• What is persistent cough
• Possible causes of persistent cough
• Remedies for persistent cough
• Types of cough
• When to worry about a cough
• When coughing is a symptom of covid

It is possible to classify the cough according to the duration:

1. Acute cough , when it occurs for less than 3 weeks
2. Subacute cough , when the cough is between 3 and 8 weeks
3. Persistent cough , when the cough persists beyond two months.

What is persistent cough

Persistent cough is not simply a cough that has lasted for several days, but the chronicization of a reaction of our defense system . Defense against what?
The temporal parameter indicated to define persistent cough is continuous cough over 3 weeks ; if you exceed 8 weeks we speak of chronic cough.

Coughing is an often involuntary reaction that occurs when the upper airways encounter an adverse agent that irritates, inflames or even simply hinders the free flow of breathing and swallowing.

If this response is a persistent cough that persists for weeks and weeks and we are not smokers or do not have a normal flu,it is necessary to investigate the possible causes with a doctor .

The main indications to be taken into consideration are:

• Type of cough, whether persistent dry cough or persistent oily cough ;
• times of onset, nocturnal or diurnal, or both;
• if there are particularities in association , such as burning in the chest or esophagus, stomach pain, headache or other.

Only with an accurate medical history and accompanied by diagnostic tests it will be possible to give indications on the causes not necessarily related to the respiratory system.

Possible causes of persistent cough

Persistent cough may be due to respiratory tract infections not treated correctly and transformed into much more serious diseases, such as bronchitis or even pneumonia. The most common symptoms are fever, pain in the sternum, difficulty in breathing sometimes even with wheezing, back pain.

• Persistent cough can also depend on gastroesophageal reflux : gastric acidity can also harm the vocal cords leading to lowering of the voice, an irritating cough, continuous need to clear the throat. The most common symptoms are heartburn, burning in the esophagus, sour taste in the throat, cough at night, difficulty swallowing.

• Persistent cough can also be caused by cardiac deficits , more or less serious insufficiencies that it is important to accurately diagnose and which bring with them important symptoms such as serious breathing difficulties, swelling in the lower limbs, dizziness.

• There are also causes of a neoplastic nature :  we must not underestimate the cough as a real alarm bell that informs us that something more or less serious is damaging our body.

Persistent sore throat, how to fight it?

Remedies for persistent cough

Once the cause that determines this reaction of our organism has been established, we can accompany the pharmacological treatment with natural remedies for cough that can soothe the symptoms with anti-inflammatory, sedative and disinfectant properties.

Horehound against persistent cough

Horehound is a perennial plant whose flowers are small and clustered white. It grows in Europe, in Western Asia, in Northern Africa, along the banks of ditches, on the walls of old houses, in the stony ground. The part of the Horehound used in herbal medicine is the flowery aerial part. The flowers are rich in bitter principles, alkaloids, flavonoids.

Horehound has a mucolytic, expectorant, antitussive, choleretic, eupeptic, febrifuge and vermifuge action . What can I say …. better than that! In addition to acting on the symptom, it embraces some of the possible causes of persistent cough and can be a valid help to give refreshment to those affected, especially in the case of persistent nocturnal cough.

It is in fact indicated in cases of bronchitis, cough, pertussis, phlegm in the throat , bronchial asthma, dyspepsia, hepatocholecystopathies.

Attention in this last case, because it is contraindicated in case of gallbladder stones .

How to use

It can be taken as an infusion: 1.5 g per 150 ml of water . You can take several cups a day between meals.

Helichrysum against persistent cough

Helichrysum is a bushy plant that grows in southern Europe, in arid soils and petrays. The part of helichrysum used in herbal medicine is the flowering sum, rich in flavonoids, coumarins, essential oils, carotenoids .

Helichrysum has an antiseptic bronchial, expectorant, spasmolytic, choleretic, antiallergic, diuretic action .

It is therefore indicated in cases of bronchitis, cough, pertussis, allergic asthma , urticaria, cholecystitis, liver failure, rheumatism, chilblains. We can take it both in infusion and in hydroalcoholic extract.

How to use

The infusion has an unpleasant taste and 1.5 g is enough for 150 ml of boiling water to infuse for 15 minutes.

The hydroalcoholic extract follows the standard dosage of 30 drops 3 times a day in a little water.

Carvi against persistent cough

Caraway or Cumin of the Prati is a biennial plant characterized by white or pink flowers and narrow and long, aromatic fruits; the latter are used in herbal medicine because they are rich in essential oil, flavonoids, fatty oils, proteins and polysaccharides.

The fruits of caraway have a spasmolytic, carminative, expectorant and cholagogue action . Caraway is indicated in case of meteorism, gastrointestinal spasms, nervous gastralgia, hiatal hernia , dyspepsia, bronchitis, chronic bronchitis , persistent cough with phlegm. It is therefore suitable for those forms of persistent cough that originate from gastric problems .

How to use

For the infusion

1.5 of crushed fruits in 150 ml of boiling water to be filtered after 10/15 minutes. You can take 2 to 4 cups a day.

Hydroalcoholic extract

30 drops in a little water 3 times a day

Essential oil

2 drops in a teaspoon of honey s and you can take 3 teaspoons a day.

Types of cough

We often say “cough” generically, but there are various types of cough, with different symptoms and causes. The common denominator is that the cough is annoying, both for those who suffer from it and for those who are close and feel coughing all the time.

• Dry and irritating cough : it is defined as an unproductive cough, since it does not have sputum. It is often due to airway irritation and viral infections.
• Dry cough with whistling sound : This is a wheezing cough, usually allergic in nature.
• Dry barking cough : typical in children, but can also occur in adults. It often occurs at night and is characterized by a particular sound similar to the cry of the seal, due to the intermittent closure of the glottis, with breathing difficulties. It is attributable to influenza viruses.
• Whooping cough : also called pertussis, typical of children, it can be infectious. It also occurs in adults, with prolonged coughing, with phlegm, malaise, sometimes fever.
• Fat or chesty cough: it is inflammation of the bronchial or pulmonary airways, with the presence of phlegm. In this case the cough performs an important expectorant function.

When to worry about a cough?

We said cough is always a wake-up call , especially if it lasts for months, and it indicates the presence of infection or inflammation of an area responsible for breathing, upper or deeper airways.

The presence of fever , malaise, very viscous, dark-colored phlegm are symptoms that must be taken into consideration and promptly reported to the doctor , because they generally require shock drug treatment to quell the infection, of a bacterial or viral nature.

So sometimes it is necessary to resort to antibiotics , steroids and antifungals . In any case, we always remember to integrate the drug treatment with probiotics to strengthen the intestinal bacterial flora, the immune response and shorten the time of remission.

When is cough a symptom of Covid?

We must now learn to live with this new mutant virus and deal with it whenever we experience flu symptoms. Cough, often dry, can be a symptom of Covid, if accompanied by generalized malaise, fever, fatigue.

The conditional is a must because the symptoms are the same as in any flu state , with the aggravating circumstance of the presence of coronavirus that can attack our cardiovascular system as well as respiratory.

It is therefore a good idea to get used to the swab , a bit like in the case of suspected presence of streptococcus. We will therefore be more serene in the search for the right diagnosis, given that the treatments still need to be supported by research and protocols.

Gastric reflux, natural remedies to fight it

To know more:

• Cough treated with phytotherapy

• Cough, homeopathic natural remedies

• Cough and phlegm, how to cure them naturally

• Chronic cough, causes and remedies