What should I do if I have a severe cough during radiotherapy?

Currently, the treatments for cancer are generally radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Although radiotherapy has many therapeutic effects on cancer, it will also cause some other damage to the patient, and coughing is one of the reactions. Radiotherapy cough will have some impact on the lives of patients and their families. So what kind of treatment should be done when patients have severe radiotherapy cough? Let’s find out now.

1. Optimal radiotherapy regimen.

Radiation pneumonitis and radiation esophagitis are side effects of radiotherapy. Reducing the damage of radiation sources to normal tissues is an effective way to reduce radiation cough. But when we need radiotherapy to kill and control tumors, radiation cough becomes a secondary contradiction. Sometimes we have to endure radiation damage and suffer from the painful symptoms of dry cough and burning. Fortunately, we now have advanced radiotherapy technologies such as three-dimensional conformal and image-guided therapy, as well as many methods of internal irradiation and close-range therapy. Consulting your doctor more often to find the precise radiotherapy method that suits you best is an effective way to reduce radiation cough.

2. Treat symptomatically.

Although such measures cannot solve the fundamental problem, they can temporarily relieve the symptoms. For example, use some antibiotics for lung infection; use certain glucocorticoids when the adrenal cortex function is impaired; use some drugs to relieve esophageal smooth muscle spasms when nausea and vomiting are severe; use some hemostatic drugs when vomiting blood is severe. Of course, when the reaction is particularly severe, you can listen to the doctor and reduce the radiation dose appropriately.

3. Treatment with traditional Chinese medicine.

Since coughs caused by radiation pneumonia and radiation esophagitis are mostly dry coughs, according to traditional Chinese medicine theory, this is because the radiation burns consume a large amount of the body's yin and fluid, leading to excessive evil fire. Symptoms should be relieved by replenishing water, nourishing body fluids, nourishing yin and extinguishing fire. At the same time, we also administer appropriate amounts of drugs that can enhance our immunity and replenish our body's vital energy, helping us to overcome the difficulties of radiotherapy. If you are unable to consult a Chinese medicine practitioner for diagnosis and treatment, you can try buying some "Honey-Refined Fritillary Loquat Paste" from Kyoto Ninjiian at the pharmacy and taking small sips of it from time to time.

4. Diet adjustment.

Patients with radiation cough are not suitable for eating spicy and dry foods, such as peppers, mustard, fried melon seeds, roasted peanuts, and drinking alcohol; fruits, vegetables, and protein-rich foods are suitable, and fruit juice and yogurt can also be taken in small amounts multiple times. Steamed pear with Fritillaria cirrhosa is a good choice. Pick a good pear, peel it and remove the core, add 3 grams of Fritillaria cirrhosa and 5 grams of old rock sugar, steam it over low heat until the Fritillaria becomes soft and rotten, then take it slowly in small amounts with the soup and the pear.

5. Daily care.

The throat, trachea, and esophagus are all airways in our body that directly open to the outside world. If you are sick or injured, remember to wear a mask when you go out. It is something we must do to avoid contact with pathogens such as cold viruses, pneumonia, tuberculosis, etc. It is also necessary to exercise within your ability. "Life lies in movement"! An optimistic attitude is more important. Remember that "disease is like a spring. If you are soft, it will be hard. If you are hard, it will be soft."