Coughing attacks are the body’s reaction to irritants entering the respiratory organs. With its help, the body is cleansed of dust, allergens and other irritants. Doctors distinguish between dry and wet cough. Their nature is different, as is their treatment. It is very important to promptly distinguish a dry cough from a wet one, since in case of a non-productive cough, the main task is to increase education bronchial secretions. With a wet cough, mucus must be removed from the respiratory tract as quickly as possible.

Causes and symptoms of dry cough

By the nature of bronchospasms, you can find out what kind of disease a person is facing. Dry cough often occurs with diseases of the respiratory organs:

A dry cough can be distinguished by characteristic symptoms. With a cold and many other respiratory diseases, a dry cough first occurs. Such bronchospasms occur in attacks. Sometimes they are so sudden that there is a feeling that a foreign object has entered the respiratory tract and the person is trying to cough it up. This cough sounds like a dog barking.

The attacks last only a few minutes. During this time, the person cannot breathe normally and he is also unable to stop coughing, as there is a strong pain in his throat. With dry bronchospasms, sleep is disturbed, the patient often jumps out of bed and begins to cough heart-rendingly.

The difference between a dry cough and a wet cough is that unproductive coughing does not bring relief at all; mucus during such attacks is also not coughed up. After a coughing attack, your chest and throat may hurt severely.

Many people can already tell by the sound what type of cough a person is having. If at the end of the attack sputum is released and relief occurs, then the cough is wet. If it sounds like a dog barking, then we are talking about a dry cough.

Causes and symptoms of wet cough

A wet cough also occurs various reasons. Most often, this condition indicates the beginning of recovery. Coughing with sputum discharge can be provoked by:

• Laryngitis in the recovery stage. During this period, mucus begins to cough up, after such an attack the person feels relief. Sputum discharge is especially important if inflammation has affected vocal cords.
• Cough, both dry and wet, is observed with bronchitis. At the beginning of the disease, phlegm is not coughed up and such coughing attacks do not bring relief at all. After 3-4 days, a lot of secretion forms in the bronchi, so coughing occurs easily.
• Pneumonia. With this disease, coughing attacks end in the discharge of rust-colored sputum.
• Lung abscess. In this case, pus is observed in the coughed up sputum.

The appearance of a dry or wet cough may indicate respiratory disease. In this case, mucus flows into the nasopharynx and provokes irritation. Whatever the reason wet cough, it must be promptly recognized and treated.

A wet cough is significantly different from a dry cough. You can determine that a cough attack was productive by the fact that a lump of mucus appears in the mouth. Moreover, before the bronchospasm itself, a person feels this lump and wants to cough it up.

You can tell that there is mucus in the bronchi by wheezing in the chest and shortness of breath. In addition, when bronchial secretions accumulate, body temperature almost always rises, since mucus is an ideal environment for bacteria to live and multiply.

It is not difficult to determine what kind of cough it is; just listen to the sound made and observe the patient.

Features of the treatment of dry cough

Dry and wet cough differ not only in symptoms, but also in treatment. The main task during nonproductive attacks is to increase the amount of bronchial secretion and its timely removal from the respiratory organs.

To eliminate the cough reflex, medications are prescribed that reduce irritation of the mucous membrane. The most commonly prescribed medications are:

• Stoptussin. It is necessary to start taking this drug at the first symptoms of dry cough. Within a day, the patient’s condition will improve significantly, and coughing attacks will become less intense.
• Pertussin. This drug contains thyme extract, which reduces mucosal irritation.
• Tusuprex. This medicine reduces the sensitivity of the cough center, so that the person stops coughing.

These medications act symptomatically and do not completely eliminate the root cause of the cough reflex.

In addition, Codeine may be prescribed, which reduces the cough reflex. Thanks to this drug, the intensity of cough attacks is reduced.

Inhalations with a nebulizer help well. To do this, use alkaline mineral water, saline or solution baking soda. To soften the nasopharyngeal mucosa, procedures should be carried out 3-4 times a day.

Antitussives and mucolytics cannot be prescribed simultaneously, as congestion in the bronchi may occur. In some cases, for whooping cough, doctors prescribe Codeine only at night so that the patient can sleep properly.

Treatment of wet cough

During the recovery stage, sputum may become even larger, so the main task is to liquefy it and remove it from the respiratory organs. There is no point in waiting for the cough to go away on its own. If an infection occurs, the situation will get much worse.

If there is a wet cough, the doctor prescribes mucolytics and expectorants to the patient. Most effective medications these groups are:

• Gerbion is medicine based on herbal ingredients. It helps thin mucus and eliminates congestion.
• Overslept. This drug is often prescribed for coughs. small child. The medicine contains extract of dry ivy leaves, which promotes the rapid removal of phlegm.
• Lazolvan and Ambrobene. As part of these medicines I have ambroxol. This component helps to liquefy mucus and its rapid removal from the body.
• Licorice syrup is natural remedy Suitable for both adults and children. Congestion in the bronchi is eliminated.

Mucaltin and Bromhexine tablets can be used for treatment. It is worth considering that Mucaltin should not be swallowed, but chewed and washed down with water.

For wet coughs, it is useful to do inhalations. In this case, Ambrobene or Lazolvan are used for inhalation, which are half diluted with saline solution. For one procedure, an adult takes 3 ml of Ambrobene and 2 ml of saline solution. Children take 2 ml of both. The duration of one procedure is 15-20 minutes.

Can be carried out steam inhalations over boiled potatoes or herbal infusions. To do this, bend over a container with a decoction and inhale the vapors, covering your head with a large towel.

Treatment of wet cough can be supplemented with mustard plasters, cupping and rubbing. Used for rubbing pharmaceutical drugs And natural fats. They help quite well foot baths with mustard, but they can only be done if the temperature is normal.

You can distinguish between a dry and a wet cough not only by sound, but also by the number of specific signs. An adult can easily recognize what kind of coughing attacks he is having. Regardless of the type of cough, it must be treated. There is no point in waiting until the symptom goes away on its own, as the condition can become much worse if a bacterial infection occurs.

Coughing is a natural reaction of the body that occurs during a reflex contraction of the respiratory muscles. These contractions occur when they enter the respiratory tract and lymphoid tissue pathogenic microorganisms or contact with the mucous membrane of foreign inclusions - dust or grains of sand that saturate the air.

A dry cough appears at the first signs of ARVI or bacterial infection. Subsequently, it transforms into wet, accompanied by the release of bronchial secretion - mucus.

It can occur due to allergies, measles, tuberculosis, if you suddenly choked, due to the reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus, if you suddenly swallow something.

Wet attacks appear during the inflammatory process of the respiratory system, if the disease has affected the bronchi or lungs, or due to stagnation of phlegm in the lungs.

Entire mucous membrane respiratory tract – bronchial tree and bronchial branches - covered with sensitive receptors. Respiratory organs lined with small cilia (vibrating epithelium), activated with every irritation - regardless of its etiology. Impulses are sent to the brain, which, when reflected back, cause the muscles responsible for breathing to contract.

When irritated, the secretion of a protective secretion increases - bronchial mucus, which “takes” the blow - those that penetrate into it pathogenic microorganisms and dust. To remove it, the body turns on natural reaction, contracts the respiratory muscles.

Before making a diagnosis, you need to find out the nature of the cough, its intensity and even its sound. All these signs help make a diagnosis and prescribe the correct treatment.

What is a cough like?

Dry non-productive attacks do not bring relief - during them the airways are not cleared, breathing does not become easier. They can appear suddenly, almost out of the blue, or arise after a sore throat. The sounds that are heard may sound like a dog barking or squeaking - from the outside it seems that there is something in the throat foreign body and they are trying to get rid of it. It's very difficult to stop

impossible to take a breath. This may cause nausea and vomiting, since the esophagus is affected when the larynx is irritated. The chest may also hurt, there may be a feeling of a “lump” in the throat, and spastic headaches may appear.

The main symptom of a wet cough is the release of mucus from the respiratory tract when coughing. IN in good condition sputum is also released - it creates a protective barrier, and the excess is reflexively swallowed. If secretion production increases due to inflammation or irritation, it accumulates in the respiratory tract. To clean them, central nervous system causes the muscles responsible for breathing to contract, causing mucus to be rejected.

If the mucus is too viscous or there is a lot of it, after an attack there is a urge to vomit. In most cases, reflex contractions cause relief, sometimes short-term.

The patient cannot always distinguish a cough by symptoms - during dry attacks, nasal mucus or a small amount of stomach contents may be coughed up if prolonged reflex contractions cause vomiting; or reflex attacks with the release of viscous, thick sputum do not bring relief.

Dry cough and wet cough - causes

The main cause of dry cough is respiratory diseases associated with the introduction of infection. These diseases include: ARVI, influenza, pharyngitis, laryngitis, measles, tracheitis, sinusitis, sinusitis, tuberculosis, oncological processes in the larynx and respiratory organs, bronchial asthma and pleurisy.
Dry attacks or tickling are not always explained by inflammatory processes in the respiratory system; their causes may be: allergic reactions, occupational diseases, increased load on the vocal cords, gastroesophageal reflux, helminth infections, side effect from taking medications.

Children can inhale small parts of toys, causing them severe attacks without sputum production, a similar symptom appears during infection with “childhood” infections - scarlet fever, measles, rubella.

Especially dangerous reason, which causes dry painful attacks with intense contraction of the diaphragm - pharyngitis, a complication of which is often false croup. In children younger age The glottis is narrow, and with swelling of the larynx it can completely close, causing respiratory failure. Dry cough attacks in children, during which a hoarse sound is heard, can appear against the background of absolute health.

The rapid increase in edema is influenced by the following factors: hypothermia, inhalation of cold air, allergies, cold drinks. If parents hear that the child has begun to make “barking” sounds and his voice has become hoarse, it is better to take preventive measures - give antihistamines and give him something warm to drink. If it is not possible to stop the swelling, it is necessary to call " ambulance"so that the child does not suffocate.

Causes of wet cough:

• allergies - especially seasonal ones, hay fever;
• respiratory tract diseases - bronchitis, pneumonia, smoker's cough;
• ecogenic factors;
• bronchial asthma - sputum accumulates in the lungs overnight and leaves in the morning;
• Smoker's bronchitis - symptoms similar to bronchial asthma, sputum accumulates when long stay in a stationary state;
• cardiovascular diseases - pleural fluid stagnates in the lungs.

As you can see, the attacks different types- wet or dry - can be caused by the same reasons, but this does not mean that these symptoms can be eliminated in the same ways. Treatment begins only after the cause has been established and the type of reflex contractions has been determined.

Dry and wet cough - treatment

What is the difference between different types of cough treatment?

Therapeutic measures to eliminate dry non-productive attacks can be carried out according to two completely different algorithms. In the first case, they try to stop them, in the second, they transform them into productive ones by stimulating sputum production.

To block the cough center, in most cases, complex drugs are prescribed that stimulate sputum production, dilute it and facilitate elimination.

These include:

• "Stoptussin";
• “Sinekod” – no mucolytic effect;
• "Fludetek" - increased mucolytic effect;
• Gerbion syrup with plantain;
• "Erespal" - has an antihistamine effect;
• "Ascoril" - the drug contains salbutanol, which eliminates spasms of the respiratory tract.

Products containing codeine have a blocking effect on the cough center; they should not be prescribed to weakened people and children - it will be difficult for them to cough in the future.

Adviсe traditional medicine for non-productive attacks:

Productive attacks are treated with the help of mucolytic and expectorant agents, which - in most cases - contain natural raw materials - extracts and extracts of licorice root, plantain, violet, sage and plants with similar effects.

Therapeutic measures to eliminate wet cough are aimed at removing sputum from the bronchial tree.

Whatever the cough, it must be treated. If you take a sore throat and dry unproductive attacks lightly that appear on initial stage respiratory tract diseases, inflammatory process descends and affects the respiratory system.

Source

Cough is the main symptom of many diseases. It may indicate a serious problem. But we often treat it superficially.

A dry cough is the first stage of the disease, when an infection or virus severely irritates the throat. During treatment it turns into a wet cough.

If you want to learn how to identify the type of cough, then you need to remember several signs of the dry type:

1. A sharp sound that sounds like a dog barking.
2. Appears in the form of attacks that begin abruptly and end abruptly. People may think that the person was simply choking.
3. It's difficult to breathe normally.
4. It's hard to go to bed. The cough constantly wakes me up.
5. There is no mucus, which is always released during a wet cough.
6. Painful sensations in the chest and throat, relief does not come even after coughing.

To understand the situation and determine the type of cough, you just need to analyze the indicated signs. It is important to start treatment at this stage so that you don’t have to deal with complications later.

Reasons

Without medical education, it is very difficult to understand the cause of a dry cough. After all, the matter is not always limited to a common cold.

There are a number of problems and diagnoses that always begin with a dry cough:

1. . Because of the strong tickling, I want to cough. And since the treatment has not yet begun, there are no departments. Over time it will turn into a wet cough.
2. . Characterized by a painful cough. His attacks only make things worse. Not only the throat hurts, but also the chest.
3. . The first sign is attacks of dry cough during sleep. With treatment it turns into the wet type.
4. Hit harmful substances in the nose and mouth. It's enough to inhale a dangerous chemical composition to start coughing heavily. It is important to be alert here, as it is difficult for a person to breathe.
5. . With this disease, a dry cough is not uncommon. But sometimes during an attack the respiratory passages close, which leads to suffocation.
6. Foreign body in the respiratory tract. Coughing is a reaction of the body. He wants to push the object out.
7. Oncology. The presence of a tumor in the lungs causes a dry cough.

If you don’t have a cold, but coughing attacks recur, you need to urgently consult a therapist for examination. If the problem is an infection, then it is better to treat it at the first stage. Diagnosis and treatment should be carried out.

How to cure?

There are differences between dry and wet cough in terms of treatment.

To get rid of a dry cough, you need to work in two directions:

1. First, you need to reduce the number of attacks and remove painful sensations. Doctors recommend Stoptussin and Tusuprek. They can be taken according to instructions when the first symptoms appear. But these drugs do not cure. Therefore, we move on to the second direction.
2. Codeine and Glacine are powerful remedies that relieve irritation in the throat. They form sputum, which eases the cough and then eliminates it completely. When you have a cold, you should always start with warm tea with honey and.

If nothing helps, then the reason is more serious. The therapist and ENT must conduct an examination to make a diagnosis.

How to identify a wet cough?

The main difference between a wet cough is “productivity”. This is exactly how doctors characterize it, because it brings relief and removes excess mucus.

The patient actually feels the result and experiences all of the following symptoms:

1. There is no pain (it is not present both during coughing and after it).
2. Cough pushes into oral cavity mucus. Sometimes there can be a lot of it.
3. The patient usually decides to cough when he feels the accumulated mucus.
4. Even without a stethoscope you can hear wheezing.
5. A fever appears due to accumulated mucus.

It is enough to experience both types of cough at least once to learn to distinguish between them. Most often, a wet cough appears during the treatment of infectious diseases.

Reasons

Here, as with dry cough, there are many options. The simplest of them is a sign of recovery. The medications relieved the irritation and fought off the infection, so now the body only has to remove the excess mucus.

But there are other reasons for the appearance of a wet cough:

1. . Copious amounts of mucus pass from the nose to back wall throat. The throat becomes irritated and a wet cough appears. In this case, the throat is absolutely healthy. But you shouldn’t delay treating your nose, because the infection can go further at any time.
2. Laryngitis and bronchitis. A wet cough indicates that the treatment is helping. The patient begins to feel better. The attacks stop. Now the patient himself controls the cough.
3. . This is a complication that usually begins with bronchitis. The sputum will be the color of rust. It is urgent to call an ambulance.
4. Lung abscess. Purulent discharge. It is urgent to call an ambulance.

Pneumonia is especially dangerous. 1-2 days is enough to common cold or bronchitis has become a complication.

How to cure?

The essence of treatment is to make the sputum more liquid for successful removal. If everything is left as is, it will go down and lead to pneumonia.

The best drugs are Prospan and.

They very quickly liquefy mucus and remove it from the body. Gerbion and Prospan can be taken by children, as they work in a gentle manner. There is an effect already after the first dose.

We must not forget about inhalations. If there is a child in the house, then you need to take care of your own. In most cases, it will be able to eliminate any cold in a couple of days.

Dry and wet cough in children

Children's cough is a separate issue, since even with modern medicine many babies die because of such a simple symptom.

Parents begin to treat their children at their own discretion and cannot identify the complication in time.

Advice: If your child starts coughing or if coughing attacks bother him during sleep, you should urgently call an ambulance or go to the hospital. The doctor should listen to the baby. One day is enough for complications to develop.

Determining the type of cough is easy: you need to put your ear to chest and ask the baby to breathe deeply through his mouth. With a dry cough you won’t hear anything, but with a wet cough there will be wheezing and gurgling.

When coughing occurs, try to follow the following pattern:

1. Set a date for your doctor's visit. If a symptom appears today, then tomorrow you need to go to the pediatrician.
2. For a dry cough, give your baby warm tea with honey or raspberries. There won't be extra pill Loratadine. This is one that can be taken by children.
3. At wet cough use Gerbion, Prospan or Ambraxol. The last option is very effective and economical. The syrup will force the body to cough up mucus to prevent it from accumulating.
4. Use your inhaler. Once a day is enough.

Conclusion

Remember that you need to pay attention to your cough, quickly determine its type (dry or wet) and consult a doctor in a timely manner. You can't leave things to chance here. After all normal cough may cause serious consequences and complications.

This question especially concerns parents. You must watch your children and leave everything to go to the doctor.

As practice shows, if you seek professional help at the first symptoms, you can come to full recovery in 3 days.

In addition to this topic, we suggest reading.

Almost every person has experienced a cough for various reasons. The nature of its occurrence underlies drug regimen, therefore it is important to know and be able to differentiate a non-productive cough from a wet one.

In addition, reflex acts under the influence operating factors may change the nature of the dynamics, which requires adjustment of the treatment regimen. Each type has its own specifics, by which a dry or wet cough can be determined.

When sensitive receptors in the respiratory tract are irritated, a reflex reaction occurs, accompanied by jerky exhalations with a sharp contraction of the diaphragm. This protective-adaptive response is called a cough. Its main purpose is cleansing the respiratory tract from foreign matter and accumulated sputum.

With the help of coughing, the body gets rid of irritating elements: fine dust, pathogenic strains, foreign objects, mucus residue

Depending on the reasons that provoked the attacks, cough is classified into physiological and pathological. In the first option, an unconditional protection mechanism for unfavorable conditions is activated.

This is normal, and even necessary, to cleanse the tracheobronchial tree of foreign substances. The reflex process is periodic and short-term, stops as soon as the pathogen is eliminated.

When the patient's condition worsens fever, runny nose, sore throat, That we're talking about about pathological cough. There is a wide range of prerequisites for its development associated with dysfunction of the respiratory, digestive, cardiovascular system, psychological factors, unfavorable microclimate. An unpleasant symptom requires medical attention and conservative treatment.

The cough reflex is differentiated by duration of flow into several types:

• spicy– lasts no more than 15 days;
• protracted– does not stop for 3-4 weeks;
• subacute– lasts from 3 weeks to 2 months;
• chronic– lasts longer than 8 weeks with periodically recurring episodes.

For reference! When assessing the reflex act, attention is paid to the timbre, rhythm, frequency and nature of exhalations.

Coughs are classified based on the presence of sputum. into dry (unproductive) and wet (productive).

How to distinguish a wet cough from a dry one

His characteristic feature is absence of sputum or minimal production. Nonproductive cough more common on early stages infectious and colds(,), asthma, benign and malignant neoplasms.

The root causes of spasmodic exhalations are unfavorable household, industrial and environmental conditions: high concentration in the atmosphere chemical elements, dust, plant spores, contact with aggressive household products, sharp changes temperature.

What is the difference between a wet cough and a dry cough? When coughing, pathological secretion is released from the bronchial tract. It accompanies serious pathological abnormalities in respiratory system: laryngitis, bronchitis, lung abscess, pneumonia, tuberculosis, lung cancer.

For reference! The nature of the sputum determines the cause of the appearance of the cough reflex: with a cold, a mucous, colorless liquid is coughed up; a change in the color of the secreted fluid from light green to brown with possible blood and purulent masses indicates serious disorders that can be fatal.

Specifics of nonproductive cough

Dry cough is often accompanied by unpleasant sensations in the abdominal and chest cavity, pain and sore throat, decreased quality of breathing. How to understand what kind of cough is troubling a patient?

There are a number of features by which coughing without sputum production can be recognized:

During intense attacks of dry cough, the muscles of the chest cavity tense, which provokes pain in the chest.

1. Obsessive paroxysmal character. It both begins suddenly and ends abruptly; in its form of manifestation it is compared to the barking of a dog.
2. The duration of the crisis is measured in 3-5 minutes when a person experiences difficulty breathing, lack of oxygen.
3. Intense long-term attacks provoke vomiting, which is explained by the close location and relationship of the cough and vomiting centers.
4. During forced exhalations, only air is coughed up. A minimal amount of sputum is allowed.
5. After the coughing attacks are over, the patient does not experience relief.
6. There is an increase lymph nodes, stenotic breathing, cessation of functioning of the vocal cords.
7. Intensifies at night and for the first time minutes after waking up.

Nuance! Nonproductive cough is typical for people with experience old age(senile cough).

The difference lies in the treatment regimen. In order to neutralize unpleasant symptom use antitussives peripheral and central action to reduce the frequency and intensity of the cough reflex.

Secretolytics stimulate motor function of the respiratory tract, change biological properties sputum, which facilitates its outflow.

Features of a wet cough

Dry coughs are usually treated with antispasmodic and emollient drugs, and wet coughs are treated with expectorants and mucolytic drugs.

With a productive cough, the result of reflex acts is visible. This suggests that the body is self-cleaning in a natural way. More often, its appearance is compared with the stage of recovery.

The difference between a wet cough and a dry cough is the following:

1. Cough reflexes do not cause painful sensations in the abdominal and thoracic cavity.
2. A reflex act provokes a lump of phlegm in the throat, the patient has a desire to remove the accumulation through forced exhalations.
3. Upon completion of the attack, the patient’s condition returns to normal., the quality of breathing improves.
4. The forms of manifestation are characterized by a short-term nature.
5. Extraneous hoarse sounds are heard during coughing occurring at rest or as a result of excessive activity.
6. Not tied to the time of day, bothers me throughout the day.

Interesting! A dry cough can turn into a wet cough, because... pathogenic agents from the projection of the nasopharynx descend downwards, but reverse transformation is impossible.

The therapeutic goal for a wet cough is to liquefy and stimulate the discharge of sputum.. Treatment should be comprehensive, aimed at eliminating the main cause of the deviation.

Expectorants change the viscousness of mucus, prevent its accumulation in the projection of the bronchial tract, mucolytics promote the active removal of secretions from the lungs.

Conclusion

The doctor will help you understand whether your cough is dry or wet at the first cough. Without medical education, it is difficult to independently divide into initial stages diseases. An otolaryngologist identifies coughing symptoms based on the cause of their occurrence and the results of differential diagnostics.

Regardless of the type of reflex acts, it is necessary to take timely effective measures to eliminate clinical forms, otherwise the recovery process may take a long time.