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Health

Pain on coughing

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Coughing is a reflex action due to the stimulation of the sensory nerves. These nerves are in the mucosa of the respiratory tract. Pain during coughing can occur due to various diseases that cause irritation of the mucous membrane of the larynx, as well as the airways. What are the causes of pain when coughing and what to do about it?

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What causes cough?

Cough usually means that in the airways, there is something that there should not be. Cough can be caused by inhalation of dust particles that are carried in the air or a situation where a piece of food is on the wrong path.

This can also be a sign that an infection that fills the respiratory tract with phlegm nests in the lungs. Accordingly, in the lungs or chest can cause pain when coughing, because breathing is much more difficult.

Cough can be caused by the following reasons

  • A cold that is a frequent cause of an acute cough, and it usually lasts less than three weeks.
  • More severe diseases, for example, such as pneumonia, acute heart failure or pulmonary embolism (thrombus in the blood vessels of the lungs).
  • Smoking, which often causes a chronic cough (the so-called lungs of a smoker).
  • Asthma - especially in children who can only cough, but they do not have wheezing.
  • Gastric acid, which can return through the esophagus to the respiratory throat (gastroesophageal reflux).
  • Medicines used in heart diseases called ACE inhibitors.
  • Bacterial or viral infections in the lungs, for example, acute bronchitis, pneumonia, whooping cough, cereal in children
  • In rare cases, a cough can be caused by a mental illness
  • Damage to the nerves that supply the vocal cords (known as vocal palsy) and chronic cough.

Cough becomes more severe if a patient with a sore throat actively inhales cold air. For example, when running or fast walking. A sore throat with this cough usually increases.

For this reason, patients with weak muscles, poor coordination of the closure of the airways and their opening, or people with airway obstruction (COPD) will be strongly coughing. They are also particularly susceptible to complications of coughing, for example, lower respiratory tract infections and pneumonia.

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What happens during a cough?

When a person coughs, a short breath occurs, and the larynx (voice box) closes instantly. The abdominal and pectoral muscles are used for breathing, and their compression increases the pressure required to inflate the air from the lungs. Then the larynx opens again.

As a result, air expands their larynx at high speed, cleansing and freeing the respiratory tract from dust, dirt or excessive secretion (sputum). Coughing is a common symptom in respiratory diseases, which in severe course can develop into asthma. Then, with cough and shortness of breath, chest pain may occur.

Cough reflex is a very important part of the body's defense mechanisms. As a rule, in a healthy state, the lungs and the lower respiratory tract are sterile. If dust or dirt enters the lungs, they can become a breeding ground for bacteria and lead to pneumonia or infection in the breathing tubes. Then in the chest often there is pain when coughing.

Who to contact?

How correctly to cure cough?

Coughing is a symptom, not a disease. Cough has a cause, which must be eliminated by treatment.

You should consult your doctor if a cough accompanies any of the following symptoms:

  • cough with sputum, colored in the following colors - green, rusty brown, yellow, and also blood in sputum with an unpleasant odor
  • chest pain
  • shortness of breath or wheezing
  • pain and swelling in the calf muscles
  • recurrent cough at night
  • whooping cough or croup
  • worsening of cough symptoms - the so-called smoker's cough
  • sudden weight loss
  • fever and sweating
  • hoarseness of the voice with a chronic cough that does not pass spontaneously.

If you can not cough without pain, consult a doctor immediately. But with colds and infections, you can use home remedies for treating a painful cough.

Ginger

Buy the root of ginger. It can be sold in different forms, sliced, whole and in powder form. The root of ginger needs to be washed and cut into thin slices. So thin that you can see through the ginger. Put a few slices of ginger in your mouth and chew it like chewing gum. Natural ginger enzymes will cure a sore throat. This will stop the painful cough, and also soothe your airways, helping the pain to pass.

Garlic

Pass 2 garlic heads through the meat grinder and place the mixture in a liter jar. Make sure that the can is tightly closed with a lid so that no air enters it. Let the mixture stand for an hour, and then add honey there. Cover the garlic with honey so as to leave about 5 centimeters from the top of the liter jar. Honey acts as a cough syrup, and garlic acts as a medicine for the sore throat.

Close the lid with a jar and put the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. Then, garlic and honey can be used on a teaspoon each time you want to cough. Garlic with honey will help reduce the pain when coughing, if its source is a cold, and not a trauma to the respiratory tract.

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