A therapeutic approach to coughing

Abstract

Cough is a protective reflex invoked when something blocks or irritates the airway.1 Cough is defined as an explosive expiration that prevents aspiration and promotes the removal of secretions and foreign particles from the lung.2 Cough varies in nature depending on its cause. It can be voluntary or involuntary. Coughs can be described as either productive (chesty or loose) or non-productive (dry, tight, tickly or irritating). However, many patients will say that they are not producing sputum, although they go on to say that they “can feel it on their chest”. In these cases the cough is probably productive in nature and should be treated as such.3 A dry cough means that the cough is not productive and no sputum is involved.