“Cough is one of the most common symptoms of colds, flu and other similar illnesses. People often make several mistakes in their treatment.”
Oku.AzRussian pulmonologist Yekaterina Sak warned about it.
According to him, one of the main errors is the idea that a dry cough must necessarily turn into a wet cough.
“The cough does not necessarily have to be sputum. During acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI), cough is usually caused by the flow of mucus along the posterior wall of the pharynx or by inflammation and pain in the throat. In this case, there will be no sputum, it makes more sense to wash your nose and drink plenty of fluids. In addition, bronchial asthma, taking certain blood pressure medications, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) can also cause dry cough. there will be no sputum. It is best to consult a doctor to determine the cause of the cough,” Sak said.
The doctor said that the second mistake is taking drugs that block cough during sputum secretion.
“This is a common mistake, it should not be done. The thing is that in this case, instead of coughing, it is necessary to expel sputum. What will happen if we block the cough reflex? The sputum will stagnate in the bronchi and increase inflammation,” the doctor said.
According to the expert, the third common mistake is to treat coughs with antibiotics, because many times colds are caused by a viral infection and antibiotics do not act on viruses.
“A viral infection cannot turn into a bacterial infection, so there is nothing that antibiotics can kill. Of course, very rarely a viral infection is accompanied by a bacterial infection. But this is no reason to arbitrarily prescribe antibiotics, it is better go to the doctor,” Sak said.
The pulmonologist said that the last common mistake is the inhalation of home remedies, herbs and oils.
“Firstly, inhalation is not necessary for every cough. Secondly, if we inhale through a nebulizer, we should use only the means intended for this. Under no circumstances should we use decoctions, herbs or oils. This is not only ineffective, but they can also be dangerous. Severe allergic reactions, exacerbation of bronchospasm and fatty pneumonia do not aggravate the situation,” the doctor concluded.
