it is worth replacing with other liquids. Any liquid contributes to the rapid dilution of sputum and its rapid administration. For this reason, former smokers need to drink as much fluid as possible during a coughing attack.

If you turn to folk medicine, then it will help effectively get rid of cough. The onion must be finely chopped, add sugar in a 1:1 ratio. Fill the composition with water and place the container on the fire. Cook until the mixture becomes homogeneous. At the end of cooking, add a spoonful of honey and stir thoroughly.

You need to take the prepared medicine 3 times a day in the amount dessert spoon. With this treatment, it is possible to quickly reduce the viscosity of sputum and quickly remove it. At long-term use medications, you will forever forget what a morning cough is.

Effective folk remedies to prevent a cough from tormenting you

Traditional medicine also does not stand still and offers a large number of effective means, which will allow you to eliminate this unpleasant symptom in a short period of time. Main advantage alternative medicine consists of using natural ingredients that have a safe effect on the body of adults and children. You may also be interested in information about.

Burnt sugar

If you are tormented by coughing attacks at night, then you need to fry granulated sugar (1 tablespoon) in a frying pan, stirring it all the time. Add ¼ cup of water and aloe juice. Stir everything and consume before going to bed. How to prepare burnt sugar is described in detail.

Sage decoction

If you want to provide yourself restful sleep, then a decoction of sage helps relieve attacks. To obtain it, you need to take a spoonful of herbs and pour a glass of milk. Place the container on the stove and bring to a boil. Wait 40 minutes until the medicine is infused. Use the product in the amount of a glass before going to bed at night. Before taking the decoction, you need to warm it up.

Radish juice for grinding

Radish juice helps eliminate coughing attacks. As a rule, this medicine is used when the cough reflex occurs due to chronic bronchitis. It is necessary to thoroughly rub the back and chest with the juice, and then wrap these areas with a warm scarf. Radish is actively used in folk medicine.

Effect of valerian

During a coughing attack, you must use next remedy: Add 20 drops of valerian to 100 ml of water. Drink the resulting medicine. After a few minutes the cough subsides.

The product can be purchased at a pharmacy and costs from 40 rubles.

Golden mustache

During a coughing attack, it is enough to simply chew a leaf of the presented plant. After this, the unpleasant symptom leaves the body.

Meadowsweet wine

If you have a sore throat, severe attack If you have a cough, you should drink it a small amount of meadowsweet wines. After this treatment the cough is still for a long time will not visit you. To achieve maximum effect, you should consume a tablespoon of this product every day.

To make wine, you need to take a glass container (1 liter) and fill it with meadowsweet flowers. Then take out these flowers and pour 3.5 liters of boiling water. Leave to infuse for a day. To get more aromatic wine You should wait 2-3 days. Strain and squeeze.

At this time, prepare this syrup separately: take ½ liter of water, 1 kg of granulated sugar and the juice of 2 lemons. Combine the prepared syrup with wine, place 10 raisins. Place the container in a dark place for 2 days. At the end of fermentation, drain off the sediment.

Pine buds

For elimination unpleasant symptoms Taking an infusion of pine buds will help. To teach it, you need to take the presented product in the amount of a tablespoon, pour 200 ml of boiling water. Let sit for 30 minutes and then strain. As soon as an attack occurs, take a few sips of the prepared infusion. After this, the cough goes away immediately. We also recommend that you read the instructions for use.

The video explains what to do if your child is tormented by a cough: