Wet Cough

Wet cough is the annoying state that makes your ribs, back and arms hurt. Your throat is sore and everyone around you is bothered by the constant noise. It is a respiratory infection and ordinarily starts off as a dry cough, and then graduates to the "wet cough" stage. There can be several reasons for this cough to happen. Depending on the reasons, the treatment differs. Let us know about it more, shall we?

Causes of Acute or Chronic Wet Cough
While getting a cold and a cough once in about 5 months is completely normal and healthy, a chronic cough can have several implications. Actually, there are over 250 reasons for a person to have chronic or acute wet cough. But, we, here, are not writing an encyclopedia, are we? So, we shall stick to the more common ones.

• Common cold
• Upper respiratory tract infection
• Pneumonia
• Chest infection
• Bronchitis (Acute and Chronic)
• Emphysema
• Bronchiectasis
• Tuberculosis
• Foreign body in lung
• Pneumoconiosis
• Cystic fibrosis
• HIV/AIDS
• Lung abscess

Some of these are infections that can be cured with the help of guidance and medication from a doctor. The others, like, AIDS are incurable. However, let us see the brighter side of things and focus on the treatments and cures.

Treatment Options
So, how to cure a such a cough? In case the cause is unknown, and you wish to treat it, without really getting tested for the big illnesses, you can try out these treatments to be administered at home.

• Drink plenty if hot fluids like soup and hot water. Try to stay away from antidepressants like coffee, as it may trigger a headache in its wake.
• Take hot and steamy, long showers as often as possible. This will help break down and phlegm buildup. As such. The tightness that one feels in the chest during such a cough is also released.
• Keep warm. This is what helps you to keep the phlegm in a runny state so that it gets coughed up.
• Having productive cough that brings out mucus tends to take a lot of energy out of a person. More so, it is normally accompanied by fever, so rest is completely necessary.
• You can have paracetamol for the fever and the pain. However, it is important to remember that most cough medications already contain paracetamol, so do not let there be a n overdose.
• You can also take and expectorant to help ease the expulsion if the mucus buildup (phlegm) from the lungs.

There are a few things that you will need to make sure you avoid. This is because in the desperation and the urge to cure the cough, most people tend to try out the most wring combinations. So, here are a few treatment don'ts.

• Never take a cough suppressant. It tends to suppress the cough. This causes the mucus to build up in the lungs and increases the risks of getting further infected.
• Stay away from antihistamines. They tend to dry up and mucus secretions. While this may seem like a good option, the fact is that the mucus will then remain in the lungs itself.
• Never, take a combination of cough medications with cough suppressants and expectorants. This can be a very dangerous combinations. Adventure should be left to sports and not medication!

Wet Cough in Children
It can be a little different for children. While little older children have the ability and senses to spit out the mucus, younger children will swallow it. This tends to cause them upset stomachs and stomach aches. While the infection will not really spread to the stomach, the discomfort for the child will increase. In case of children, persistent coughing in children, can also be due to whooping cough. Hence, It is very important that one contacts the doctor at the earliest regarding the matter.

Even though I have given the treatments for cough and chest pain in the article for help and ease, one needs to remember that it is always a better option to take help from a doctor on the matter. While it may seem like the easier option to assume the patient to be a stronger person, they are not immune to illnesses. So, never delay consulting a doctor. It is always better to be cautious than be late for treatment. This is where I sign off!! Take care!