{"id":1750,"date":"2022-07-29T03:19:08","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T08:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/?p=1750"},"modified":"2022-08-26T13:34:29","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T18:34:29","slug":"what-causes-a-chronic-cough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/what-causes-a-chronic-cough\/","title":{"rendered":"What Causes a Chronic Cough?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There are many different causes of a <a href=\"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/ent\/throat\/chronic-cough\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chronic cough<\/a>, which is defined as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/diseases-conditions\/chronic-cough\/symptoms-causes\/syc-20351575\">cough that lasts eight weeks or longer<\/a> in adults or four weeks or longer in children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are bothered by frequent coughing fits, let\u2019s examine some of the more common causes and what can be done to improve your symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Risk Factors for Developing a Chronic Cough <\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/iStock-1169713703-1280x675.jpg\" alt=\"Adult woman coughing in her office.\" class=\"wp-image-1752\" srcset=\"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/iStock-1169713703-1280x675.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/iStock-1169713703-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/iStock-1169713703-1536x810.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/iStock-1169713703-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Certain risk factors may make it more likely that you develop a chronic cough, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Smoking or regularly being exposed to second-hand smoke<\/li><li>Exposure to chemicals through work<\/li><li>Taking ACE inhibitors<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is Causing Your Chronic Cough?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><strong>Asthma<\/strong>. An asthma-related cough can worsen depending on the season. It may also worsen right after an upper respiratory infection, as well as exposure to cold air or certain fragrances. Additionally, there is a specific type of asthma called cough-variant asthma, where coughing is the primary symptom.<\/li><li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/ent\/throat\/postnasal-drip\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Postnasal drip<\/a><\/strong>. This is when mucus drips down the back of your throat and causes irritation, which leads to coughing. This may be caused by allergies or other similar conditions.<\/li><li><strong>Chronic bronchitis<\/strong>. This is a long-term inflammation of the airways and is often caused by cigarette smoking<\/li><li><strong>Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). <\/strong>GERD occurs when stomach acid flows up into your esophagus. This causes irritation and leads to coughing.<\/li><li><strong>Infection.<\/strong> A chronic cough can often be a lingering effect of an infection, even after all other symptoms have gone away. These infections can include pneumonia, the flu, common cold and other upper respiratory infections.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Less Common Causes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While not as likely as the causes above, some other potential causes of chronic cough include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Aspiration (fluid going down the airway instead of the food pipe)<\/li><li>Cystic fibrosis<\/li><li>Heart disease<\/li><li>Lung cancer<\/li><li>Sarcoidosis<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Seek immediate treatment for any cough accompanied by a high fever, shortness of breath, chest pain, or coughing up blood, as these could be signs of a medical emergency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Seek Treatment for Your Chronic Cough<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Treatment depends on what is causing your chronic cough. Your doctor will likely run multiple tests, including imaging scans and taking a sputum sample to help determine the underlying cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;For example, if your cough is related to acid reflux, your doctor may prescribe medication or recommend over-the-counter antacids that you can find easily at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blountdiscountpharmacy.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Blount Discount Pharmacy<\/a> or another local drugstore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other treatment options include decongestants, inhalers and antibiotics for any bacterial infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you would like more information or wish to schedule an appointment with one of our specialists, call <span class=\"company-name \">Foothills ENT<\/span> today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><ul class=\"related-posts\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/what-is-uvulopalatopharyngoplasty-surgery\/\" class=\"related-post\">What Is Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty Surgery?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/why-does-my-throat-hurt-while-yawning\/\" class=\"related-post\">Why Does My Throat Hurt While Yawning?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/what-are-common-causes-of-throat-pain\/\" class=\"related-post\">What Are Common Causes of Throat Pain?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are many different causes of a chronic cough, which is defined as a cough that lasts eight weeks or longer in adults or four weeks or longer in children. If you are bothered by frequent coughing fits, let\u2019s examine some of the more common causes and what can be done to improve your symptoms&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1752,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"If you are bothered by a chronic cough, let\u2019s examine some common causes and what can be done to treat your symptoms.","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","locid":"","rating":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1750"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1763,"href":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750\/revisions\/1763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foothillsentahc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}