How to distinguish between dry and wet cough

Coughing is a natural reaction of the body to some irritating factors. A cough helps get rid of sputum, the smallest particles of dust and other foreign objects that have got into the respiratory tract. However, it is very important to distinguish between dry and wet cough, because they can have a different nature, respectively, and the treatment is fundamentally different. First, let's try to deal with the symptoms and causes of dry and wet cough.

Why does dry cough occur

Unlike a wet cough, a dry cough can have many causes.

1. The most common cause of dry cough is inflammation in the larynx and trachea. Often, bronchitis begins with a dry, superficial cough. Usually a dry cough appears at the very beginning of a respiratory illness, and then becomes wet.
2. Dry barking cough indicates laryngitis. At the same time, the voice changes - it becomes hoarse, in young children it is noticeable during crying. Laryngitis is dangerous for babies, because it can narrow the respiratory clearance and lead to suffocation.
3. Dry cough may occur due to an allergic reaction. Most often, an allergic cough appears after contact with cigarette smoke, animal hair, pollen and dust. An allergen enters the mucous membrane of the larynx and causes swelling and itching. Because of this, a dry cough occurs. Often it is accompanied by lacrimation, sneezing and mucus from the nose.
4. Another cause of dry cough is helminthic invasion. Some types of parasites live not only in the intestines, but also circulate throughout the body through the blood. Roundworms perfectly settle in the lungs, and their metabolic products (toxins) cause irritation and cough.
5. Dry cough can also be caused by carditis or other malfunctions in the cardiovascular system.
6. Another common cause of dry cough is the secretion of mucus from the nose. With a large number of secretions, they flow down the back wall of the larynx, irritating it and causing a cough reflex. Such a cough often occurs at night when the mucus drains actively when the body is horizontal.
7. Dry cough occurs during an asthma attack.
8. Often, a dry cough appears when we inhale dust, the smell of cigarettes and other polluted air - this is how the body tries to get rid of the irritant.
9. A debilitating, dry cough occurs with whooping cough and pertussis.

A dry cough can torment a person for a very long time. If you can not get rid of dry cough or can not find out the cause of its appearance - contact a pulmonologist.

Moist cough

A wet cough is more productive, it says that you are on the path to recovery. A wet cough carries a very important function - it removes sputum from the body. Such a cough can occur with bronchitis. Together with sputum, a huge number of microbes and bacteria are excreted from the lungs. If the sputum is brown or orange, then the patient has pneumonia. If a sputum of a purulent nature, a lung abscess is most likely occurred. If blood streaks are found in sputum, consult a doctor immediately. In any case, a wet cough and sputum discharge indicates an inflammatory process in the body. Self-medication in this situation is unacceptable.

How to distinguish between dry and wet cough

Here are some signs by which you can distinguish between dry and wet cough.

1. During a dry cough, itching and irritation in the throat occur, it is often difficult to cough, and the cough is paroxysmal.
2. After a wet cough, a person feels relief, especially after sputum discharge. With a dry cough, the patient never spits up.
3. Dry cough resembles a dog barking.
4. Dry cough often occurs at night, and wet does not depend on the time of day.
5. The attack of dry cough is quite long, and with a wet cough, a person clears his throat much faster.
6. Sometimes, vomiting may occur along with a dry cough, since both irritating reflexes are close.
7. With a wet cough, there are wheezing that is very easy to hear when listening. With a wet cough, shortness of breath may also appear.
8. Often, a wet cough is accompanied by an increase in temperature, since an inflammatory process occurs in the body.
9. With a dry cough, antihistamines help relieve symptoms. Allergy medications relieve swelling and itching in the throat, which is why dry coughing attacks stop for a while. But with a wet cough, these drugs are useless.

A wet cough is called productive, because it is easier to tolerate and indicates the end of the disease. That is, a dry cough is the beginning of the disease, with proper treatment, a dry cough turns into a wet one. After this bouts of wet cough, it becomes less and less, since sputum is gradually eliminated. But what needs to be done for this?

How to treat dry and wet cough

If a dry cough occurs, it is very important to understand its nature. If a cough occurs after contact with dust, hair and pollen of plants, you need to try to identify the allergen and avoid it, and when forced contact take antihistamines. Ketotifen will help get rid of a prolonged allergic cough. But in order to achieve a real result, it must be drunk with a course. To be tested for worms, you need to donate blood and feces for analysis of parasites. That is, it is not the symptom in the form of a cough that needs to be treated, but the cause of the disease. You will not be able to suppress a dry cough, if its cause is a violation of the heart muscle - you need to treat the pathology itself.

If a dry cough has arisen as a result of a respiratory disease, it can be suppressed with antitussive drugs - Sinecode, Libexin, Gerbion for dry cough, Stoptussin. Among folk remedies against dry cough, a plantain broth is very effective.

With a wet cough, you need to take drugs to thin and sputum. These are ACC, Herbion for wet cough, Lazolvan, Bromhexine. For children, you can use syrup and drops of Prospan, since they are prepared on the basis of plant components. These drugs help remove sputum from the lungs as quickly as possible. Among folk recipes for the treatment of wet cough, you can use a decoction of licorice and marshmallow. It is very effective to warm the breast with animal fat, heated salt or sand. For children, you can make a honey cough cake and put it on your chest all night.

When treating a cough, it is very important to know its nature, because in no case should you treat a wet cough with antitussive drugs. In this case, they suppress the cough reflex, sputum stagnates in the lungs, which is very dangerous and can lead to a secondary inflammatory process.

Coughing can be both beneficial and annoying. On the one hand, it relieves the respiratory tract of foreign bodies and helps get rid of sputum. And on the other hand, a cough can be not just exhausting, but incredibly painful (for example, with whooping cough). Whatever the cough is, it is a reaction to a malfunction in the body. Take care of your health as soon as possible, and then only coughing memories will remain.

Video: how to quickly get rid of a cough