Chronic Cough In Children

I love both the spring and the fall because they signal changes are coming. With these changes come feelings of hope, and the start of something new. In the springtime, we welcome the sunshine and the beautiful flowers that blossom in our fields and gardens. The colorful display of the red and gold leaves in autumn usher in the new school year, as children anticipate seeing their friends again.However, with these positive changes comes an unwelcome one: Respiratory problems and chronic cough among children.

This side effect of the changing seasons can be problematic for all parties: the child who suffers, the caregiver at home, and occasionally even those in the classroom.

How can you prepare for this? In a number of ways, depending on the health and health history of the child in question.

Children with chronic coughs should be evaluated with a detailed history, physical examination, and chest radiograph if indicated. Your doctor may want to perform a spirometry — a common office test used to assess how well the child’s lungs work by measuring how much air he or she inhales and exhales, and how quickly he or she exhales — if the child is able to perform the test.

One of the most common causes of a cough is cough-dominant asthma. If a complete examination as outlined above does not reveal the cause of the cough, or if the cough is disruptive and impairs the child’s ability to function — breathe, eat, sleep — then your doctor might order an empiric trial of anti-asthma therapy. If the child is otherwise healthy and functioning well, then simply closely monitoring the child’s symptoms is a reasonable approach.

It is hard to do nothing if you are in care of a child with a persistent hacking cough, so I’m happy to say that a number safe palliative measures exist. I usually recommend the use of lemon and honey, drinking lots of water, humidification of the environment and, for symptoms associated with nasal stuffiness, the use of Menthol for soothing the airway. Although some studies draw conflicting conclusions about the effectiveness of menthol, my experience in clinical practice suggest that in most cases it reduces the severity of the cough, improves sleep for the sufferer, and generally makes caregiving easier.

In my practice, I rarely use cough suppressants, except for extreme cases where the cough is persistent, involves hacking, or causes headache and chest pain, etc. Cough is after all a protective mechanism, once the cause is pinpointed and treated the body will not need to lean on this defense mechanism.

So enjoy the changes of seasons and all the pleasures they offer! If your child begins coughing, I hope this will help guide you to the appropriate treatment. Here’s to your good health!

Dr. Florence Nnebe