CONTROL YOUR COUGH
I guess it’s cough season. I’ve had one for a couple of days, but my nose isn’t stuffed and I don’t think I have a cold. Still, I wanted to find simple specifics on why/how we cough:
Coughing occurs when something irritates cough receptors. It clears your airways of food and mucus plus keeps your breathing tubes open so you can receive oxygen. When triggered, the receptors transmit signals through the vagus nerve to your brain. Your brain processes this information and coordinates a cough. If you have a reflex cough, the signals probably go up the brainstem. However, voluntary cough signals likely go up to the higher brain centers.
All very well, but sometimes you just want to control your cough.
I found these techniques to manage your urge to cough in my February 2023 Mayo Clinic Health Letter:
Cough Control
Breathe from your diaphragm. Lie down and breathe naturally, watching as your abdomen expands on the inhale and falls on the exhale. Breathe in through your nose and try pursing your lips as you breathe out. Focusing on your breathing this way may lessen the feeling that you need to cough.
Swallow. Swallowing may help by squeezing the voice box tissues, giving them a gentle massage and relaxing your throat muscles. As soon as you sense the urge to cough, try swallowing with or without water. Do not cough after your swallow. The more you practice this, the easier it gets. This retrains your brain not to cough.
Hard swallow. Observe as your Adam’s apple—which is part of the voice box—moves up and forward as you swallow. Flex your throat muscles at the top of your swallow to give your voice box an extra massage.
Hum or whistle. A gentle humming or whistling—which moves your vocal cords quickly without irritating them—may reduce the urge to cough.
Silently clear your throat. Aggressively clearing your throat can irritate your vocal cords and make coughing worse. Instead, try to make a “huh huh huh” sound so softly that someone next to you might not even hear it.
Do an “H-cough.” If you feel you must clear your throat because of mucus, try exaggerating a breath “H” sound with lots of air. This will help you get rid of mucus while limiting vocal cord irritation.
Sip something warm. Sipping on warm water, with or without a squeeze of lemon and a drop of honey, can soothe your throat.
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Happy uncoughing!