HOW TO STOP COUGHING

Medically reviewed by Jane Kim, MD

Coughing is a spontaneous reflex that helps clear the throat and airways of mucus, germs, dust, and other irritants. It is also a common symptom of many acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) conditions, such as the common cold, flu, allergies, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

While coughing helps protect your respiratory health, it can sometimes be a nuisance—interrupting sleep, straining muscles, and causing headaches, fatigue, or bladder leaks that disrupt your daily activities. Treatment can help soothe irritated airways, loosen mucus, and suppress a cough to provide much-needed relief. Your exact treatment plan will depend on the underlying cause of your cough, but home remedies and medications can help relieve symptoms.

See a healthcare provider if you have a lingering cough lasting more than three weeks or a cough with additional symptoms, such as a fever or yellowish-green mucus. Your primary care provider (PCP) may prescribe treatments for an acute cough or refer you to a pulmonologist (a doctor specializing in diagnosing and treating respiratory diseases) or an allergist (a doctor specializing in diagnosing and treating asthma and allergic disorders) if they suspect a chronic condition is causing your cough.

Home Remedies

In most cases, an acute cough that develops due to a respiratory infection (e.g., common cold) does not require medical treatment. Home remedies and self-care strategies can help ease your cough and reduce discomfort until your cough goes away. These include:

  • Drinking fluids: Drinking plenty of fluids helps thin mucus, making it easier to cough up. Sipping on warm liquids like broth, herbal teas, or water with lemon can help soothe throat irritation and ease a nagging cough.
  • Using a humidifier: Dry air can irritate the airways and may worsen a cough. Cool-mist humidifiers add moisture to the air in the room, which may relieve coughing.
  • Elevating your head: A cough can worsen when you lie down, so elevate your head with extra pillows to reduce postnasal drip (mucus running down your throat) and prevent coughing while you rest.
  • Avoiding irritants: Smoke, dust, allergens, and other irritants can worsen a cough. If possible, limit your exposure to irritants that trigger or worsen your cough.
  • Sucking on cough drops: Cough drops, hard candy, or lozenges can help soothe your throat, which may temporarily quiet a cough.
  • Trying saltwater gargles: Putting a teaspoon of salt into a cup of water and gargling the solution in your throat can help relieve itchiness and soreness when you cough.

Medications

If home remedies aren't effective in treating your cough, several over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications can help relieve symptoms.

Cough Suppressants

Cough suppressants (also known as antitussives) treat a cough by suppressing the cough reflex. Some medicines work by inhibiting the cough center in the brain to temporarily suppress a cough. Others numb nerve receptors in the airways to reduce signals sent to the brain’s cough center, blocking the cough reflex. 

Dextromethorphan is the most common antitussive drug found in both OTC and prescription cough medications. This medication is available in capsule, liquid, lozenge (cough drop), and chewable tablet forms. Examples of OTC antitussives containing dextromethorphan include:

  • Robitussin Cough 
  • Delsym 12-hour Cough 
  • Vicks DayQuil Cough  
  • Triaminic Long-Acting Cough 

Healthcare providers may also prescribe antitussive medications containing benzonatate. Benzonatate reduces the sensitivity of nerve receptors in your airways to help suppress a cough. Your healthcare provider may prescribe an antitussive medication containing benzonatate, such as:

  • Tessalon
  • Zonatuss

Expectorants

If you have a lot of mucus in your airways and are having trouble removing it, your healthcare provider may recommend an expectorant. Expectorants work by loosening and thinning mucus in your airways, making it easier to cough up phlegm and clear your throat. 

An expectorant won’t suppress your cough, but it will make it more productive by bringing up phlegm to relieve congestion and make breathing easier. Guaifenesin is the only FDA-approved expectorant available in the United States. OTC products containing guaifenesin include:

  • Mucinex 
  • Q-Tussin
  • Robitussin Chest Congestion
  • Tussin
  • Vicks DayQuil

Combination Formulas

Some OTC medications for treating a cough contain antitussive and additional drug ingredients to help relieve other symptoms that can occur with a cough. These are known as combination formulas, which include:

  • Antihistamines: Benadryl (diphenhydramine), Zyrtec (cetirizine), and Allegra (fexofenadine) help relieve a runny nose to help reduce postnasal drip, which can sometimes cause or worsen a cough.
  • Decongestants: Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) narrows the blood vessels in the nose to help reduce swelling and relieve nasal congestion (stuffiness). It's worth noting that if you have a dry cough, a decongestant medication may worsen your cough.
  • Pain relievers: Some combination formulas contain analgesics (pain relievers), such as Tylenol (acetaminophen), to relieve body aches and fever that may accompany a cough.

Bronchodilators

If you have a chronic or persistent cough, your healthcare provider may prescribe a bronchodilator to breathe in with an inhaler, such as Ventolin (albuterol) or Atrovent (ipratropium). Bronchodilators are prescription medications that relax the muscles surrounding your airways, helping open your airways to make breathing easier.

These medications are common treatments for conditions that cause coughing, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of chronic, progressive lung diseases that limit airflow to the lungs and cause difficulty breathing.

Healthcare providers also sometimes prescribe bronchodilators to people with upper respiratory infections to decrease the sensitivity of the cough reflex and reduce the severity and frequency of coughing.  

Laparoscopic Antireflux Surgery (LARS) 

Laparoscopic antireflux surgery (LARS) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure for treating a chronic cough associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). GERD causes stomach acid to flow into the esophagus (reflux), irritating the airways and throat, which can lead to a cough and other disruptive symptoms.

LARS helps prevent reflux by strengthening the valve between the esophagus and stomach to prevent stomach acid from reaching the esophagus. A research study found that 77% of people with a GERD-related chronic cough reported complete resolution of their cough after the LARS procedure.

Speech and Language Therapy

If you have a cough lasting eight weeks or longer, your healthcare provider may recommend working with a speech-language pathologist (SLP) to control your cough. Your SLP will teach you strategies to become aware of what triggers your cough and give you tools to help:

  • Reduce your cough reflex sensitivity 
  • Improve the ability to control your cough 
  • Protect your larynx (voice box) and airways

A speech therapy program for chronic cough may include:

  • Cough suppression techniques: You'll learn specific strategies to help suppress unnecessary coughing such as breath control exercises or relaxed throat breathing. 
  • Laryngeal (vocal) hygiene: You'll learn techniques that help reduce irritation and trauma to your airways and reduce cough triggers. Your SLP may also explain how certain lifestyle habits (e.g., alcohol or caffeine consumption) can worsen a cough. 
  • Psychological counseling: Counseling with an SLP is a form of behavioral cough suppression therapy that teaches you how to control your cough and reduce its effect on your quality of life. 

Complementary and Alternative Medicine 

Some complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies may also help calm a chronic cough, including:

  • Herbal teas: Some herbs, including licorice, mullein, thyme, and peppermint, have antitussive (cough-suppressing) properties that help relieve or suppress a cough. You can make tea using fresh or dried herbs or purchase tea bags containing cough-suppressing herbs.
  • Honey: Honey coats your throat to provide relief from coughing. Research shows that honey is more effective in reducing coughs than over-the-counter cough syrups. If a cough disrupts your sleep, enjoying a teaspoon of honey or adding it to a cup of warm water or herbal tea may help you sleep a restful night. 
  • Acupuncture: This is a traditional Chinese medicine practice that involves inserting thin needles into specific points on the body. Some evidence suggests it may help relieve coughing by targeting specific points that influence the respiratory system, thereby reducing airway inflammation and calming the cough reflex.

Living With and Managing A Cough

Living with a cough can be frustrating and uncomfortable, especially when it disrupts sleep and daily activities. Along with staying hydrated and following your treatment plan, consider the following management strategies:

  • Using scented ointments: Applying topical ointments containing eucalyptus, menthol, or camphor to your chest and neck may help decrease coughing frequency.
  • Quitting smoking: If you smoke, quitting is one of the best things you can do to decrease coughing severity and frequency. Avoid exposure to secondhand smoke and other lung irritants. 
  • Switching medications: Some medications, including angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, beta-blockers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and medications containing aspirin, can cause a cough. Talk to your healthcare provider about switching medications if you take one or more of them and suspect they may be causing your symptoms. 

If your cough persists for eight weeks or longer and your healthcare provider cannot determine the underlying cause, request a referral to a multi-specialty cough center. Cough specialists at these centers provide access to the most effective cough medications and therapies for relief, offering hope and support to people with chronic coughs.

A Quick Review

Several treatments from home remedies to medications can help relieve coughing. Sometimes, simple strategies like staying hydrated, using a humidifier, or adding honey to a cup of herbal tea are enough to soothe a nagging cough.

Over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications can help control severe or chronic coughs. Some people with chronic conditions that cause coughs may also benefit from speech-language therapy programs.

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2024-04-24T12:32:30Z dg43tfdfdgfd