Cough is a reflex reaction from our lung in order to clear any irritants inside the airway. This mechanism is essential in keeping your body to stay healthy and away from any possible medical threats. There are two types of cough, productive and non-productive cough. A productive cough means a cough that produces sputum, while a non-productive cough does not produce anything. Non-productive cough is also known as dry cough. So, what are the causes of dry cough? Keep reading this article to find out about the causes and symptoms of dry cough.
- Asthma
Asthma is a disease where your airway is inflamed, causing it to swell and become narrowed. This will make it difficult for an asthma patient to breath. The main symptom of asthma is cough. It can be both productive and non-productive, but non-productive cough is more prominent. The other symptoms for asthma include wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and also trouble sleeping because of coughing. For asthma patients, they need to use long-term medications such as inhaled corticosteroid to aid their condition. Luckily, they also can choose to buy some asthma medications at any online pharmacy Malaysia’s site such as doctoroncall. The rise of technology nowadays is surely a blessing to us.
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a disease that can be considered as a chronic acid reflux. It happens when your stomach acid flows upward towards the esophagus. This will irritate the esophagus and trigger the coughing mechanism. People with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) will usually experience other symptoms such as heartburn, chest pain, sore throat, food regurgitation, hoarseness and sometimes will have difficulty swallowing. For people with GERD, some lifestyle changes and over the counter medicine such as acid reducer will usually help ease the symptoms.
- Post-nasal drip
Post-nasal drip refers to a situation where your mucus drips down on your throat especially when you lie down during sleep. This usually happens when someone is having any common cold or allergies, producing more mucus than usual. This mucus is watery and can easily run down the throat. When this happens, it will tickle the throat and cause a cough reflex. Other symptoms of post-nasal drip include runny nose, sore throat and also trouble swallowing. Treatment will usually depend on the cause. It can be caused by allergies, viral infection or in some cases bacterial infection.
- Viral infection
When you are infected by a respiratory viral infection, this will usually cause a disease such as common cold. Any infection that was caused by a virus will likely take time to resolve. Sometimes, it can go on for 2 or 3 months. Viral infection will likely cause other symptoms including fever, runny nose, sore throat and also cough. People that got infected with this need to remain patient because it will take a long time to treat it. Lozenges are a good choice to help ease the sore throat that results from continuous cough. Otherwise, home remedies are more than enough to make it go away.
- Environmental irritants
This is the less common cause for a dry cough. But, it is worth knowing since it can help you to identify your problem. Any air irritants such as smoke, dust, pollution, pollen and mold can get inside the airways and trigger our cough reflex. These particles can come from a lot of sources. Usually it will come from cigarettes, factories, vehicles, animals or even some plants. Usually, changing your lifestyle and your environment is the best possible way in combating this problem. Make sure to clean your surroundings every week. If you have an air humidifier, it is surely the best time to turn it on.
These are the list of common causes of dry cough and their symptoms. There are other causes that are not mentioned here and that includes lung cancer, heart failure, whooping cough, collapsed lung and also the ACE-inhibitor mediated dry cough. Although these causes are less common, it is a wise thing to do to take note of it. If you think your dry cough is becoming very persistent, it might be a good decision to quickly meet your doctor and discuss any possible treatments.
