Contents:
- Medical Video: Chronic Cough Treatment for Children - Mindy Ross, MD | UCLAMDCHAT Webinars
- What is a dry cough?
- What are the causes of dry cough and itchy throat?
- 1. Asthma
- 2. GERD stomach acid
- 3. Virus infection
- 4. Other causes of dry cough
- What are the dry and itchy cough medicines?
- 1. Medication for dry cough and suppressant or antitussive itching
- 2. Narcotic Cough Suppressants
- 3. Decongestants
- 4. Antihistamines
- Traditional dry cough medicine
- 1. Salt water
- 2. Honey
- 3. Herbs of flaxseed, honey and lemon
- 4. Black pepper tea
- 5. Drink lots of water
- 6. Use a humidifier (humidfier)
- 7. Raw garlic
- 8. Ginger tea
- 9. Eat probiotic foods
- Causes of dry cough in children
- Is there a dry cough medicine for children?
- 1. Eat warm soup
- 2. Give enough water and liquid
Medical Video: Chronic Cough Treatment for Children - Mindy Ross, MD | UCLAMDCHAT Webinars
There are two types of cough that are often experienced by many people, namely phlegm cough and dry cough. To treat both types of cough, different types of cough medicine are needed. Well, maybe in the market there are many drugs for coughing up phlegm. Then, what about the dry and itchy cough medicine in the throat? Come on, find out the causes of dry cough and what dry cough medicines can you use.
What is a dry cough?
A dry cough is a cough that doesn't produce mucus or phlegm. There are several things that can cause you to experience a dry cough. Starting from allergies, asthma, exposure to smoke, dust, even in some cases there is no known cause of dry cough.
A long, dry cough can have a serious impact on your daily life and activities. Worse yet, a dry cough that happens at night can cause you to lack sleep and cause your body to get tired the next day.
What are the causes of dry cough and itchy throat?
1. Asthma
Asthma is a condition in which the airways in your breathing swell and narrow. Not infrequently, this asthma can have an impact on the emergence of dry cough conditions, although people who have asthma do not always experience coughing, huh. Other symptoms of asthma can include:
- wheezing
- hard to breathe
- chest tightness or pain
- difficulty sleeping because of wheezing or coughing
- dry cough attack
- whistling voice while exhaling
2. GERD stomach acid
Reporting from Medical News Today, people who suddenly get frequent dry coughs and throat feel, can be caused by soaring stomach acid levels. This condition is also called chronic cough, which is a dry cough that lasts for eight weeks or more and does not heal.
According to researchers from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, as many as 25 percent of the incidence of chronic cough is caused by GERD. In fact, as many as 75 percent of them do not experience symptoms of stomach acid at all. This is why, not many realize that a cough that does not heal turns out to be due to an increase in stomach acid.
Until now it is not known exactly why a person coughs more frequently when his stomach acid rises. However, this is thought to be due to two causes, namely the form of reflex when stomach acid rises into the esophagus and the condition of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR).
3. Virus infection
When you are infected with a virus, you will usually get a cold and cause coughing up phlegm. Normally this takes place temporarily, approximately one week. However, some people will change their cough, from coughing up phlegm to a dry cough. This is called post cold cough, which is a symptom of dry cough that lasts a long time. This can also indicate irritation in your respiratory tract.
4. Other causes of dry cough
- Drug side effects. Some medicines, especially medicine for high blood pressure, can cause dry cough
- Psychological condition. When coughing persists and becomes a habit, this can be called a psychogenic cough. No symptoms of physical illness can explain why this cough occurs. Often the person doesn't even realize he's coughing. The characteristic of this type of cough is that it is lost when someone falls asleep.
- Stress. Many people cough when they are in a tense situation. If the breathing is short and not deep because it is anxious, he can experience a coughing condition.
What are the dry and itchy cough medicines?
1. Medication for dry cough and suppressant or antitussive itching
This type of cough medicine serves to alleviate dry cough or cough without phlegm. As the name implies, suppressants work by suppressing the cough reflex, so the frequency of your cough is less frequent. Supressants contain active ingredients, the most common are dextromethorphan (DMP). Before taking this dry and itchy cough medicine, you should first read what the drug contains and read the rules of use.
2. Narcotic Cough Suppressants
Lung cancer or tumors in the lungs can irritate your airways, which can cause you to cough continuously. In this situation, the resulting dry cough can interfere with sleep and your comfort in daily activities. Quoted from the Mayo Clinic, doctors may prescribe narcotic cough suppressants, such as codeine, hydrocodone, and hidromorfon. These drugs work in the cough center of the brain to suppress cough reflexes.
3. Decongestants
Colds, allergies, and acute sinusitis can cause the flow of mucus from the postnasal drip behind the nose to flow into the throat. Post-nasal drip often causes a dry cough, especially when you are lying down. Decongestant dry cough medicines, such as phenylephrine and pseudoephedrine, can help relieve this condition. These drugs are available in pharmacies as children and adult dry cough medicines in different doses.
4. Antihistamines
Allergies are a common cause of dry cough conditions, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Because the allergy triggers the release of histamine, which causes you to experience allergic symptoms such as dry coughing or sneezing. Well, antihistamine dry cough medicines can help reduce allergic cough by blocking the effects of histamine release. To use antihistamine drugs as a cure for dry and itchy coughs in the throat, use loratidine, diphenhydramine, chlorpheniramine and cetirizine.
Traditional dry cough medicine
Here are ingredients that you can try to reduce dry cough. Make sure you don't have allergies to these ingredients.
1. Salt water
Gargling with salt water can be a traditional dry cough medicine by relieving an itchy throat that is the cause of coughing. Mix ¼ to ½ teaspoon of salt with 250ml of warm water. Children under the age of six are not recommended to use this method because the possibility of not gargling properly. You can try this method as a dry cough medicine for children and adults.
2. Honey
Honey is a traditional dry cough medicine that has been used for a long time to overcome a sore throat. A study shows that honey can relieve dry cough more effectively than drugs containing dextromethorphan, which is a substance that can suppress coughing.
You can mix your own medicine by mixing two teaspoons of honey with tea or warm water and lemon. You can also eat one tablespoon of honey directly or make it as jam on white bread.
3. Herbs of flaxseed, honey and lemon
Boiling flaxseed in water will produce a clear, sticky white liquid to relieve your throat and discomfort in your airways. You can also make traditional dry cough medicine by adding honey and lemon which act as mild antibiotic substances.
How to make it easy, boil 2 to 3 tablespoons of flaxseed in 1 cup of water until the water becomes thick. Strain, then add 3 tablespoons of honey and lemon juice each. Take 1 tablespoon as needed for the treatment of cough. You can also use this as a dry cough medicine for children.
4. Black pepper tea
This traditional dry cough medicine from black pepper is known as a traditional cough medicine from China. the article, black pepper contains a substance that can stimulate air circulation and the flow of lendi in the postnasal drip becomes restrained so that it does not enter the throat.
You can also mix it with honey into the stew of black pepper as a mild antibiotic.
How to make it, provide 1 teaspoon of crushed black pepper and 2 tablespoons of honey in a cup. Then pour with hot water and cover the glass for 15 minutes. Afterwards the tea is filtered and drunk.
5. Drink lots of water
While consuming some traditional dry cough medicine or any of the chemical drugs above, you should also not forget about drinking enough water. Start with an easy way by drinking 2 glasses of water every 2 hours. Drinking water can help relieve itching in the throat that causes you to cough.
6. Use a humidifier (humidfier)
Humidifiers are devices that function to moisturize the air around you. Inhaling moisturized air has been proven to work as a dry and itchy stone medicine that can improve smoothness in your respiratory tract. besides, this dry and itchy cough medicine is also suitable to be used as a tool that helps if a child or toddler is exposed to a cough attack while they sleep.
7. Raw garlic
Allicin, a compound found in garlic, is known to be able to kill microorganisms that cause respiratory infections, such as dry cough and itchy throat for example.
In addition, raw garlic has antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal properties, which are good as a mixture in your food to be a traditional cough medicine to treat infections in the throat.
8. Ginger tea
Drinking ginger tea during a dry cough can help boost the immune system and fight infections that cause itching in the throat. The benefits of ginger come from strong antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties, which can block the virus when entering the respiratory tract.
9. Eat probiotic foods
One side effect that might occur from a dry cough is a lack of immune immunity in your body. To support a strong immune system, you will need to eat probiotic foods. As a cure for dry cough and indirect itchy throat, try eating foods like kimchi, kefir milk, apple cider vinegar, or even kombucha tea for health.
Causes of dry cough in children
Dry cough in children usually gets worse when at night or after physical activity. This is the main symptom of asthma in children. Reporting from the page Parents, Dr. Debbie Lonzer, an assistant pediatrician at Cleveland Clinic's Hospital, said that mucus in the lungs causes a tickling sensation so children with asthma become coughing.
In addition to coughing, the condition of a thin child, often lifting the chest when breathing, or easily tired can be a sign that the child has asthma. Especially if the child has had difficulty breathing. To make sure, check with your doctor.
Is there a dry cough medicine for children?
The American Academy of Pediatrics prohibits the use of over-the-counter cough medicines, including expectorant cough medicines and cough suppressants, for children under 6 years of age. The medicine for dry cough for these children carries the risk of serious side effects in this age group, it may also not be effective for children.
For children, most dry and itchy coughs in the throat that occur are often caused by a virus and will disappear slowly by itself. If your child has a dry cough, there are a number of steps you can take at home to treat him so that he is healthy, active and cheerful again.
1. Eat warm soup
According to David Becker, MD, assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Pediatrics, warm-hearted food is very well taken as a child's dry cough medicine. These warm foods and broths carry antiviral properties, and can make a child's body better.
2. Give enough water and liquid
Even if the child is coughing, don't let the fluid level in his body decrease. Keep giving enough fluid intake such as mineral water, unsweetened fruit juice, warm pure milk and tea. The aspirated liquid also aims to help children avoid dehydration and chest pain when they cough.
