What is bronchitis cough and what are its symptoms? The main symptom of bronchitis is a cough characterized by a painful hacking sound. It usually starts as sore throat then proceeds to an unproductive cough in the early stages of infection. The cough is often dry at first but becomes moist within a few days. There may be a slight wheeze and a feeling of shortness of breath.
There is a high likelihood that a cough will bring up thick yellow-grey mucus, although this does not always happen. What’s more, the cough may also be clear, green and sometimes accompanied by steaks of blood. This happens at advanced stages infection.
It is generally easy to tell a bronchitis cough from other ordinary coughs like the normal cold by taking note of the color of mucus produced and the period it lasts. The cough associated with the disease usually lingers on from at least two weeks up to two months. A cough lasting more than two months indicates a case of chronic bronchitis.
The contagiousness attributed with bronchitis is mainly as a result of the bronchitis cough. Uncovered coughs from infected persons may lead to transmission to uninfected persons. Great caution should therefore be observed when coughing.
Effects of Bronchitis Cough
Bronchitis mainly affects the respiratory system. It does this in successive stages; first by affecting the nose, sinuses and the throat creating a sore feeling. The end result of this is the inflammation of the air passages to the lungs otherwise known as the bronchi. Inflammation of the air passages causes their narrowing their pair interfering with the air supply to the lungs. That is why one develops breathing difficulties and feeling of fatigue occasioned by the short supply of oxygen to the lungs.
Acute bronchitis is usually short-lived and mostly affects infants. Their bronchitis cough is equally short-lived and therefore disappears swiftly on its own within two to three weeks of infection without many complications.
Levels of Severity
Bronchitis has different levels of severity ranging from mild fever to severe breathlessness. Often, wheezing and chest pain is reported by the patients. These and many other effects stem from the complications occasioned by the bronchitis coughs some of which have been highlighted above.
Bronchitis cough can be extremely dangerous in infants. Tangible symptoms of bronchitis in infants are detected from the squeaky noises they make while breathing. At this point, medical attention should be sought from the doctor.
Suppressing of Bronchitis Cough
Use of drugs
Expectorants are generally known to be the major remedy for hacking coughs. These are administered with clear prescriptions from medical practitioners. It is therefore imperative that proper dosage instructions are followed to avoid complications.
Doctor-recommended expectorants purchased over-the-counter can be swallowed at home to suppress the cough. They help by loosening the mucus and clearing the throat. Examples of expectorants that can be used in the treatment of bronchitis cough include guaifenesin and dextromethorphan.
Coughs generally lead to a further loss of water from the body and increase of body fever. Plenty uptake of the same is therefore highly recommended to compensate for the loss and reduction of fever.
Bronchitis Cough -Avoiding Symptoms
Some risk factors are reported to aggravate coughs. They include exposure to cigarette smoke, industrial fumes and chemicals. Patients are therefore advised to avoid these risk exposures in a bid to prevent extension of bronchitiscoughs.
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