Why do colds/flu/bugs seem to end with an annoying cough that lasts for ages?
In: Biology
A lingering cough is usually just a side-effect from your body recovering from the sickness. This is caused by irritated airways or leftover mucus.
When you’re ill, your body makes mucus to clear the cell lining of bacteria and viruses. Once it does its job and that harmful bacteria/virus is gone, your body no longer needs the excess mucus. Coughing is the most efficient way of getting it out.
Coughing is meant to clear your airways. You produce excess mucus when you’re sick, and it lingers after you defeat the big. So your cough lingers to help clear that excess mucus. It’s quite efficient actually!
This is partially due to the fact the airways are still irritated from the effects of the illness, and partially because the flu weakens the immune system and allows additional infections.
It is, in fact, relatively common for more vulnerable people to develop bronchitis or pneumonia after a flu. This is why almost every source you ask about flu symptoms will tell you to see a doctor if your cough lasts too long, or if your fever disappears for a day or two and then comes back.
Last spring I had a cough that lasted 6 weeks after a viral sickness, it was a dry cough and the Dr said it could last up to 3 months. He prescribed a medication to numb the lung/airways because the cough was irritating the lungs causing me to continue coughing… self perpetual loop. One week on the prescription and I was perfectly fine.
Medicine was Benzonatate Cap 100MG
My cold was four weeks ago and I’m still coughing up 6 loogies a day – when will it end?!?!
The dry cough that would not stop happened to my daughter. We tried everything. A pulmonologist, MD, who is a chronic cough researcher cured her instantly. It has been written about in medical journals many times. NAD Just a dad. It cures children and adults. (Peer reviewed and published.) Good luck.
[https://www.thedailybeast.com/miles-weinberger-the-doctor-behind-the-miraculous-habit-cough-cure](https://www.thedailybeast.com/miles-weinberger-the-doctor-behind-the-miraculous-habit-cough-cure)
Because we are all delicate little meat sacks.
But in all seriousness I blame mucous and post nasal drip. It’s a barrier, so our body goes crazy building walls to protect us because it knows we are already weak from whatever virus/bacteria made us sick and that mucous hangs around and makes our throats irritated or our lungs weak and heavy.
Our bodies may also have picked up something else while we were weak with the first thing. Or it was so busy with killing the primary illness that it’s slow to clear up the lingering inflammation.
Everybody’s answering relating to productive coughs (dispelling the leftover mucus, basically). What about the dry coughs? The coughs that start with a “tickle” in the throat and doesn’t cough up any sort of mucus?
So there’s a few reasons, some of which have already been discussed. The first could be explained by a superimposed bacterial infection; those are risk would be children, older adults, and those with poor immune function (e.g. on immunosuppressants for auto-immune conditions). More commonly, however, is that people develop a post-viral cough unrelated to a bacterial infection. This phenomenon is generally less understood that we might like, but some more commonly accepted explanations are that the airway is more sensitive as a result of the infection, or that inflammatory mediators associated with the immune response linger around longer than the infection, which can cause local air sensitivity and edema (swelling). This is why an inhaler like salbutamol/ventolin is sometimes prescribed for a post-viral cough to open the airway and reduce swelling. Lastly, a cough is mildly traumatic to the throat and upper airway. This can cause irritation to structures like the vocal cords, which itself can bring on a cough. This leads to a continuous cough cycle because the airway is continuously irritated — think of it like scratching an itch; you scratch and so it itches more, which causes you to scratch more. This is more common than you might think and it generally treated with regularly drinking fluids when one feels the need to cough and avoidance of throat clearing. Certainly, if one has concerns about a lingering cough, one ought to see their Family Physician.
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