Cough with phlegm
The common causes of chronic dry coughing include post-nasal drip, gastroesophageal reflux disease, asthma, and ACE inhibitors.

Cough can be a sign of respiratory tract infections such as the common cold, pneumonia, pertussis, and tuberculosis. In patients with a normal chest X-ray, tuberculosis is a rare finding. Pertussis is increasingly being recognised as a cause of troublesome coughing in adults.

Cough that continues after a viral infection has cleared. Postinfectious cough typically consists of a dry, non-productive cough that produces no phlegm. Symptoms may include a tightness in the chest, and a tickle in the lungs. This cough may often persist for weeks after an illness. The cause of the cough may be inflammation similar to that observed in repetitive stress disorders such as carpal tunnel. The repetition of coughing produces inflammation which produces discomfort, which in turn produces more coughing creating a closed loop. Typically does not respond to conventional cough treatments. Treatment consists of any anti-inflammatory medicine to treat the inflammation, and a cough suppressant to reduce frequency of the cough until inflammation clears. Inflammation may increase sensitivity to other existing issues such as allergies, and treatment of other causes of coughs (such as use of an air purifier or allergy medicines) may help speed recovery. A bronchodilator, which helps open up the airways, may also help treat this type of cough.

A common cause of chronic cough in adults and children. It may be the only symptom the person has from their asthma, but may also including wheezing, shortness of breath, and a tight feeling in their chest. Depending on how severe the asthma is it can be treated with bronchodilators (medicine which causes the airways to open up) or inhaled steroids. Treatment of the asthma should make the cough go away.

Chronic bronchitis defined clinically as a persistent cough that produces sputum (phlegm) and mucus, for at least three months in two consecutive years. Chronic bronchitis is often the cause of “smoker’s cough.” The tobacco causes inflammation, secretion of mucus into the airway, and difficultly clearing that mucus out of the airways. Coughing helps clear those secretions out. May be treated by quitting smoking. May also be caused by Pneumoconiosis and long-term fume inhalation.

Treatment

Coughs can be treated with cough medicines. Dry coughs are treated with cough suppressants (antitussives) that suppress the body's urge to cough, while productive coughs (those that produce phlegm) are treated with expectorants that loosen mucus from the respiratory tract.

Cough suppressants act to reduce the urge to cough. Centrally acting cough suppressants, such as codeine and dextromethorphan, work by hyperpolarization, or a dulling, of the vagus nerve, the nerve leading from the brain stem and serving the chest area. Benzonatate, sold under the brand names Tessalon Perles or Tessalon Capsules, works by anesthetizing stretch receptors in the lungs.

However, as the cough itself is only a symptom of a respiratory disease, a suppressant serves only to alleviate the cough. Addressing the actual cause of the cough rather than its symptoms is the best treatment to curing the cough.

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