Chronic Cough Symptoms
Rapid and continuous expulsion of air way fluids and mucus are called cough and it is forced by our body’s natural system to clear away the useless and unnecessary materials from the air way or the lungs part.
They can be experienced and described in many ways. They can be categorized in to acute and chronic form. If they persist not more than 3 weeks, it is acute and if they persist more than 3 weeks it is called chronic form.
There are many types of cough and each one type is distinct in its nature and depends upon the nature of the underlying disease.
Major type is classified in to productive (chesty) and non-productive (dry) cough. The dry cough usually begins with a tickling sense in the throat and it does not bring any mucus or phlegm and it is because of the inflamed upper air ways or the throat .The inflammation may be due to cold, flu, allergies and bronchitis. When some air way fluid or secretion is brought outside with a heavy feeling while coughing, then it is said to be productive or chesty cough. The fluid may include either blood or mucous. They may vary in color from green, yellow, white, dark red and so on. This type of cough can occur with smoker’s cough, congestive heart failure, or pneumonia.
Painful cough is the symptom where the chronic cough will have the pain in the chest region. They may be due to pneumonia, costochondritis, tuberculosis, sarcoidosis and in Agammaglobulinemia.
A type of cough that is felt as tickly and from back of the throat occurs in postnasal drip and cough with a loud barking noise occurs in croup. Cough short lived and disappears quickly in inhaling second hand smoke. The whooping cough is characteristic of having strong sound with periodical episodes. The symptoms of cough with chronic and lasts for a longer period happens in smoking and lung cancer.
Common associated symptoms in chronic cough are listed below from various diseases.
- Sputum production
- Shortness of breathe
- Posttussive emesis
- Chills
- Chest pain
- Wheezing
- Night sweat
- Reflux symptoms
The above associated symptoms depend upon the various underlying causes.
Cough, when takes it longer and chronic course, the other symptoms appear with complications and that include various secondary diseases due to cough that include insomnia, fainting, vomiting, syncope, prolapsed uterus and hernia.
Complications of cough due to various underlying causes vary widely depending on the particular disease and condition and can be serious as well. For example, the wet type of cough is commenced in left ventricular heart failure and in air way obstructive disease. Cough is a symptom that indicates even a serious underlying disorder or life threatening disease, it should not be ignored and to be treated with treating the underlying disease.
