Did you know there are at least 9 different types of coughs? Cough types depend on the cause so to get the correct treatment, it’s important to be able to recognise specific cough symptoms.
Dry Cough
Dry coughs are non-productive coughs that don’t produce any phlegm or mucus. They are the result of irritants in the air passages stemming from conditions like asthma, acid reflux, hay fever, colds, flu, and bronchitis.
Chesty Cough
This is a type of wet, productive cough that might bring up phlegm or mucus caused by viruses like colds and flus. Chesty coughs can also be the result of asthma, bronchitis, and heart failure.
Tickly Cough
Caused by irritation in the throat from viruses, hay fever, or allergic rhinitis, these can be quite aggravating because of how itchy they make your throat feel.
Persistent Cough
You should always seek out medical advice if you have a cough that lasts three weeks or more. Any cough that lasts more than eight weeks is classified as a chronic cough.
Nervous Cough
Being anxious or stressed out can trigger a cough response in some people. These coughs will die down once the stressor or cause of the anxiety is addressed.
Croup Cough
Croup has a distinctive barking cough accompanied by congestion and fever with symptoms worse at night. Most cases can be treated at home, but if they start hyperventilating or start to look blue, get medical help right away.
Whooping Cough
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a serious respiratory infection marked by violent coughs that make a whooping sound. A vaccine for whooping cough has been standard as part of childhood vaccination schedules.
Choking Cough
Choking is caused by a foreign body becoming stuck in the throat. This can often become life threatening very quickly so help should be sought as soon as possible.
Typhoid Fever
One of the first symptoms of typhoid fever is a dry cough. Other symptoms include fever, chills, sweating, headache, body aches, and stomach pain. With treatment, typhoid frequently resolves itself within a few days. Without treatment, the symptoms will worsen and may even become fatal.
Typhoid isn’t as common in the western world as it once was thanks to the very effective typhoid vaccine. You can get the typhoid vaccine and many other inoculations at any of Touchwood Pharmacy’s friendly and comprehensive vaccination clinics.
