A wet cough is a cough that produces mucus as the body tries to clear mucus from the respiratory system. Generally, wet coughs come with other symptoms such as a runny nose, congestion or postnasal drip. This is why you may feel something dripping down your throat when you have a wet cough.
The Postnasal Drip Cough
This kind of cough can be either wet or dry, but is caused by mucus drainage from your sinuses down the back of your throat. This drip tickles your nerves and makes you cough. It is normally caused by either allergies or the common cold.
When excess mucus builds up and drips down the back of your throat, it's called postnasal drip. In addition to feeling like mucus is draining down your throat, symptoms of postnasal drip include cough, the urge to clear your throat and hoarseness.
Key facts. 'Post-nasal drip' is when mucus from your nose or sinuses drips down the back of your throat. Common causes of post-nasal drip are viral infections, sinus infections and hay fever.
The feeling of mucus accumulating in the throat or dripping from the back of your nose is called post-nasal drip. This is caused by increased secretions that can be thin or thick in consistency.
Sometimes the extra mucus exits through your nostrils, resulting in a runny nose. When the mucus drips down the back of your nose down into your throat, though, it's known as post-nasal drip.
Thick and sticky mucus is mostly green in color. If the mucus has a tinge of brownish or red blood, it may be the result of a dried or irritated nose because of excessive picking, rubbing and blowing.
Postnasal drip makes you feel like you constantly want to clear your throat. It also can trigger a cough, which often gets worse at night. In fact, postnasal drip is one of the most common causes of a cough that just won't go away. Too much mucus may also make you feel hoarse and give you a sore, scratchy throat.
Sinus conditions, such as sinusitis, can produce postnasal drip. This drip sometimes feels like a tickle in the back of your throat, and drainage can lead to chronic cough. This tickle happens when the amount of draining mucus is more than usual.
It can happen for a number of reasons: allergies, viral infections (including the common cold), sinus infections, irritants in the air (such as fumes or dust). Less common causes include something stuck inside the nose (common in small children), pregnancy, and certain medications.
Post nasal drip that is caused by viral infections, such as the cold or flu, could last for weeks or longer, depending on the type of treatment and a person's immune response. Whereas, post nasal drip caused by seasonal allergies may cause symptoms to flare up suddenly and disappear after just a short time.
Dozens of conditions can cause a recurrent, lingering cough, but the lion's share are caused by just five: postnasal drip, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), chronic bronchitis, and treatment with ACE inhibitors, used for high blood pressure and heart failure.
Postnasal drip caused by allergies can be managed with OTC antihistamines and decongestants. Note that older antihistamines like Benadryl and Chlor-Trimeton can actually thicken mucus; instead, try Claritin, Alavert, Allegra, Zyrtec, Xyzal or Clarinex.
Fexofenadine (brand Allegra) and loratadine (brand Claritin) are good second-generation antihistamines that are non-sedating and could be good for mild to moderate postnasal drip symptoms.
Most patients with dripping in the back of the nose that is actually from nose and sinuses do have significant amount of nasal symptoms that are obvious. It is rare to have true postnasal dripping with no obvious nasal and sinus symptoms. Other organ systems can also affect the back of the throat.
Irritation to the upper airway due to infectious, allergic, or environmental factors cause a tickling or dripping sensation in the back of the throat leading to cough. Some of the most common causes of upper airway irritation are viral infections, allergies, or environmental irritants.
When your glands produce extra mucus, it may accumulate and drip down the back of your throat from your nose, making your throat tickle. This is what we call postnasal drip. Aside from the annoying tickle in the back of your throat, common symptoms include: Bad breath.
Possible causes of excess mucus can be food allergies, an acid reflux from the stomach, or an infection. The consistency of mucus in the throat also varies depending on what is going on in your body. Common causes of too much mucus in the throat include a cold or flu, acute bronchitis, sinusitis or pneumonia.
Conclusion: These results suggest that thicker viscous postnasal drip can flow into the respiratory organs when the host is asleep. In addition, postnasal drip which flows into the trachea can move gradually to the oral side by mucociliary transportation of the tracheal mucosa and thus be swallowed.
Most cases of post-nasal drip go away with time, but long-lasting, untreated post-nasal drip and excess mucus can create a breeding ground for germs, which in turn can lead to additional health complications, including sinus infections and ear infections.
Postnasal drip is generally more noticeable at night, especially when you are lying down to sleep. Possible complications include the blocking of the Eustachian tube, which joins the throat to the middle ear, leading to a painful ear infection.
Many people find that postnasal drip is worse at night and can prevent them sleeping. There are various factors that could be to blame for this. One significant problem is that lying down in bed changes your elevation, draining mucus into the upper respiratory airway.
How long can post-nasal drip last? Efforts to treat post-nasal drip should be taken early on. However, symptoms of severe post-nasal drip may linger for weeks or months. If early treatments fail or symptoms increase after 10 days, you may need to visit your doctor.