Cough is an important element of the body's defense. There are different types of cough. We are most often tired with dry and wet coughs, but there are also, among others, barking, wheezing, allergic and allergic coughs and those accompanied by a tickling cough in the throat. It can last all the time or only appear in the morning, evening or night. Find out what the types of cough are and what they mean.

Coughing, even if it makes you tired, is an important part of your body's defense.A coughing attackis a reaction to irritation or damage to the so-called cough receptors - nerve endings located in the mucosa of the respiratory tract.

It allows you to cleanse the throat, larynx, trachea and bronchi from what is in them, and not clean air. As the experience of pediatricians shows, in the case of children, various things can be found there: food particles (sucked in when choking), sand snorted through the nose while playing in the sandbox or on the beach, and even small items, e.g. pawns for board games.

If in such cases there is a violent attackcoughing attack- saves life. It also happens that a child coughs because… it is imitating an adult coughing. Most often, however, cough receptors become irritated as a result of a bacterial or viral infection. Then coughing is a symptom of a respiratory disease - acute or chronic.

Cough - types of cough

The following is distinguished by the type of cough:

  • dry cough - occurs at the beginning of the development of tracheitis and bronchitis and shortly after getting into the respiratory tract, e.g. by a piece of food.
  • wet cough - in the final stage of a cold, sometimes after bronchitis and pneumonia, very rarely after angina.
  • spastic cough (spasmodic, associated with strong muscle tension) - characteristic of influenza tracheitis and bronchitis and pneumonia. It can also appear in asthma.
  • wheezing cough - accompanies laryngitis, asthma, sometimes it means that a foreign body is in the airways for several hours.

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  • barking cough - occurs in childhood infectious diseases: diphtheria and croup syndrome, i.e. inflammationlarynx and trachea usually caused by viral infections
  • laryngeal cough - is characteristic of inflammatory diseases of the larynx in children (e.g. subglottic laryngitis), then the so-called stridor is present, i.e. a high-pitched respiratory sound, mainly inspiratory (characteristic inspiratory wheezing).
  • paroxysmal cough - usually occurs in whooping cough (whooping cough), cystic fibrosis and asthma.
  • allergic cough - may be the result of exposure to pollen or the consumption of certain foods. It can also accompany allergic asthma (the so-called asthmatic cough)

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Important

Cough with vomiting

The intense cough can lead to vomiting, especially in children. Usually, this is not an additional symptom of a general disease, but merely the body's reaction to the excess fluid that has been swallowed. It is a natural reflex in young children.

Cough with blood

Coughing up blood can indicate pneumonia, bronchitis, tuberculosis, and even heart failure.

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Depending on the time of coughing, the following are distinguished:

  • morning cough - may signal dilatation, i.e. distortion of the bronchi and lungs. Sometimes it indicates a chronic disease or the presence of a small foreign body in the respiratory tract
  • cough at night - the occurrence of attacks of breathlessness and coughing at night and in the morning is typical for asthma
  • cough after eating - indicates reflux. Then the accompanying symptom is heartburn

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Due to the duration of the cough, it is distinguished by

  • acute cough - lasts less than 3 weeks
  • prolonged (chronic) cough - lasts more than 3 weeks

Cough - when to see the doctor?

It is imperative to see a doctor with younger people and those suffering from chronic diseases, including asthma and allergies. Proceed similarly in the following cases:

  • if existing symptoms worsen or change their nature;
  • when the cough associated with a cold does not go away after 2-3 days, and the temperature rises, there is a headache, the child lies down, faints, is less active, has no appetite;

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  • when the cough occurs suddenly, and additional symptoms are high fever, chest pain, shortness of breath (the child quickly moves thewhistling sound when breathing), and even vomiting. This is how bronchial asthma attacks sometimes manifest themselves, severe respiratory infections requiring stronger medications, and some infectious diseases. You should pay attention to whether: - the child coughs when entering a certain room - coughs more when he becomes warm in bed - fever occurs along with coughing Note: each of these symptoms may also be the first sign of an allergy.
  • if a generally he althy and well-cared for child suddenly starts to cough or choke while playing or eating. then we can assume that a foreign body has entered his respiratory tract. Most often it is a small fragment of the toy. When this happens, the trachea will swell quickly and make it impossible to breathe. A quick intervention by a doctor is necessary.

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Newborn cough

May be a symptom of a cold. In a lying child, the secretions run down the throat and irritate them. Another cause of coughing is the esophageal-tracheal fistula - this is when the baby coughs and chokes while feeding. In both cases, consultation with a pediatrician is necessary.

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