Whether it’s during a meeting, while you’re asleep or when you’re trying to pay attention to your favourite show – coughing is annoying. But it does have an important role to play. There are several different types of common cough, including chesty and dry coughs, both with differing symptoms. But first let’s explore what a cough is.
What is a cough?
Coughing is a natural reflex action to irritation in the throat or airways, with the purpose of clearing them of mucus or any irritants.
This irritation can be caused by different things. Breathing in dust or smoke can cause coughing, and so can short-term infections like colds or long-term cough, which can be due to other health conditions such as asthma or COPD where it is important to consult a healthcare professional.
The type of cough can be determined by how it sounds and feels, so here’s a handy guide on the different types of coughs and how to help treat them.
Short term or common cough may be described as chesty or dry, sometimes called productive or non-productive. A cough may start dry and become chesty as a cold progresses.
Chesty cough
As the name suggests, a chesty cough is one that produces thick mucus.
This mucus is made by the lungs and respiratory system every day to help moisturise and protect it from irritants, but when the airways are irritated, this production of mucus can become excessive. Then, the coughing reflex kicks in to try to clear the congestion.
Chesty cough symptoms
The symptoms of a chesty cough can include:
- Feeling as if your cough is wet
- Coughing up mucus or phlegm
Dry cough
Dry coughs are sometimes known as tickly coughs because of that dry, scratchy feeling in the throat caused by inflammation. Dry coughs can have similar underlying causes to chesty coughs, but unlike chesty coughs, they do not produce excessive mucus.
Dry cough Symptoms
As such, dry cough symptoms include:
- A tickly feeling in your throat
- Hacking coughs
- No mucus or phlegm being produced
Coughs in children
It can be especially distressing as a parent if a cough is causing a child upset or discomfort. While children experience dry coughs and chesty coughs that usually clear up in 1-2 weeks, there are others that may need further treatment. If a child has had a cough for longer than 3 weeks or there is a concern about the child’s cough, the parent should speak to a GP.
Cough Remedies
For most coughs that don’t require further treatment, there are some simple remedies that can be tried to help ease the symptoms:
- Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids
- Try to keep your head elevated to ease discomfort
- A steamy bath or shower can help to loosen congestion for chesty coughs
- Use paracetamol to help with fever and pain.
- Try Zarbee’s Cough & Sore Throat Syrups, available for adults and children, which contain honey, ivy leaf, and glycerol that calm the urge to cough and soothe & protect sore throats.
To relieve any common cough, dry or chesty, there’s Zarbee’s® Adult Cough & Sore Throat syrup, or for little one’s, Zarbee’s® Children’s Cough & Sore Throat syrup
Cough & Sore Throat Syrups are medical devices to relieve any dry or chesty cough. 2+ Years.