Phlegm cough is one sign of a bacterial or viral infection in the respiratory tract. If not resolved, coughing up phlegm can disturb your rest and activities.
Coughing itself is the body's defensive reaction to expel foreign objects that irritate or infect the respiratory tract. The foreign object can be dust, bacteria, or viruses. One type of cough is phlegm coughing which produces mucus. Usually this type of cough occurs when you have a cold or throat infection.
When you experience a cough with phlegm, you may feel that mucus is stuck or congested in the back of your throat or chest. Now, with a cough, the body tries to expel the mucus through the nose or mouth. The goal is to keep the respiratory tract clean so that you can breathe more comfortably.
Immediately treat cough with phlegm
Based on the time period, both cough with phlegm and dry cough can be categorized as acute and chronic. An acute cough can last less than three weeks, while a chronic cough can last more than 8 weeks. The cause of cough with phlegm due to a viral infection generally does not require treatment and will heal itself in a few days.
However, cough with phlegm can often interfere with your activities and comfort while resting. You may find it difficult to breathe due to the accumulation of phlegm in the throat. Even your night's sleep might be disrupted because phlegm will accumulate behind your throat when you lie down.
Coughing up phlegm that does not heal can also cause various other problems, such as dizziness, headaches, hoarseness, excessive sweating, fatigue, insomnia, and urinary disorders.
Not only physical problems, cough with phlegm can also continue to affect psychological conditions. You may be ashamed to interact with other people and others may avoid you for fear of contracting. In addition, sometimes you also have to be absent temporarily from social activities, such as not going to school or college, not entering the office, not being able to go with friends, and not being able to karaoke.
Treating Cough with phlegm
So that the above conditions do not occur to you and your family, here is how to treat cough with phlegm according to age:
Adults
Adults can treat acute cough with phlegm by drinking honey or over-the-counter cough medicine. If the cough with phlegm lasts more than three weeks, antibiotics may also be needed. But before using antibiotics, you need to consult a doctor first to ensure that the cough you experience is indeed caused by a bacterial infection.
Children
According to research, drinking 1.5 teaspoons of honey half an hour before bedtime can reduce coughing in children aged 1 and above. This method is also believed to make children sleep more soundly.
Infants and toddlers
If your baby or toddler suffers from cough with phlegm, don't give him an over-the-counter cough medicine. Immediately consult a pediatrician to get the right treatment.
We recommend that you consult a doctor if cough with phlegm accompanied by other symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, fever, cold sweat, bloody cough, skin color looks bluish, weight loss, sputum stinks, and green or yellow.
If not treated promptly, coughing up phlegm has the risk of causing other more severe health problems such as pneumonia and bronchitis. In addition, a prolonged cough that is left untreated can also reduce the quality of life of the patient so that it impacts on psychological conditions such as disturbing other family members, feeling insecure or embarrassed, unable to carry out social activities such as gathering with friends, and feeling sad because they cannot do other important activities .
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