A chesty cough may follow a common cold infection or can be due to long-term conditions, such as bronchiectasis, chronic bronchitis or asthma. Whooping cough (pertussis) can result in coughing fits, and there can be a loud 'whoop' noise at the end of the cough when the person tries to breathe in again.
A chest cold, often called acute bronchitis, occurs when the airways of the lungs swell and produce mucus in the lungs. That's what makes you cough. Acute bronchitis can last less than 3 weeks.
Speak to a GP if:
your cough is particularly severe. you cough up blood. you experience shortness of breath, breathing difficulties or chest pain. you have any other worrying symptoms, such as unexplained weight loss, a persistent change in your voice, or lumps or swellings in your neck.
A lingering cough can result from many conditions, including bronchitis, asthma, acid reflux, or chronic allergies. Natural remedies, such as drinking tea with honey or inhaling essential oils, can help. You may also need over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription medications, depending on the cause.
Antibiotics aren't recommended for many chest infections. They only work if the infection is caused by bacteria, rather than a virus. Your GP will usually only prescribe antibiotics if they think you have pneumonia, or you're at risk of complications such as fluid building up around the lungs (pleurisy).
The symptoms of a chest infection are more likely to include coughing and bringing up phlegm. An upper respiratory tract infection may cause a cough, but it can also produce symptoms such as sneezing, a blocked or runny nose and a sore throat. The effects of a chest infection will also tend to last a little longer.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , a cough, along with other typical cold symptoms, usually starts within 2 to 3 days of contracting a cold virus. A cough can often stick around for 10 to 14 days and is usually the last cold symptom to go away.
Call your doctor if your cough (or your child's cough) doesn't go away after a few weeks or if it also involves any one of these: Coughing up thick, greenish-yellow phlegm. Wheezing. Experiencing a fever.
Maybe you've even started coughing up phlegm or have pain in your chest when you cough. Those are signs your cough might actually be pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection in your lungs that can range from mild to life-threatening, which causes your lungs to fill up with fluid or pus.
In addition to lab tests, sputum or mucus from a cough can be visually examined to determine whether bronchitis is viral, bacterial, or both. Clear or white mucus often indicates a viral infection, while yellow or green mucus may suggest a bacterial infection.
The symptoms of viral and bacterial chest infections are similar but the colour of any mucus coughed up may indicate the cause; white or clear mucus usually indicates a viral infection whereas green or yellow mucus suggests that the infection is bacterial.
A bronchitis cough sounds like a rattle with a wheezing or whistling sound. As your condition progresses, you will first have a dry cough that can then progress towards coughing up white mucus.
Most chest infection symptoms typically go away within 7 to 10 days, although a cough can last up to three weeks. See your doctor if your symptoms haven't improved or have gotten worse in this time.
Stay home if you have a cough that brings up mucus (productive cough). A cough can be caused by a number of respiratory infections, some of which are very easy to spread to other people. No matter where you are, always cough into the crook of your elbow rather than coughing into your hand.
"Pharmacists are trained to advise you on managing your symptoms," says Livingstone. "They are also used to recognising the signs of chest infection. If you're unsure, they can be a good place to start."
Histamine Dense foods
Hence, a person who is already suffering from cough and cold should avoid foods that are rich in histamines. Some foods to avoid are avocados, mushrooms, strawberries, dry fruits, alcohol, yogurt, vinegar and fermented foods.
Ease a cough
It's the obvious one - but Vicks VapoRub is great for easing coughs that are caused by colds. The chest rub is perfect for relieving the catarrh and phlegm that give you a chesty cough.
A cough that expels mucus (also known as phlegm) from your airways is called a productive, wet, or chesty cough because it serves a function. A cough that does not produce mucus and serves no useful purpose is called a non-productive or dry cough. It can also disrupt much-needed sleep, leaving you exhausted.
Testing. A lab test is the only ironclad way to determine if you truly need an antibiotic. A physician can collect a sample of bodily gunk (whatever you can cough up or blow out of your nose) or take a throat swab. In general, a culture, in which bacteria are grown in the lab and tested, can take a day or two.
The ways to tell bronchitis and pneumonia apart are typically you would need to obtain an x-ray, a chest radiograph to determine if there are signs of consolidation or infiltrate on the chest radiograph. If that is found, typically that is more consistent with pneumonia.