An attack of dry cough is a kind of reflex, during which there is a sharp exhalation, which helps to clear the respiratory tract from foreign objects and the body’s secret. According to statistics, a dry coughing attack is the most common reason for going to the doctor. An attack of dry cough is characterized by the absence of sputum. Dry cough is often called unproductive, since it does not allow you to clear the respiratory tract.
In other words, with a bout of dry cough, a person coughs up only air. An attack of dry cough begins with a sudden cough. The cause of a dry cough attack can be a cold and flu, infectious lesions of the respiratory tract and so on. A dry cough may be chronic if it lasts more than two weeks. The cause of chronic attacks of dry cough may be smoking and certain types of allergic reactions.
Causes of dry coughing attacks:
– colds, flu and hypothermia;
– diseases of otolaryngological origin;
– Infectious lesions of the lung tissue, for example, bronchitis or pneumonia;
– chronic pulmonary pathologies, for example, bronchial asthma or chronic bronchitis;
– diseases of the external auditory canal;
– gastric and esophageal reflux;
– other reasons, for example, penetration of foreign bodies into the respiratory tract, smoking and the use of a number of separate drugs.
With an attack of dry cough, it is recommended to use medications in tablet form or in the form of a syrup.
Separate recommendations for an attack of dry cough exist for mothers who breastfeed children.
It has been proven that nicotine penetrates the mother’s milk, but its concentration does not harm the baby. Accordingly, even smoking mothers should keep the baby breast-fed.
It is better, of course, if a woman can abandon this addiction. But when smoking, you can breast-feed a child, observing several rules:
– Do not smoke in the apartment, and especially in the room where the child is;
– limit the number of cigarettes smoked;
– breastfeeding should be continued even for smoking mothers, since mother’s milk contains the immunoglobulins required by the baby in the first months of life, until the baby’s body produces them on its own.
– After smoking, it is necessary to refrain from feeding for two hours, since nicotine can give breast milk a not very pleasant taste, although there is no harm from it.
– Nicotine acts as a stimulant of brain activity, for this reason infants whose mothers smoke may experience sleep problems.
How to deal with an attack of dry cough
Initially, an attack of dry cough can cause a person to worry. It is necessary to relax and try not to be nervous.
In case of burning on the mucous membrane of the throat with an attack of dry cough, it is necessary to soften the irritated mucous membrane by absorbing the candy. However, young children should not be given this remedy for an attack of dryness, as they may choke. Honey candies are considered the most effective.
With a cold attack of dry cough, the cough itself is provoked by the accumulated mucus, which penetrates from the nasal cavity into the larynx. The cough becomes more intense at night, when a person is in a horizontal position for a long time. To get rid of cough, you can slightly raise the pillow.
When you have a dry cough, you need to drink as much as possible, as this contributes to the transition of dry cough into a cough with sputum.
To mitigate the sore throat, it’s useful to drink a solution of a tablespoon of honey in a glass of warm water.