How To Stop an Asthmatic Cough, Here’s What To Do!

Posted December 16, 2020 by Michael Chamberlain - See Editorial Guidelines

Need to stop an asthmatic cough? A cough can be a troublesome symptom of asthma. Of course, Asthma medications such as a fast-acting bronchodilator inhaler offers quick relief from an asthmatic cough.

But if you’re on the look for other ways to stop an asthmatic cough, then this article should provide you with some helpful guidance. But first, here’s a quick response, then we’ll head into more details.

How to Stop an Asthmatic Cough?

  1. Identify and avoid factors that trigger asthma cough
  2. Drink sufficient water, and stay hydrated
  3. Purify the air around you
  4. Keep the air around you moist
  5. Relax and ease your breathing 
  6. Adopt and practice a relaxed breathing pose 
  7. Avoid any uncomfortable environment during an asthma cough 
  8. Consider alternative therapies
  9. Consult your doctor where regular coughs occur

Of course, this assumes you have asthma. If you’re not sure if you need an inhaler, read our article on do you need an inhaler.

That’s the brief answer, but let’s look into each of these aspects in more detail.

Identify and Avoid Factors that Trigger an Asthma Cough

How To Stop an Asthmatic Cough

Several factors trigger even a “normal” cough. Social environments are also known to affect your health. For example, if you cough because of smoke, you tend to move away from the smoke, which will remove you from the source of irritation.

The same applies to an asthmatic cough. You may be sensitive to several factors that can trigger a cough. You and your doctor should work together to determine what these triggers could be.

Some of the common triggers of an asthma cough include:

  • Dust 
  • Animal fur 
  • Insects
  • Mold
  • Pollens
  • Coffee
  • Irritants (this may include air pollution, cigarette smoke, a chemical from beauty products/perfumes, etc.)
  • Chemicals, including agents such as sulfites that are found in many food products, and chemicals found in cleaning products
  • Preservatives found in food products
  • Exercise and other physical activities 
  • Cold air
  • Dry air

Once you’ve identified the exact reason for what triggers your asthmatic cough, do your best to control your exposure to these sources. This is one of the best ways you can prevent and altogether stop asthmatic coughs. 

Take Control of Your Medications

Some medications may cause interactions that trigger an asthmatic cough. Such medications may include aspirin, other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and nonselective beta-blockers (often used for heart conditions). 

Aside from these, even some health conditions may trigger an asthmatic cough. This includes health conditions such as heartburn (acid reflux), sleep apnea, and upper respiratory infections such as the common cold viruses or minor lung infections. 

If certain health conditions trigger your asthmatic cough, the only way to stop an asthma cough is to take effective control of the conditions.

So, once you’ve identified the medications or health conditions that appear to be triggering your asthma cough, then talk about such conditions with your doctor and ask for measures to keep such triggers under control. 

Keep Track of Unknown Triggers

The environment we live in is subject to continuous changes. Therefore, we may become exposed to unknown agents we previously weren’t aware of that may trigger an asthma cough.

So, if you develop an asthma cough in an unexpected situation, try to recall your surroundings and the elements within it. Record what you did, as well as what you ate, drank, or simply where you were.

In a nutshell, always be mindful of what is around you. Here are some more factors to consider.

  • The season and how your body reacts to it 
  • New food that you add to your diet 
  • New medications or supplements your taking and how your body responds to them 
  • Weather patterns and how comfortable your system is during seasonal changes

This will help you track back and identify new data points that could be triggering your asthma cough. You can then prevent yourself from coming in contact with those triggers.

Drink Enough Water, Stay Hydrated and Increase Fluid Intake

When you drink sufficient water, the mucus in your throat loosens up, helping prevent asthma cough triggers. For this exercise to be effective, drinking at least 6 to 8 eight-ounce glasses of water every day can help.

Remember that you should drink more fluids if you’re exercising regularly, but also keep in mind how exercise can affect asthma.

Also, when you have a dry cough that doesn’t produce anything, it can worsen your asthma cough. This is because dry coughs irritate your throat lining, making you cough more and harder.

So, make sure you keep hydrated at all times to help stop an asthma cough. 

Purify and Keep the Air Around You Moist

Some individuals are sensitive to air pollutants and dry air, triggering an asthma cough. This is because dry and polluted air can easily spread pollen around, and pollen can easily trigger asthma coughs.

So, on days when the pollen is high, consider using an air purifier. Also make sure that the filter in you A/C is clean so that you can get fresh, clean air pumped into your home.

Alongside this, avoid any smoke, sprays, and perfumes as much as possible inside the house.

Finally, on hot days, when the air is too dry, try to run a humidifier. Even keeping a bowl of water around the house can help. This will help keep moisture in the air around you.

Relax and Ease Your Breathing to Stop an Asthmatic Cough

How To Stop an Asthmatic Cough

Typically, when a person has an asthma cough, they tend to develop wheezing alongside it. This wheezing can induce a response of deeper breathing in an effort to take in more air.

So when you get an asthma cough, try to breathe slowly and calmly. You should try to keep the exhale twice as long as the inhale. For example, if you inhale for 5 seconds, exhale for 10 seconds.

While breathing, try to remain as relaxed and calm as possible. 

Practice a Relaxing Breathing Pose 

When you get an asthma cough, it’s natural to feel out of control or to panic. This response to an asthma cough can worsen your cough and make it difficult to stop if you don’t calm yourself.

To calm yourself, practice a breathing pose that you think will relax you. This could be any pose that you feel comfortable with.

While practicing such poses, make sure to free your mind and thoughts and stay calm.

This is an easy but tactical way to stop an asthma cough. Even if it may seem tough to practice at the beginning, this should help to stop an asthma cough. 

Avoid an Uncomfortable Environment During an Asthma Cough 

Even if comfort has no direct impact on stopping an asthma cough, it does affect your heart and its sensitivity to triggering an asthma cough.

When you’re in an uncomfortable environment or setting, your heartbeat and rhythm may increase, resulting in heightened anxiety. This anxiety and emotional distress can worsen your asthma cough.

So, it’s important to make sure you’re avoiding or removing yourself from any uncomfortable situations and environments that might instigate an asthma cough. 

Additional Help

Additional treatments such as acupuncture, hypnosis, and meditation may also help you stop an asthma cough, but these techniques may take time, effort, and additional costs.

Different factors will affect different people to a lesser or greater degree. A good first step is to practice the above points as a general guide before considering any additional remedies.

Closing Thoughts

We hope this guide has been useful in answering the question of how to stop an asthmatic cough.

As always, this is intended as a guide, and if you’re concerned, then you should consult your doctor for more advice specific to your individual needs.

If you’re struggling to afford your medications, then Prescription Hope may be able to help.

We deal with over 1500 medications, and we work to provide patients with the medicines they need at a set, affordable cost through patient assistance programs. So enroll today, as it’s quick and easy and may provide you with some huge savings on your medical bill.