Coughs associated with a cold or the flu tend to last a week or 2, most clearing up within about 3 weeks. A post-viral cough may persist for several (up to about 8) weeks after a viral illness, while some coughs persist for longer and are usually a sign of an underlying problem.
In adults and children, a cough is described as acute (short term) if you have been coughing for up to 2 weeks.
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Is it a loud cough that sounds like a seal bark and accompanied by high-pitched breathing?
This could be crouped, and the cough can often be accompanied by stridor, a high-pitched breathing sound from the upper airway. Croup is a viral infection that causes some narrowing of the airway at the level of the vocal cords. This usually clears up, but severe cases may require hospitalization, so contact your child’s pediatrician immediately.
It’s important to have a doctor for yourself and your children, so you have someone you trust with any health concerns. If you don’t already have a primary care provider, you can find one that fits the needs of you and your family here.
How to Get Rid of Mucus Buildup in Lungs Naturally
Looking for natural ways on how to get rid of mucus in your lungs? Here are some helpful tips provided by Medical News Today and the National Jewish Health Foundation that your clinician may recommend you try at home:
Stay Hydrated
Mucus: The Protector
Mucus can vary slightly depending on what part of the body produces it, but typically it is made up of 98 percent water, 1 percent salt and 1 percent biopolymers—very long molecules that interact with one another and give mucus that gel-like quality.
“It’s a great substance,” says Dr. Boucher, a James C. Moeser eminent distinguished professor of medicine. “It’s like a cross between Jell-O and glue that lines many surfaces of your body that typically interface with the outside world. It’s designed to both keep those surfaces moist and healthy and to trap foreign materials like infectious agents.”
Explainer: The benefits of phlegm, mucus and snot
The new data might help doctors better gauge which treatments work, and what new medicines might help patients breathe more freely.
“We wanted to know how mucus is cleared by cough,” says Brian Button. He studies biophysics — the physics of living things — at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Phlegm gunks up the lungs in two ways. The first is adhesion, the tendency of mucus to stick to the surface of the lungs. The second is cohesion, the tendency of mucus to stick to itself.