To properly prescribe treatment for dry cough in adults, you must first find out the cause of its appearance. This symptom can accompany any disease, and taking a regular expectorant can not only help, but also complicate the situation.
The combined use of drugs and alternative methods will certainly give a positive result.
Dry cough in an adult: causes and treatment
The appearance of this symptom should alert the person and make him turn to the therapist for help. Cough can be caused not only by a cold. Sometimes this symptom is accompanied by problems with the cardiovascular system, ENT organs, and even psychological conditions.
Dry cough is also the first harbinger of an asthma attack. During a common SARS, this unpleasant symptom often develops in the early days. This means that viruses irritate the bronchi, but sputum in sufficient quantities has not yet developed, so there is nothing to cough productively.
Several diseases of the respiratory system can cause this condition:
- bronchitis;
- pharyngitis;
- laryngitis;
- pneumonia;
- sinusitis;
- tracheitis.
If a person recently choked heavily with food, then you should pay attention to the appeared dry cough. It may indicate that leftovers of food have fallen into the bronchi.
With pneumonia, a dry cough will not work without adequate antibiotic therapy. In this case, any expectorant syrups and tablets can only act as adjuvants.
Dry cough with laryngitis
This disease is accompanied by several symptoms:
- an increase in body temperature to 38-39 ° C;
- hoarseness of voice;
- weakness.
But the main indicator of the development of laryngitis is an obsessive dry cough. It can be persistent or occur in seizures.
In the first few days, treatment of dry cough in adults at home should be aimed at diluting sputum. To do this, you need to drink at least 2 liters of any liquid per day.
If the house has a compressor nebulizer, then you can carry out inhalation 4-5 times a day with saline or alkaline mineral water without gases. For one procedure, you must use at least 3-4 ml of liquid.
If a coughing attack occurs that is difficult to stop, you can take a no-shpa pill. It will help to remove the spasm of the larynx and bronchi. Also at this moment it is good to drink a cup of warm milk or tea.
Folk remedies
Treatment of dry cough in adults with laryngitis may be accompanied by folk methods. For example, the following mixture helps soften a cough:
- 100 ml of warm milk;
- 1/6 tsp soda;
- 1 tsp honey;
- 1/2 tsp butter;
- 25 ml of vodka.
All ingredients are mixed in a saucepan and simmer over low heat until completely dissolved. After removing from the stove, vodka flows. You need to take this tool 2-3 times a day for a tablespoon.
Also, in the early days with laryngitis, dry cough can help translate into a productive mixture of milk and Borjomi (pre-release gas).
Treatment of cough with pharyngitis
This disease is characterized by redness of the back of the throat. Because of this, the patient develops a dry cough. It is associated with sore throat. To alleviate this symptom, you need to drink plenty of warm liquid.
And in order to reduce redness, special preparations are required. Treatment of dry cough in adults with pharyngitis may be accompanied by irrigation of the pharynx with the following medicines:
- Ingalipt.
- Angilex.
- Tantum Verde.
- Oralsept et al.
Such manipulations need to be carried out 3-4 times a day. In total, therapeutic lozenges and tablets can be resolved. The most effective and popular of them include:
- "Septefril."
- "Faringosept".
- "Lizobakt."
- Septolete.
- "Grammidin" and others.
These medications for treating dry cough in adults not only relieve sore throats, but also reduce perspiration.
If the disease is caused by a bacterial infection, then antibiotics are required. The doctor must choose the necessary group of drugs and the exact dosage depending on the severity of the patient's condition.
Dry cough for bronchitis
This disease can be viral and bacterial in nature. Depending on the type of pathogen, adequate treatment is prescribed. Bronchitis has certain symptoms:
- increase in body temperature to 38 ° C;
- dry cough (first);
- chest pain.
Chronic form may not be accompanied by fever. To begin treatment of cough in adults at home, it is necessary to take medications that help thin the sputum.
The most effective are syrups based on ivy leaves. Most often in pharmacies you can see:
- "Herbion".
- "Bronchicum".
- "Prospan".
- Linkas.
If in the first few days there is a severe dry cough, then you can take "Sinecode." This drug suppresses the cough reflex and stops the attack. It should never be used with expectorants.
They cause an increase in sputum, which needs to be coughed up. And if the reflex is temporarily stopped, then the mucus will accumulate in the bronchi and bacteria will begin to develop in it. Such a process is likely to lead to complications, such as pneumonia.
If a bacterial origin of the disease is detected by a general blood test, then antibiotics should be taken in tablets or injections.
Folk remedies
With bronchitis, the treatment of dry cough with "grandmother's" methods is very effective. For example, you can take a large black radish and cut out a core from it. A tablespoon of honey or sugar is placed here. After a few hours, the vegetable will start letting juice out.
You need to drink this liquid from the core 3-4 times a day for a teaspoon. In a day, a productive cough will begin to appear.
Alternative treatment of dry cough in adults with bronchitis makes it possible to avoid taking antibiotics. But this is provided that the patient’s blood test is normal and elevated body temperature lasts no more than 3 days.
You can use compresses in the chest area. To prepare them you will need:
- melt 2 tablespoons of honey in a water bath;
- lubricate the chest area with them (avoid the area of the heart);
- a napkin of cotton cloth dipped in vodka is placed on top;
- cellophane is applied and the body is wrapped with a scarf.
Thus, you need to go 3-4 hours. In no case during and after the procedure can not go out.
Compress with vegetables
A similar tool was actively used by our grandmothers and mothers during the treatment of dry cough in adults without fever. To prepare it, you need to boil potatoes (3 pcs.) Without peel.
Ready tubers need to be kneaded, draining the pre-liquid. The mass should be thick. It adds 1 tbsp. l alcohol or vodka. With this composition, children can not use a compress, of course.
The mass mixes well and two flat cakes are formed. Each is wrapped in cellophane and applied to the back and chest. On top you need to wrap yourself with a terry towel or scarf. With this compress you need to go at least 2 hours.
If there is no way to keep cakes for a long time, then you can use another recipe. To make a compress, boil 2 eggs and chop them. Grind 2 cloves of garlic with a knife. The ingredients are mixed and laid out on two pieces of soft tissue.
The compress is fixed on the back and chest, covered with cellophane on top. Then you need to wrap yourself in a scarf or in a towel. You need to remove the compress after 60 minutes and smear the skin with a nourishing cream in this area.
Medicinal herbs
For the treatment of dry cough in adults at home, various decoctions from plants are often used. Well-proven collection of three herbs. To prepare it, it is necessary to steam 1 tsp in 250 ml of boiling water:
- dry chamomile;
- St. John's wort
- sage.
The broth is infused for 30 minutes. Drink 3 times a day for 100 ml. Before taking it, you need to warm it up a bit.
It is also very useful to drink chamomile tea during any ARVI. It has excellent anti-inflammatory properties and stimulates the immune system to fight the disease.
Effective Alternative Medicine
There are many ways that have helped in the past to treat dry cough in adults. Now they are less popular, but still effective. But these methods cannot be used to treat children. And adults can help themselves without drugs.
Every child born in the USSR remembers steam inhalations. Who didn’t breathe over the potatoes? For such an inhalation, it is necessary to boil 3-4 tubers, drain all the liquid and knead them a little. 1 tsp is added to this mass. baking soda.
The patient should bend over the potato container, but not very close so as not to provoke a burn to the face and respiratory tract. The patient is covered with a blanket, so he should breathe over the steam for about 15-20 minutes. No need to take too deep breaths so as not to burn the bronchi.
Another type of inhalation is no less effective. In 200 ml of boiling water, 30 g of baking soda is added and everything mixes well. The solution is poured into a teapot. From paper it is necessary to make a cone and place it in the spout of the teapot. This will be the mask for inhalation. The procedure should be carried out for 10-15 minutes. Soda will contribute to thinning sputum, and the cough will turn into a productive one.
Other folk methods
Quick treatment for dry cough in adults can be done with dry mustard. This method is used only if the patient has not elevated body temperature.
Hot water is poured into the basin and 2 tablespoons of dry mustard are added. The solution mixes well. The patient lowers his legs and soars them until the water cools.
Very well liquefies phlegm cranberry juice. It is necessary to squeeze out all the liquid from the berries through cheesecloth and mix it in a ratio of 1: 3 with honey. Take the drug several times a day for 25 ml.
Banana lovers can relieve dry cough and enjoy the taste of these fruits. You need to peel 2 bananas and chop them. In 200 ml of water, the fruits are boiled in a saucepan for 10 minutes. Then a tablespoon of honey is added here and mixed well. The finished product is taken 3 times a day for 30 ml.
Allergic dry cough
What else could be causing a cough? If a person is tormented by this symptom without other signs of a cold, then it is worth thinking about its allergic nature. In this case, all alternative methods of treatment are unacceptable. Herbs can trigger an asthma attack.
A special treatment for dry cough in an adult with allergy medications is provided. First of all, you need to take any antihistamine drug:
- Loratadine.
- "Diazolin".
- "Eden".
- L-CET.
- "Allerzin" and others.
Also shown is the reception of Erespal or Inspiron. These drugs relieve inflammation in the bronchi and have an anti-allergic effect.
If the house has a nebulizer, then you can carry out inhalation with Berodual or Ventolin, and after 20 minutes with Pulmicort. Such treatment should be carried out for at least 5 days.
Some simple tips
To quickly transfer a cough from dry to productive, you need to use simple and effective tips:
- air the room 2 times a day;
- do frequent wet cleaning;
- maintain the temperature in the room no higher than 20 ° C;
- humidity not less than 60-70%.
If the house does not have a humidifier, then you can hang wet towels and sheets. During an attack of dry cough, it is necessary to turn on hot water in the bathroom and fill it with steam. In this room you can sit (not in the water) for 20 minutes. This procedure should stop a persistent cough.
Compresses and steam inhalations should not be given to a patient whose temperature is even slightly increased. With dry cough, long walks are indicated, especially near ponds or in the rain. High humidity helps thin the sputum.
If a strong dry cough in an adult does not improve during treatment, and the patient's condition worsens, you should definitely consult a therapist.