Cough is a reflex phenomenon that occurs due to irritation of the respiratory tract due to external factors or due to any diseases. Asking the question, how to treat a severe cough in an adult, you should first find out what type of coughing and why it arose, since the choice of method of treatment depends on this.
Types of cough in adults - causes and treatment
A strong cough appears in response to the effect on cough recipes localized in the mucosa of different parts of the respiratory tract, primarily the trachea and bronchi. Provokes a deep breath, closure of the glottis and muscle tension, after which the resulting air flow is sharply thrown through the opening vocal chink. This helps to cleanse the respiratory tract from accumulating mucus, pus or foreign bodies.
Cough receptors can be irritated due to the following main factors:
- mechanical (dust particles, stenosis, swelling of the respiratory organs and nearby structures, aortic aneurysm, enlarged left atrium, enlarged thyroid gland);
- chemical (inhalation of strongly smelling and irritating substances, ingestion of stomach contents in the respiratory tract);
- thermal (inhalation of very cold or hot air, steam);
- inflammatory reactions in the tissues of the respiratory tract (edema, hyperemia, exudation, increased secretion of cells).
When deciding what to treat a severe cough in an adult, it is necessary to classify its variety. For this, the time of occurrence and duration, intensity, productivity (presence of sputum and its character), loudness, timbre are estimated. In addition, it is important to identify the possible relationship between the appearance of cough and food intake, psychoemotional shocks or other provoking factors, to establish the presence of concomitant symptoms.
Severe dry cough in an adult
A severe dry cough is an intense, non-productive cough, which does not produce sputum and which does not bring relief. This type of cough patients can characterize as excruciating, debilitating, exhausting, accompanied by painful sensations in the throat, hoarseness of voice. Often dry cough occurs paroxysmally, and attacks can be provoked by talking, inhaling cold or polluted air. Than to treat a strong dry cough, depends on the reasons, and they can be the following:
- Infectious inflammation of the respiratory system (laryngitis, tracheitis, bronchitis, pneumonia and so on);
- tuberculosis ;
- allergic reaction (on household, food, pollen, epidermal and other stimuli);
- taking certain medications (as an adverse reaction);
- penetration of foreign bodies into the respiratory tract;
- inhalation of irritating gases (including cigarette smoke);
- parasitic infections (eg, ascariasis with penetration of helminth larvae into the bronchi);
- cardiovascular pathologies ("cardiac cough");
- reflux disease of the stomach ("gastric cough");
- an increase in the thyroid gland.
Heavy damp cough
A very strong cough with sputum discharge often replaces dry cough with infectious inflammatory respiratory pathologies, which is observed in the initial period of these diseases. In addition, the causes of wet cough in adults can be associated with the following ailments:
- rhinitis, sinusitis ;
- bronchial asthma;
- tuberculosis;
- allergy.
By type of sputum, you can establish a more accurate diagnosis:
- abundant - tracheitis, acute bronchitis;
- viscous, dense, hardly detachable - bronchial asthma;
- with the content of pus - bacterial infections, lung abscess;
- with an admixture of blood - tuberculosis;
- with a "rusty" hue - pneumonia.
Severe cough and fever
An actual issue in the cold period of the year is than to cure a severe cough in an adult, accompanied by fever. These symptoms often indicate a viral infection with which the body is actively fighting, including its protective reactions. At the same time, the higher the temperature, the more protective cells are developed, which counteract the development of infection. Therefore, do not rush to bring down the temperature, if a person normally tolerates it.
In rare cases, there is a strong cough before vomiting. The mechanism of the origin of the emetic reflex in a coughing fit is associated with irritation of the peripheral receptors located in the wall of the throat. When these zones are irritated with a strong cough, the signals are sent to the brain, from which information is transmitted through the fibers of the vagus nerve to cause a spasm of the diaphragm and musculature of the muscles of the pharynx. So at the peak of a coughing fit there is vomiting. Such a symptom happens in heavy smokers, with various infectious diseases, whooping cough.
Severe cough without fever
If a severe cough without temperature in an adult, it is often possible to exclude acute infectious pathologies. However, such a sign may indicate chronic inflammatory processes in the respiratory system, to which the body does not respond with an increase in temperature. Allergic diseases, pathologies of the digestive, endocrine and cardiovascular systems manifested by cough reflex are not accompanied by temperature. Among the causes may be a cough of neurogenic (psychogenic) origin, appearing against the background of mental overstrain.
Strong cough at night
When there is a strong cough in an adult at night, the cause may be in the irritation of the mucous accumulating sputum with respiratory infections. With a dry cough can not be excluded heart disease - arrhythmia, heart failure and some others. A distinctive feature of "heart cough" is that during the day it is absent, and at night there are seizures, which is associated with a violation of blood circulation and stagnation of blood in the lungs. In addition, night cough occurs in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease, especially when eating before bedtime.
Causes of persistent cough in adults
If severe attacks of cough do not pass for a long time, it can occur because of inadequate or inadequate treatment of the disease that causes this symptom. There may be a variety of chronic diseases - both those associated with the respiratory system and those that involve the defeat of other organs. Non-passing cough is often observed in smokers, people with occupational diseases of the respiratory system and living in an environmentally unfavorable region.
Before treating a severe cough in an adult, you should consult a doctor and conduct a diagnosis of the organism, because this can be a manifestation of such dangerous pathologies as:
- tuberculosis;
- cancer;
- pathology of the heart and blood vessels;
- asthma;
- obstructive pulmonary disease ;
- heart failure;
- aspergillosis.
What to do with a strong cough?
In order to determine what to treat a severe cough, it is necessary to recognize its cause, which in many cases can be done only with the help of specialists. Not having established the diagnosis and practicing self-medication, you can aggravate the situation, launch a developing pathology about which a person without medical education can not guess. Therefore, the most correct solution will be an early address to a doctor who will prescribe how to treat a strong cough.
How to remove an attack of coughing in an adult?
In cases when the attack of an intense cough accompanied by a sharp blanching, changes in the heart rate, difficulty breathing, fainting, you should call an ambulance. If the attack is caused by bronchial asthma, and the patient is aware of the presence of this diagnosis, it is necessary to apply the medication prescribed by the doctor for coughing up the cough (inhaler). There are several non-drug ways to relieve a fit of cough associated with inflammation of the respiratory system:
- drink warm tea, water or milk with small sips;
- carefully chew a crust of bread and swallow (helps with thick sputum);
- to dissolve any candy, better with mint, eucalyptus, sage.
Preparations for cough
When choosing medicines, than treating a severe dry or wet cough in an adult, the doctor takes into account the data obtained after auscultation of the lungs and bronchi, x-ray diagnosis, sputum analysis, and blood. Medications that are often used in the treatment of diseases accompanied by coughing attacks, are divided into the following groups:
- mucolytics (liquefying phlegm) - acetylcysteine, bromhexine, ambroxol, chymotrypsin;
- expectorant (stimulate the departure of mucus) - thermopsis, althea roots, licorice, herb thyme;
- antitussive (blocking the cough reflex) - tablets from cough with codeine, butamate, ethylmorphine;
- bronchodilators (relieve bronchospasm) - salbutamol, theophylline, berodual.
Cough inhalation
An effective method of treatment in many cases is inhalation , which helps to deliver the medicine directly to the inflammation zone, moisturizing the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract and improving sputum discharge. For the procedure it is desirable to use modern devices - nebulizers. The solution for inhalation from cough is selected depending on the type of disease. Often, the following tools are used:
- saline, mineral water;
- bronchodilators (Berotek, Ventolin);
- mucolytics (Ambrobene, ATSTS);
- anti-inflammatory drugs (Pulmicort, Kromogeksal);
- antiseptics (Miramistin, Dioxydin).
Treatment of cough with folk remedies
Among the variety of folk techniques can be identified cough treatment with banana and honey - a simple and affordable method, applicable for different types of coughing attacks. Such a tasty medicine benefits from its enveloping, softening, anti-inflammatory action, abundance in the components of trace elements and vitamins.
Prescription means
Ingredients :
- banana - 1 piece;
- honey - 1 teaspoonful. a spoon.
Preparation and use
- Mash the banana in a mash.
- Add honey.
- Put the composition on a slow fire and boil, stirring constantly.
- After 5-10 minutes, when the mixture turns dark golden, turn off the fire.
- Take four times a day one hour before a meal or an hour after a meal.
- The course of treatment is 7-10 days.
Strong cough during pregnancy
Future mothers should be especially careful in choosing methods, how to treat a severe cough. Given that many drugs during this period are contraindicated, one should be guided more by non-drug methods, how to cure a strong cough, among which we will outline the following recommendations:
- Maintaining a favorable microclimate in the room (optimum humidity is about 60%, air temperature is 18-20 ° C).
- Use a lot of warm (not hot) liquid.
- Inhalations with saline solution, mineral water.
- Rinse throat with herbal decoctions.