Why doesn’t the cough get better? Pay attention to these reasons

Cough is a common disease, usually accompanied by cold or fever. There are many reasons for coughing, such as pharyngitis, asthma, chronic sinusitis, etc., which can cause irritating coughs. Therefore, when symptoms of cough appear, we should first analyze the specific cause and then carry out treatment.

Cough caused by gastric acid reflux irritating the esophagus accounts for about 20% of all chronic cough patients. In addition to coughing, patients often also have symptoms such as fever, vomiting acid, hiccups, and pain behind the sternum. The use of prokinetic drugs and antacids has significant therapeutic effects.

2. Cardiac cough

When heart patients develop left ventricular failure, they often initially have a chronic persistent cough, which worsens when lying down or tired, accompanied by chest tightness and difficulty breathing. In severe cases, they cough up pink foamy sputum and are forced to sit up to breathe. Physical examination revealed dense moist rales at both lung bases.

3. Chronic sinusitis

Due to increased nasal secretions, the patient flows back and drips onto the throat mucosa, causing coughing due to irritation. The patient has an obvious foreign body sensation in the throat and coughs repeatedly, which is more severe when lying in the supine position or getting up in the early morning. In addition, patients often experience headaches and have a lot of clear or purulent nasal discharge. During the examination, it can be found that the patient has mucus or purulent secretions in the oropharynx, the posterior pharyngeal wall is not smooth and has a cobblestone-like change, and there is obvious tenderness in the sinus area. Sinus X-rays are helpful for diagnosis.

4. Cough variant asthma

It is a special type of asthma with the main clinical manifestation of cough, without obvious wheezing symptoms and signs, accounting for about 5% of the total number of asthma patients. The cough of this type of patient is characterized by being lighter during the day and heavier at night, and being a dry cough without sputum. There is no wheezing sound on auscultation of the lungs, and chest signs are mostly normal. For this type of cough, antibiotics and antitussives are usually ineffective, but antispasmodic and antiasthmatic treatments can have an immediate effect.