A stubborn cough is more than just a nuisance; it can interrupt and leave you exhausted. It can also last for eight weeks or longer in adults or four weeks in children. This article covers 10 possible causes of a stubborn cause.
Asthma
Asthma can narrow your airways and swell in response to dust, pollen, smoke, or freezing water triggers. You could also struggle for air, cough up mucus, or hear a wheezing sound when you breathe. The cough might become chronic, but it would improve as seasonal triggers like tree pollen and cold fade.
Chronic Bronchitis
It’s part of a group of smoking-related diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). You could feel a tightness in your chest and typically have a cough, occasionally with wheezing that doesn’t go away.
Acid Reflux
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) causes food and stomach to travel back up your throat. This could trigger a cough reflex as the acids affect the nerves in your esophagus.
Whooping Cough
This bacterial infection commonly affects infants, but it has also reappeared in adolescents and adults due to missed vaccinations.
Pneumonia
Bacteria, fungi, or viruses can inflame tiny sacs in your lungs and fill them with pus or fluid. You might experience fever, chills and have trouble breathing. Also, cough symptoms can stick around in children or people with weaker immune systems.
Heart Failure
This condition makes your heart weaker, thus making it harder to send oxygen-rich blood to your body. As a result, blood can collect and push fluid into your lungs and make it harder for you to breathe. The fluid often causes a persistent that creates pink or white mucus.
Blood Pressure Drugs
Doctors often prescribe ACE inhibitors for heart failure or high blood pressure. However, these medications can result in dry, hacking coughs that won’t go away.
Mental Health Problems
Stress, anxiety, and depression can result in persistent cough in certain individuals. Doctors call this somatic or psychogenic cough.
Lung Cancer
You might only be concerned about this if you smoke, but non-smokers can also develop lung cancer, with long-term cough being a symptom.
Postnasal Drip
Mucus dripping from your nose into the back of your throat can trigger a cough reflex. This is sometimes called upper airway cough syndrome.
Conclusion
If your cough lasts more than 8 weeks, it becomes chronic. Consult your doctor for prescriptions to fight allergies or infections at this stage. If this does not work, you might undergo CT scans, X-rays, or acid reflux tests.
