Severe Coughing
Guidelines for Treating Severe Coughing
The sudden onset of severe coughing can be worrisome, in some cases it could indicate an illness or virus, but it could also indicate declining health. When someone has a severe cough what happens is that there is a sudden and violent release of air from the lungs. This can be the result of sensation in the throat area, or the body making an effort to excrete congestion from the airway and lungs.
Children commonly have coughs as coughs frequently accompany many of the usual childhood illnesses. If an adult or a child has severe coughing that continues for more than a few days it is important that they see a doctor for an evaluation. Severe coughing can indicate severe illness in some cases.
Coughing is a symptom and not the disease itself. When someone has a cold or flu, they may also develop a cough, but coughing can also indicate other underlying illnesses, often those illnesses that affect the lungs. In reality, there are many different illnesses that will cause coughing and not all of them stem from the lungs. For example, allergies and sinus infections can lead to coughing, as well as gastroesophogeal reflux, and certain types of medications.
There are several ways that you can treat coughs at home, but only if they are not causing severe breathing problems and have not persisted for several days.
When an infant is coughing you may want to try clearing their nose of mucus. Their body is trying to clear their airway and this is causing the coughing. Again, if the coughing persists or is accompanied by fever, you will want to call your baby’s doctor.
There is no way to cure a cold so the only way to deal with this type of illness is to treat the symptoms, such as severe coughing. A natural method of dealing with this type of cough is to drink hot tea with lemon and honey. This home remedy usually works well to soothe coughing. There are also several over the counter cough medicines that can help relieve coughing due to colds, but if the coughing gets worse or continues for several days it is a good idea to call your doctor as colds can often turn into a bacterial infection.
Nighttime coughing can be especially troublesome, for both children and adults. Some steps you can take to reduce nighttime coughing so you can get the rest you need to recover include using a menthol rub, such as Vicks on the feet, and then covering the feet with socks.
You can also drink a hot lemon and honey drink a few minutes before bedtime. Hot drinks such as this will help calm cough due to dry throat, plus hot drinks tend to help loosen up congestion.
If you find that you are having a severe coughing episode that won’t go away, you can help calm the cough by stepping outside so that you can breathe some cool air; this will work better during the colder months. Colder air tends to reduce inflammation of the airways and let you breathe easier. Taking deep breaths of cool air will also help because you are increasing your oxygen intake, while at the same time, reducing inflammation.
Another home remedy that tends to help severe coughing is hot chicken broth with added onion and garlic.
If you are having severe coughing episodes that make it difficult to breathe, or if you notice a purple blue color to the lips, it is advisable that you call 911. This could indicate a life-threatening emergency so you will not want to wait and call your doctor in the morning.