Having a chronic cough can be a barrier to socialization and working, and greatly impact on someone’s mental health. Since the emergence of COVID-19, this social and emotional impact has worsened due to the stigma around coughing. 

Coughing is a protective action that allows us to clear our throat or lungs to prevent infection or foreign objects from entering our airways. In other words, coughing is usually caused by irritation. However, sometimes coughing is not always necessary as there is nothing there to clear but it can be an automatic reaction to environmental changes such as a strong smell, temperature change, or exercise.  As speech pathologists, we want to help you take control of your chronic cough or throat clearing as it can damage your voice and have a significant impact on your life!

Signs and symptoms:

  • A chronic cough lasts for longer than 8 weeks. 
  • Coughing that is exacerbated by exercise, strong smells, temperature change etc. 
  • A rough, strained, or quieter voice.

Many people only seek speech pathology intervention after having had a chronic cough for years. Why do they wait years? Normally because they don’t know that we work in this area! Many people who come to see us have been diagnosed with anything from asthma to COPD and everything in between. However, most of the time none of the medication that they have tried has made a difference! 

Our intervention includes looking at vocal hygiene strategies, environmental factors, and techniques for cough suppression. We teach you how to increase your conscious control of your cough by teaching strategies to use when you are about to cough or are coughing!

There is strong research showing the positive impact that speech pathology intervention can have on decreasing symptoms of chronic cough. In light of this, our role in managing chronic cough is becoming more and more widely supported by a range of health professionals and their governing bodies.  

Talk to your GP to discuss whether speech pathology intervention is right for you! Alternatively, if you have a chronic cough and want to know more, please contact Hanrahan Health via phone on 02 4862 5063 or via email at admin@hanrahanhealth.com.au to book an assessment with one of our speech pathologists.

Image source: https://www.regresearchnetwork.org/working-groups-committees/cough/