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Health

What to do when you cough?

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 17.10.2021
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A long-lasting cough can be a sign of serious illness, so it cannot be ignored. What to do when you cough? Figure out the cause and fight it.

Perhaps, there is no such person in the world who would not know what a cough is. Cough is a sign of a large number of diseases: catarrhal, respiratory, cardiac pathologies, and allergies. Some people, especially heavy smokers, are accustomed to “live” with a cough and do not pay much attention to it.

What to do when you cough a child?

If you find that your baby is coughing, you need to do the following:

  • measure the temperature of the baby;
  • observe the child and determine the nature of the cough (wet, dry, how often and after which there is a deep cough or cough).

A child can cough for many reasons. He can choke, or just inhale crumbs or small objects. It may catch a cold, have bronchitis, pneumonia or other diseases.

If the baby, in addition to coughing, has a fever, a runny nose has been discovered, the child has become lethargic and sleepy, call the doctor. The kid could catch a cold, because children who attend preschool and school institutions often suffer from respiratory diseases and ARVI. Self-treatment in such a situation may lead to a worsening of the situation and the development of complications, it is better to call a doctor.

What to do when you cough in infants?

Breast babies cough often enough. This is usually attributed to the fact that when feeding parts of milk or a mixture can get into the respiratory tract and provoke a reflex cough. More babies can cough when crying: this is caused by the penetration of tear fluid into the trachea and is not dangerous for the baby. Such a cough quickly passes and should not disturb the parents. If the infant has a fever, and the cough does not go away or even increases, immediately contact your pediatrician.

When teeth cut through, coughing can be associated with excessive salivation. Do not worry - the teeth will cut through, and with them the cough will pass.

What to do when coughing a newborn?

Cough in newly born babies may be due to the fact that the baby, which is lying on its back, sometimes inhales mucus, which gets from the nose. In this situation, the child must be shifted to the flank, pat on the back, make a light massage.

How to do a cough massage?

To conduct a drainage massage your child can as a medical worker, and mom and dad. Massage is not recommended if the child has a fever.

Choose the correct position for the baby: lower your head as low as possible so that the bronchial phlegm comes out freely. Sometimes babies massage is done on weight, holding the legs. The procedure lasts no more than 10 minutes, with a total duration of several days. It is better to lubricate the skin of the baby with a massage cream or talcum powder.

  • We warm up the bronchi: we massage the back with the palmar surface of the hand, acting from the butt to the shoulders, then in the opposite direction, until the skin turns red.
  • Fingers gently pinch the skin, strolling, thus, throughout the back of the baby.
  • We pat on the back with the tips of our fingers.
  • With wide apart fingers, we pound on the back surface.
  • Older kids can pokolachivat also the costal side of the palm and cams.

Movement should not be rough, but active, the skin should be pink. After the massage, you need to ask the child to cough up the sputum particles.

Such a massage can be performed by turning the child over to the chest. However, the spinal procedure is often sufficient.

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Is it possible to make manta when coughing?

A test for the Mantoux reaction is not a vaccination and not a vaccine, as many people think. This is a diagnostic procedure to determine if your child has tuberculosis. Redness after a given injection of the drug - it is nothing like the body's response to tuberculin. The more pronounced this reaction, the greater the likelihood of the presence of tubercle bacillus in the body. Although sometimes redness can be caused by some external factors, for example, non-compliance with the recommendations of the nurse: the injection site should not be subjected to mechanical stress, it should not be wetted and touched with dirty hands, and also sealed with a plaster.

Contraindications to such a sample are considered diseases of a chronic, inflammatory, allergic and somatic nature, bronchial asthma; Mantu is not recommended to carry out directly after the postponed inflammatory illness or an allergy. After such a disease, 20-30 days should pass.

Exacerbation of the disease after the test will not be, as many believe. However, the result of the reaction may be unreliable.

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What to do with dry cough?

The appearance of a dry cough in a child is usually associated with inflammation of the upper respiratory tract.

When a baby has a dry cough, paroxysmal, at regular time intervals and more often at night, it can be whooping cough. With this disease, the cough can be so strong that it causes even a gag reflex. In such a situation, chest babies are necessarily hospitalized and therapy is carried out under the supervision of specialists.

If the child was diagnosed with the cause of the cough and had a cold, use the following tips:

  • the temperature in the room where the child is located should be from 21 to 25 C, the air should be humid, especially in winter;
  • the room should be ventilated, especially at night;
  • until the cough passes, it is not recommended to bathe the baby;
  • infants should be breastfed more often, and older babies should be given warm tea with honey or lemon, raspberry jam.

Drug treatment, that is, pills cough tablets should be prescribed by the doctor, because it depends on the type of cough and the general condition of the baby.

Think well before offering expectorant to the newborn: the baby still cannot cough up the sputum on its own.

Shift the child often to prevent stagnation in the lungs, give him a light massage. Do not experiment on small children - let the treatment be prescribed by an experienced pediatrician who will assess the general condition of your child and prescribe the necessary medications.

How to make a cough compress?

Compress - an effective tool. It can be cold, hot, dry, wet, alcoholic or oily. Consider the most effective of them.

  • Compress with vinegar. Simple and almost perfect compress. The composition includes only water and apple or other vinegar in a ratio of 3: 1, you can add a spoonful of natural honey. We mix all the ingredients, wet a piece of cloth in the mixture and apply to the area of the projection of the bronchi. Put a piece of polyethylene on top and wrap it up. The compress should be on the chest for at least 20 minutes.
  • Compress of honey. Simply, quickly and efficiently: rub the chest area with honey, cover it with film and wrap. After the procedure, honey is washed off with warm water, wiped and lubricated with baby cream or warming ointment (eucalyptus, fir, menthol).
  • Compress of potatoes. Prepare crushed potatoes, add vodka instead of butter and milk. The resulting mixture is put in a plastic bag, wrapped in cloth, attached to the chest and wrapped. Keep until cool.

You can also make a popular antitussive cake.

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How to make a cough cake?

  • We make a mixture of an equal amount of sunflower oil, mustard powder, vodka and honey, take flour, how much will take the dough. The mixture is heated, spread in the form of cakes on a gauze and put on the chest. From above we cover with a film and we wrap.

You can make two flat cakes simultaneously - on the chest and on the back, then the effect of the procedure will be much greater.

What to do when you cough during pregnancy?

Ill with pregnancy is not recommended, but anything can happen. The easiest way to catch a cold or ORZ: in this case, a cough can accompany a cold, fever, sore throat.

Cough during pregnancy is doubly unpleasant, as it provokes tension in the abdominal muscles. It is not only unpleasant, but it can also be dangerous if the placenta is low or present.

Cough preparations that a pregnant woman chooses should not contain morphine or codeine. Even better, do not take drugs at all, but use alternative medicine. You can make herbal teas:

  • pour a spoonful of pine buds into a thermos and pour freshly boiled water, after 40 minutes you can drink 1-2 sips with the beginning cough;
  • Prepare a mixture of plantain leaves, primrose grass, chamomile flowers and wild rose berries. A tablespoon of the collection to steam in a glass of boiling water, drink 1/3 cup three times a day;
  • grind poppy in a mortar and dilute it with warm milk. Drink 50 g of this mixture to alleviate bronchitis;
  • bananas help coughing well, especially if they are ground with honey;
  • good at night to drink tea from lime blossom and thyme. Such tea calms not only cough, but also the nervous system;
  • To dry cough quickly turned into a wet, you can use the express method. In a cup of hot milk, add a quarter teaspoon of soda (food grade) and a little honey. Drink several times a day and always at night.

What to do when barking cough?

You can use the gargle. This is done as often as possible, immediately after a meal or an hour before it. This procedure helps to reduce inflammation of the throat, moisturizes the airways, relieves pain in the throat:

  • a glass of warm water with the addition of half tsp. Soda;
  • decoction of calendula, sage, eucalyptus;
  • an infusion of raspberry leaves, currants, mint, lemon balm, althea, chamomile.

With a strong enough cough, you can try the following recipe: for 0.5 liters of warm water add a full article. Spoon apple cider vinegar, gargle as often as possible.

A dry cough must be mitigated, and for this it is recommended to drink plenty of warm liquid and maintain sufficient humidity in the room. Ventilate more often, wipe off dust and get out.

What cough do they have inhalations?

Inhalations are used to soften dry cough and stimulate the appearance of sputum. Such procedures can quickly alleviate the condition of the patient, soothe bouts of dry cough.

For example, they often practice inhalation of boiled potato vapors, herbal decoctions from chamomile and lime blossom, sage, and St. John's wort.

For inhalation, a special device is perfect - a nebulizer. However, if it is not there, you can use it in other ways, using a kettle or a funnel.

The most common old proven method of inhalation of vapors over the pan, covering the patient with a towel, as they say, with his head. Children should use such inhalation with caution so as not to burn the mucous membranes. The most popular method of such a procedure is to boil water, cover with a towel and add baking soda a little to the pan. Inhale the vapor for 10–15 minutes.

Inhalation is not recommended for hypertension. It is allowed to add essential oil to the procedure liquid, preferably eucalyptus.

What to do with a wet cough?

Wet cough passes with the release of the mucous substance of the substance - sputum. Its texture is different: liquid, thick, mixed with pus or streaked with blood.

Wet cough helps to eliminate the microbial flora parasitizing in the respiratory tract from the body: this is the most favorable moment for a complete cure of cough.

Alternative treatments include the use of herbal teas, hot milk with jam or honey, tea with lemon. A good effect comes from grated black radish with honey: such a freshly prepared mixture is eaten several spoons a day.

Drug treatment of wet cough is initially aimed at getting rid of accumulated sputum in the bronchi. This will help means of improving secretion and expectoration.

One of these drugs is Herbion syrup. It contains extracts of thyme, primrose root and levomenthol - an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory agent. Herbion can be used by all family members who are older than 2 years. For children, the drug is given in one spoon (which is included in the medicine package) three times a day, and for adults two such spoons are up to 4 times a day. Syrup is not recommended for use in the first trimester of pregnancy and during lactation, since its use in these periods has not been sufficiently studied.

With a wet cough, it is impossible to use conventional antitussive drugs (tusuprex, pektusin, okseladin), since they suppress the cough reflex, thereby preventing the excretion of sputum.

What to do with a coughing fit?

What to do when coughing, if there are no medicines nearby or you do not want to take medicines?

There are alternative recipes that can help you stop a coughing fit and allow you to sleep at night.

  • Nettle. Fill 2 tablespoons of dried nettle leaves with a bottle of vodka, insist 10 days. We drink this infusion during an attack in the amount of 1 tablespoon, the cough will instantly subside.
  • Caramel. Pour a tablespoon of sugar into an iron container, fry until dark brown, then add 2 tablespoons of water and some aloe juice. Drink, pre-cool.
  • Burnt sugar №2. Fry half a glass of sugar in a skillet until dark in color, pour a glass of boiling water and mix. If you take this syrup one spoon at a time, the cough disappears almost immediately. This recipe can be used by both adults and children.
  • Sage. Cook in a glass of milk a tablespoon of dry sage, insist for half an hour and filter. Drink hot 1 cup just before bedtime. Peaceful sleep is guaranteed.

From drugs, you can recommend tusuprex drugs (0.2-0.4 g three times a day), libexin (1 tablet up to 4 times a day), tussin-plus (2 tsp. Every four hours ).

What to do with a strong cough?

A good effective remedy is to rub the chest and back with freshly squeezed black radish juice. To enhance the effect, a tablespoon of juice can be taken internally by adding some honey to it.

It is useful to chew when coughing aloe leaf or golden whisker.

It helps well with a strong cough chamomile tea, milk with soda or heated alkaline mineral water without gas.

If there are no drugs and medicinal herbs on hand, you can simply mix in equal proportions honey and butter. This mixture must be kept in the mouth until it is completely absorbed; you can drink hot milk.

What to do if the cough does not pass?

It is necessary to provide the patient with rest and an elevated position of the head (to facilitate the discharge of mucus).

A painful dry cough involves the use of antitussives: codeine 0.02 g or dionin. To enhance sputum discharge, expectorant drugs are used: dry extract of thermopsis 0.5 g, bromhexine 0.8 g, inhalations with alkaline drugs.

Signs of bronchospasm (with bronchial asthma) are stopped by bronchodilators: euphyllin or ephedrine.

Facilitate the state and local methods of exposure - putting mustard plasters, cans. In pneumonia and purulent lung diseases, inpatient treatment with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory (sulfanilamide) drugs.

What to do with a constant cough?

The most common cause of coughing is inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, caused by a viral or bacterial infection. If, despite fighting an existing infection, the cough does not go away, there may be several explanations:

  • weak immunity;
  • the influence of additional factors (smoking, dry air in the room);
  • the addition of another infection or a complication of the first (inflammation of the lungs, bronchi, trachea).

Therefore, treatment should be prescribed based on these reasons. It is necessary to restore immunity by taking vitamin preparations, eating right. If possible, smoking should be completely excluded from your life. Get plenty of fresh air, ventilate the apartment, often do wet cleaning and dust.

You can additionally make sputum culture to determine the bacterial flora, which will allow the doctor to prescribe specific effective antibiotics.

What to do if cough is more than a month?

It is urgent to look for the cause.

  • Atypical inflammation of the lungs. Long cough can be provoked by mycoplasma and chlamydia. To determine these pathogens, it is necessary to donate blood by ELISA.
  • Signs of measles, whooping cough, false cereal. Childhood diseases that adults can hurt. In this case, the cough is quite pronounced, tearful, to vomiting. With whooping cough, libexin, synecod, bronholitin can help.
  • Tuberculosis pathology. When immunity is weakened, the tubercle bacillus can enter the body. The disease is diagnosed by radiographs and a tuberculin test.
  • Oncology of the respiratory system. Such diseases include malignant tumors of the lungs, bronchi, mediastinal organs. For the diagnosis, an x-ray of the lungs, an MRI, and a bronchoscopic examination should be performed.
  • Allergic reaction. Cough can be one of the manifestations of allergy to dust, insects, pollen, animal hair, etc. Visit an allergist, he will prescribe a blood test for antibodies.
  • Chronic bronchial asthma. If along with coughing and suffocation are present, be sure to visit the pulmonologist. Perhaps the use of inhaled corticosteroids, taking antihistamines and antispasmodics will ease your condition.
  • Parasitic diseases. Roundworm lives not only in the intestines: sometimes they settle in the lungs, irritate the cough receptors, provoking a dry barking cough. Diagnosis of ascariasis - in the analysis of sputum for the presence of larvae, precipitation reaction, indirect agglutination, latexagglutination.
  • Acceptance of drugs that inhibit ACE. Some medicines that are used to treat hypertension and heart disease can cause dry cough. These are drugs such as captopril, fosinopril, enalapril, quinapril, etc. However, after the abolition of such a drug, the cough disappears.
  • Heart diseases. Cough can also be caused by heart problems. In this case, you should go through a cardiogram and consult a cardiologist.

What to do when you cough from cigarettes?

Cough from smoking is associated with the deposition of tar on the walls of the bronchi. Not getting rid of this plaque, you will not get rid of cough.

Therefore, the only effective cure for such a cough is an absolute cessation of smoking in any form. I can help with this pills from smoking.

One of the most effective means to cleanse the lungs is running through the pine forest. Run should be daily, from 30 minutes to an hour. In this case, the lungs are cleared of tar, but under one condition - it is necessary to quit smoking.

What to do when you cough with blood?

Blood coughing is a dangerous condition that can indicate many serious pathologies in the body. Perhaps this is just a rupture of the capillary, but it could be more dangerous pathology.

Non-systematic sputum discharge with rare bloody veins is not scary. However, if this is repeated continuously for a long time - it is time to sound the alarm. The reasons may be:

  • inflammatory process in the respiratory tract - inflammation of the lungs, bronchi, tuberculosis, abscess;
  • oncological diseases - carcinoma, cancer of the lungs;
  • cardiac and vascular pathologies - signs of mitral stenosis, pulmonary thromboembolism, respiratory trauma, amyloidosis.

In order to determine what to do when coughing with bloody sputum, it is necessary to find out the cause of the symptom. Therefore, you should consult a doctor, undergo an x-ray, bronchoscopy, a cardiogram, make a sputum analysis. All subsequent treatment should be directed, first of all, to eliminate the cause of this condition.

It should be remembered that the treatment of cough requires caution. It is only acceptable to treat yourself with an acute form of cough, while a long or subacute course may require a number of additional examinations. You can not cure cough, not knowing the reasons for its occurrence.

What to do when you cough? Try to apply alternative methods of treatment, massage, physiotherapy. If the cough has been delayed, and the treatment you have taken has not helped, consult your doctor, especially if it concerns the health of the child.

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