How To Treat An Allergy Cough At Home
Some ways to treat an allergy cough at home include:
- Taking over-the-counter medications: Allergy medicines, such as antihistamines, nasal sprays, and decongestants, can help reduce the inflammation and mucus production that can lead to a cough.
- Using a humidifier or inhaling steam from a shower:Humidifiers can help clear congestion and soothe throat irritation.
- Using an air purifier: A high-quality air purifier can help reduce the number of allergens and irritants in the air inside a persons home or office space.
- Taking prescription medications: Nasal sprays and antihistamines can help alleviate an allergic cough affecting the upper respiratory tract. Inhalers are usually needed to treat an allergic cough affecting the lower airways.
Is There An Additional Threat
We dont have enough information to know whether having seasonal allergies puts you in a higher risk for contracting COVID-19, or if allergies can make contracting the virus worse, Dr. Kocur said. We do know that older adults and people with medical conditions like diabetes, obesity and heart or lung disease are at higher risk for serious complications from COVID-19.
The best way to protect yourself and manage seasonal allergies is a relationship with your primary care provider and an allergist. An honest, open line of communication will help your doctor assess your situation and determine the best course of action to keep you and your family safe.
When To See A Healthcare Provider
An allergy cough may be aggravating but is rarely severe. However, there are situations in which coughing and other breathing problems are a sign of potentially life-threatening, whole-body allergy known as anaphylaxis.
Symptoms of anaphylaxis tend to develop suddenly and severely. If left untreated, anaphylaxis can lead to shock, coma, heart or respiratory failure, and death.
- Shortness of breath
- A sudden outbreak of hives or rash
- Feeling fainting or lightheaded
- Swelling of the face, neck, or throat
- A feeling of impending doom
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Foods That Relieve Or Cause Throat Mucus
Nutrition can play a role in throat mucus, too. Some foods can actually contribute to throat mucus and other foods can help relieve it. Although every person is different and may have their own unique triggers, here are some of the common foods to avoid with mucus in the throat, and foods to enjoy as they can help reduce mucus.
Foods that cause excessive mucus production:
- Dairy products like milk, ice cream, yogurt, and cheese
- High-fat red meat and processed meat
- Gluten products especially in people with a gluten allergy
- Caffeine particularly the variety found in soda
- Fruits and vegetables, like bananas, cabbage, and potatoes
Foods that relieve mucus:
- Fruits and vegetables like garlic, celery, onions, parsley, winter squash, berries, oranges, greens, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and peppers
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Colds Dont Tend To Linger
A cold is generally more severe the first week and then will start to improve after 10 days. If you continue to get sick, you may be suffering from an allergy rather than a cold or viral infection.
With allergies, your symptoms may flare up at certain times throughout the year or when exposed to an allergen and can last for several weeks until that particular allergen has ended or been removed.
Its important to note that allergies arent always confined to the spring and summer and colds to fall and winter, Dr. Pero said. Although we do see an increased frequency of cold viruses in the fall and winter months, colds and viruses can occur year-round.
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Symptoms Of An Allergy Cough
An allergy-related cough is typically “dry,” meaning that you won’t cough up any mucus or phlegm. In some people, the cough can become chronic, lasting for several weeks at a time.
Symptoms of allergy cough include:
- A persistent tickle or irritation at the back of the throat
Allergy coughs can sometimes be difficult to differentiate from other conditions like asthma or an upper respiratory tract infection.
With asthma, you are more likely to experience chest tightness, shortness of breath , and wheezing due to the narrowing of the airways of the lungs.
With infections like flu or COVID-19, you are more likely to experience fever, chill, and body or muscle aches. With COVID-19, there may also be a loss of taste or smell as well as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
Why Is Mucus An Important Part Of The Airway System
Mucus is needed to keep your airway moist and working properly. Not only does mucus stop harmful particles from getting into your lungs, but it also contains antibodies to help destroy bacteria. If too much mucus is produced, your body wants to get rid of it, leading to coughing and spitting the extra mucus out and blowing it out of your nose.
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Are There Home Remedies To Help With Cough
There are several home remedies you can try which may help with easing your persistent cough.
A warm drink of honey and lemon can reduce the irritation at the back of your throat and ease your cough, even if only temporarily. The lemon acts as a disinfectant to prevent any infections from developing or worsening your conditionKeeping hydrated by drinking plenty of water is important. This will not only help to prevent your throat from becoming dry or irritated, but also flush out any pollen which has lodged in your throat and paletteAvoid dry or smoky atmospheres, and if possible, avoid going outside at times when the pollen count is high.
How To Tell If Allergies Are Causing Your Dry Cough According To A Doctor
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Coughing is one of the most commonand confusingsymptoms that comes around each spring, and too many of us are forced to play a familiar guessing game: Do I have allergies or a cold? Its a complicated question, made even more difficult this year due to the .
A dry cough is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19, but it can just be a sign that your allergies are in full swing as the trees start to bud. Here, a doctor explains what to look out for and how to feel better ASAP.
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Why Are Seasonal Allergies Worse At Night
It is common for people to experience worsening allergy symptoms at night. When you lay down, it causes whats in your nose to drip into your throat. This may cause more coughing, congestion, and even a sore throat. Propping up your head at night may help.
Also, throughout the day, you will collect outdoor allergens on your hair, skin and clothes. So to avoid tracking in pollen and other outdoor allergens, change clothes when you come in from the outdoors and take a shower before bed. You dont want to breathe in allergens all night long.
Lastly, symptoms of allergies may be worse at night if you also have an indoor allergy like mold, pet dander or dust mites.
Dont Judge Your Mucus By Its Color
- By Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing
A friend made an offhand comment the other day that caught me off-guard:
“When I blow my nose, its green, so Im calling my doctor for some antibiotics.”
I thought this myth had been debunked long ago. In fact, it has been well established that you cannot rely on the color or consistency of nasal discharge to distinguish viral from bacterial sinus infections, or even whether youre dealing with an infection at all. Seasonal allergies are a good example. They can cause all sorts of nasal discharge thick or thin, yellow, green, or clear even though theres no infection at all.
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Prevention Tips For Allergic Cough
Priyanka was advised the following tips to limit exposure to allergens and prevent allergic coughs:
- Avoid the triggering factor as much as possible.
- Wear a mask preferably, N-95 or N-99 masks in pollen-heavy seasons. This will help filter pollen and prevent its entry into your respiratory system.
- Clean your surrounding areas with a wet cloth or mop. This will ensure that the dust mites dont settle around you.
When Does Allergy Season Start
There is no official beginning to allergy season. It really depends on what triggers your allergy symptoms.
Many people find spring allergies particularly problematic. In many parts of the United States, this is when trees bloom again and release pollen into the air. If you are a person who is allergic to grasses or hay, summer may be when you struggle. And for others, fall sees the emergence of ragweed pollen which may trigger allergy symptoms.
If molds, dust mites and other indoor allergens are your allergy trigger, then you may see the peak of your seasonal allergies all year long. The key is to understand when your symptoms normally begin. This will help determine what may trigger your allergic reactions.
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How To Treat A Cough Caused By Allergies
Although common, allergies can be a nuisance, causing a runny nose, sneezing, itchy eyes, and other symptoms.
For some people, this includes a cough.
Understanding how allergies workand why they cause the symptoms they docan help you prevent and treat your allergy symptoms effectively.
In this article, Ill discuss allergy symptoms, what an allergy cough feels like, and common allergies that can cause a cough.
Ill also explore the differences between an allergy cough and a cold, as well as how to treat an allergy cough.
Finally, Ill explain when to seek immediate medical treatment.
Is That Cough Covid
As those of us who are accustomed to sniffling, coughing and sneezing our way through spring and summer already know, its allergy season. But during a respiratory pandemic, those coughs could signal something more than a high pollen count.
According to allergist and immunologist Dr. Juanita Mora of the Chicago Allergy Center, the only symptom seasonal allergies and COVID-19 have in common is cough.
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Mucus In Throat Every Morning
If you wake up each day with mucus in throat, which you feel needs to be expelled, there are a few different reasons for that. For starters, mucus in throat in the morning could be a result of an infection or allergy, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or it could be a sign of congestive heart failure.Congestive heart failure, in particular, can cause daily mucus in throat each morning, because the heart has a difficult time moving high amounts of blood through the body, causing fluid buildup. This fluid accumulates in the lungs, especially when a person is laying flat throughout the night. The result is a wet cough in the morning or throughout the night.
How Does A Doctor Diagnose The Cause Of Wheezing
If you visit your doctor with wheezing symptoms, theyll likely begin by giving you a physical exam to rule out possible health conditions. If your doctor finds abnormalities with your lungs and airways, theyll measure how much air moves in and out as you breathe with lung function tests.
Before and after performing pulmonary tests, your doctor will have you take a medication called a bronchodilator that opens up your airways. Theyll use special medical devices that you breathe into to perform the following tests:
- Spirometry. This measures how well your lungs function compared to healthy lungs.
- Peak flow. This test that measures how hard you can breathe out. If your airways are narrowing, this number will be lower than expected.
Additional tests to diagnose the cause of wheezing include:
Your doctor will analyze the results of your tests to arrive at the appropriate diagnosis.
If they suspect you have allergies, your doctor may ask you to keep a detailed diary of the foods you eat, symptoms, and possible allergy triggers other than food. If diagnostic tests suggest you have asthma, your doctor will classify its severity using a symptom-based scale:
Treatment plans for allergies and asthma vary. When addressing wheezing as a symptom of allergies or asthma, it can be minimized with medications or the use of an inhaler.
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Signs And Symptoms Of Abnormal Mucus
Mucus production serves many purposes, even when youre healthy. It protects the tissue that lines your lungs, throat, and nasal and sinus passages and keeps them from drying out. Mucus contains antibodies and enzymes, designed to kill or neutralize harmful bacteria in the air. Think of it as a line of defense that can prevent you from getting sick.
If everything is working as it should, you wont even notice your mucus. But if you have an infection, it may change color. If you smoke or are exposed to an irritant in the air, you may produce more of it than usual. If you start producing too much clear mucus, it might mean youre experiencing allergies and your body is trying to get rid of irritants like pollen or dust.
With a cold, a sinus infection, or bronchitis, your mucus may turn light yellow, beige, or greenish. The reason? When you have an infection, your body produces more white blood cells, and sends them to your airways to fight it. Those white blood cells contain a substance called neutrophil, which can give your mucus a yellow or greenish color. Mucus may also appear to be green when it thickens.
Or you may notice a red or brown color in your mucus after you blow your nose. This is often a sign that theres blood in your mucus, which is generally the result of irritation and the drying out of tissue lining the nasal passages, caused by excessive rubbing, wiping, or blowing your nose.
Does Benadryl Help With Seasonal Allergies
Benadryl® is a first-generation antihistamine. Antihistamines do exactly what they describe they block histamine. Histamine is the chemical released as an allergic response that causes allergy symptoms, including sneezing, runny nose, hives and red, itchy, watery eyes.
However, first-generation antihistamines tend to make you drowsy. Do not take them when you must do any activities that require you to be alert. Also, recent research suggests theres a link between long-term use of Benadryl and memory loss. So be sure to talk with your doctor before using Benadryl.
While Benadryl may work for your allergy symptoms, there are other option with fewer side effects.
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Allergy Cough Vs A Cold
Both seasonal allergies and the common cold can cause a cough and other similar symptoms such as a runny nose.
However, the two have different causes and durations, and some symptoms are unique to colds.
- Cause: Allergies are caused by a reaction to something in your environment. A cold is caused by a viral infection.
- Duration: Allergies may last as long as youre exposed to the allergen that bothers you . A cold tends to resolve after 1-2 weeks.
- Symptoms: With a cold, its more common to experience a sore throat, body aches, and a headache these symptoms are less likely to occur with allergies. You might also feel discomfort in your chest with the common cold, but thats unlikely to happen with allergies unless you have asthma.
How Mucus Does Its Job
The airways of the lung constantly make mucus. The cells that line the airways have small hairs called cilia.
The cilia rhythmically beat back and forth, sweeping mucus up out of the airways and into the mouth. The mucus takes with it any foreign particles, like dirt, dust, or bacteria. This keeps the airways clean and free from infection.
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Diagnosing A Hay Fever Cough
When you have an infection, the mucus in your body starts to thicken due to the presence of a virus or bacteria. The type of mucus youre producing can help your doctor tell the difference between a hay fever cough and an infection. If you have thin mucus, as opposed to thick mucus that is difficult to cough up, allergies are usually to blame.
Your doctor will likely ask you about your symptoms as well as what makes them worse or better and when you started noticing them.
How Do Allergies Cause A Cough
Like headaches, coughs can also be triggered by allergy symptoms. For example, postnasal drip is a common symptom of hay fever but can simultaneously trigger coughs. That occurs when allergens irritate the lining of your nose and cause mucus to drip.6 When this happens, the excess mucus tickles the back of your throat, causing a cough.
Since coughs can be symptoms of specific allergies such as hay fever, it can help you narrow down from an array of allergy conditions. 6 If hay fever is causing your cough, your allergy symptoms will usually worsen during spring, summer, or fall, where seasonal triggers such as tree pollen, ragweed pollen, and grass pollen are at its peak.6 Learn more about hay fever symptoms here!
However, your cough can last for much longer if you have year-round allergies. Lingering allergens such as dust mites, dander, and spores from indoor fungi and molds can trigger symptoms that lead to a chronic, cough.7
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Causes Of An Allergy Cough
An allergy is essentially the immune system’s inappropriate response to a substance that is otherwise harmless.
When exposed to an allergen, the immune system will produce a substance called immunoglobulin E that sets off a chain reaction, causing immune cells known as mast cells and basophils to break open and release histamine into the bloodstream.
Histamine is the main cause of allergy symptoms. It causes tiny blood vessels to widen and leak fluid into surrounding tissues. When this occurs in the nose and sinuses, it can lead to nasal congestion and a runny nose.
The cough itself is the result of a postnasal drip. This is when mucus drains from your nose into the back of your throat, causing an itch or tickle that leads to coughing.
