Why does an adult cough after running?

The mechanism of the cough reflex

Sometimes after a run, especially over a long distance, a person experiences asthma attacks or coughing. Several factors influence the occurrence of the cough reflex . Coughing is always a reflex reaction of the body, due to which mucus or foreign agents are removed from the respiratory tract. The cough reflex occurs when receptors in the pharynx, trachea, and bronchi are irritated. The cough can be wet (with mucus) or dry.

After a person runs, spasms may occur in his bronchi. After physical activity, the amount of air inhaled increases, blood circulation in the chest area increases, and the heart begins to beat faster. For this reason, previously dormant processes are activated in the human body, and a cough appears.

True, bronchospasm, caused by irritation of receptors in the bronchi, can lead not only to cough, but also to suffocation, which occurs due to a narrowing of the airway.

A cough or shortness of breath that appears after a run can become symptoms of previously undetected diseases. If a person starts coughing after running, he needs to start walking, calm down and only then stop. If such an alarming symptom appears, you should consult a doctor.

Diseases

The appearance of a cough during physical activity may indicate a pathology of the respiratory system:

Bronchial asthma. This disease can cause coughing attacks even with a slight change in the air inhaled. The syndrome is characterized by wheezing, lacrimation, and chest discomfort.
Bronchitis, tracheitis, pneumonia. Pathogenic microorganisms interfere with the functioning of the respiratory system, which is why coughing occurs during sports.
Bronchiectasis disorder. Deformation of the respiratory organs prevents them from working at full capacity when a person is engaged in physical activity. Moreover, even light physical exercise provokes a cough.
Oncology. In the early stages, respiratory tract cancer is not always easy to detect, but as it develops further, sputum begins to come out with blood.
Diseases of the cardiovascular system. They can cause stagnation of blood in the chest area, which leads to shortness of breath, pain and unusual weakness.
Tuberculosis in the initial stage. The danger of this disease is that the infection is confused with an acute respiratory infection and the pathology can only be detected when playing sports. Colds and tuberculosis at the initial stage have similar symptoms: runny nose, fever and sore throat, but cough with tuberculosis begins only with intense breathing, while the cold symptom torments a person constantly.
Pulmonary edema. Pathology does not always manifest itself in the absence of load. However, when breathing increases, coughing attacks immediately overcome, and a little bronchial secretion is released. The cough may be so severe that the patient will choke.

If a person begins to constantly cough during training, then it is necessary to consult a doctor. During treatment, you need to suspend any physical activity so as not to aggravate the existing disease.

Magnesium deficiency

The balance of nutrients, micro- and macroelements is important in the body. Magnesium is necessary for the contraction of muscle fibers and the transmission of neuromuscular impulses. Its deficiency leads to a burning sensation in the lungs, which causes coughing during intense inhalation and exhalation. If there is not enough microelement, then a spasm of the respiratory tract appears.

Improper breathing

One of the most important points in playing sports is breathing. It affects the enrichment of cells with oxygen, reaction speed, muscle strength and endurance. Every professional athlete knows how to breathe correctly, but a beginner may not be aware of this. As a result, shortness of breath, cough and fatigue develop.

Diseases that cause cough after exercise in children and adults

There are several diseases that cause a person to cough after physical activity. The cough reflex is just a symptom of some disease. Only a doctor can determine the cause and name of the disease.

Bronchospasm

Most people suffering from bronchial asthma experience bronchospasm after running. Physical activity causes narrowing of the airways. A person develops a dry cough and asthma attacks. People with asthma should avoid long distance running or jogging.

Cold

Colds and lung diseases are always accompanied by inflammatory processes and accumulation of mucus in the respiratory tract. Running increases blood circulation in the chest area and irritates cough receptors. A person develops a cough, often with mucus. When you are sick, it is better not to run or do any other physical exercise.

Magnesium deficiency

After running, due to increased muscle activity, the amount of magnesium in the human body drops sharply. It is this microelement that is consumed the most when performing any physical activity. Low magnesium levels can lead to heart problems.

With increased physical activity, a weak heart muscle is not able to pump the required amount of blood. Cardiac cough occurs against the background of heart pathology. Blood circulation in the body is disrupted and it stagnates in the lungs. A cardiac cough is always dry. To eliminate it, heart treatment is performed.

Bronchitis

After running, people with bronchitis may experience a cough reflex. During this disease, an inflammatory process is present in the bronchi of a person. It can be caused by infection or various irritants. Due to inflammation, mucus accumulates in the bronchi. During a cough caused by physical activity, this phlegm comes out.

Bronchiectasis

This disease occurs due to exacerbation of bronchopulmonary diseases. Suppurative processes develop in the patient’s bronchi. After physical exertion, the purulent fluid accumulated in the bronchial sacs comes out with a strong cough.

Cough during exercise

Simple irritation of the upper respiratory tract by air currents during running or skiing is quite capable of triggering a dry cough.
Smokers respond with a wet cough even to simply getting up in the morning, as they suffer from chronic bronchitis as a result of many years of irritation of the bronchi by tar and nicotine.
Bronchial asthma in its cold version can cause coughing and shortness of breath when exposed to cold wind or air. In other forms of asthma, contact with an allergen provokes a dry cough, even with the usual stress. To learn how to control the manifestations of the disease, you can take health courses for bronchial asthma.
Bacterial bronchitis and pneumonia also cause coughing during physical activity. In this case, bronchitis is more characterized by purulent sputum, and pneumonia is characterized by shortness of breath and pain in the side when breathing or coughing.
Bronchiectasis is dilated walls of the bronchi that have turned into sacs and are often filled with pus. Cough with this disease is a frequent companion to any load.
Lung cancer may also first manifest itself as a cough.
Tuberculosis at the beginning of the disease is manifested by a dry cough; subsequently, when coughing, sputum is released and signs of respiratory failure increase.
Cough during physical activity also appears in heart failure with stagnation of blood in the pulmonary circle. In the first class of circulatory failure, shortness of breath and dry cough occur only with increased exertion. In the second and third cases, even minimal physical activity provokes breathing problems.
Acute cardiopulmonary failure (cardiac asthma or pulmonary edema) is accompanied by a cough with scanty sputum difficult to separate, shortness of breath with difficulty inhaling, cyanosis of the face and extremities.

What needs to be done?

If a person coughs after a short run, it is better to consult a doctor and find out the cause of this symptom. Running should always end with walking. If your cough gets worse during physical activity, you should not stop. It is better to start walking first, and only then stop. You need to walk until your breathing returns to normal.

If you stop suddenly, you may lose consciousness.

In order to alleviate the condition, you need to take an antispasmodic tablet (No-shpa, Drotaverine, Spazmalgon). It is recommended to take the medicine with warm water. You can return to jogging only after diagnosis and treatment of the disease that caused the cough reflex.

Why does a cough appear during or after physical activity?

Before treating a cough after exercise in an adult or child, it is important to note that in some situations this is completely normal and depends on the intensity of the training. Very often, coughing attacks occur in people who lead a sedentary lifestyle. They don't know how to regulate their breathing, so even a little exercise can trigger a cough reflex. When cold air enters the respiratory system, bronchospasm occurs, which can also cause coughing and rapid heartbeat. Smoking is another cause of cough in adults during or after physical activity, but it will be accompanied by shortness of breath and heart rhythm disturbances.

If there is an inflammatory reaction or residual effects in the respiratory system from an illness, any exercise can cause a dry or wet cough symptom. Diseases of the heart and circulatory system can also cause bronchospasm, shortness of breath, and coughing of varying intensity.

In physiological conditions, when there is no inflammation in the respiratory organs, and the person himself does not exercise very often, coughing does not pose a danger; it is enough to stop training and breathing will return to normal within a few minutes.

Normally, any workout should cause a blush on the cheeks, a slight increase in heart rate, and rapid breathing. When it comes to illness, the cough may not stop for a long time, accompanied by shortness of breath, cyanosis of the lips, rapid heartbeat and other unpleasant symptoms.

Preventive antitussive measures

Playing sports has a beneficial effect on human health. True, in addition to training, you need to pay attention to your diet. Every day a person should consume a sufficient amount of healthy foods that support the vital functions of his body. It is advisable to get rid of bad habits, quit smoking and abusing alcohol.

Physical training should begin with short distances. It is better to run in warm weather. When jogging, you need to breathe through your nose, not your mouth. Cold air should not be allowed to enter heated lungs. It is advisable to play sports in comfortable clothes that do not restrict movement. A tracksuit should cover the body, especially the chest and throat. After running, you can drink warm (never cold) water.

Under what conditions does cough occur after exercise?

Conditions studied include:

Deficiency of magnesium, necessary for normal muscle contraction.
Diseases accompanied by damage to the respiratory system: pneumonia, inflammation and sarcoidosis of the lungs, obstructive bronchitis, tuberculosis.
The reaction of the lungs to cold air. This can happen when playing active sports outdoors.
Oncological diseases. Particular attention should be paid to this problem when traces or streaks of blood appear in coughed up sputum.
Bronchial asthma. The disease manifests itself as coughing attacks, which can be triggered by sports training.
Pulmonary edema. With pathology, a strong cough is noted, even with a slight increase in activity, shortness of breath develops, and a small amount of sputum is released. Suspicion of pulmonary edema is a reason to visit a specialist; self-treatment can have dire consequences.
Heart disease, which is accompanied by shortness of breath, weakness, pain in the chest. Such symptoms should be a reason to refuse any physical activity.
Pathologies and injuries of the respiratory tract affecting their functioning.

If coughing attacks occur not only during exercise, then they are most likely caused by diseases of the respiratory system: pneumonia, colds, flu, pharyngitis, bronchial diseases.

Is it possible to run when you have a cough with phlegm?

If a person suffers from chronic bronchitis, he does not have a fever, he can run. After a run, a cough begins, which helps the mucus come out. You cannot play sports if you have asthmatic bronchitis. For jogging, you need to buy sportswear. While jogging, you need to breathe properly. The rhythm of running must be synchronized with breathing. You need to inhale and exhale air through your nose. When you feel like there is not enough oxygen in your lungs, you need to breathe more often.

While jogging, the body is enriched with oxygen, blood circulation increases, dormant processes are activated, and mucus is coughed up from the bronchi.

Cough during exercise is observed in diseases such as

Cough is not an independent disease, it is only a symptom indicating some kind of disorder in the respiratory system. Therefore, if a cough appears after physical activity, you need to determine the root cause.

Basically, a cough reflex appears if a person has a history of the following diseases:

Bronchial asthma is a chronic disease of allergic origin. Accompanied by bronchospasm, dry cough, asthma attacks, wheezing and shortness of breath.
Bronchitis, tracheitis, pneumonia are diseases of viral or bacterial origin. Symptoms appear against the background of an inflammatory process in the bronchi or lungs. In the acute period, the symptoms are severe, any physical activity is contraindicated.
Pathologies of the cardiovascular system - impaired blood flow, blood stagnation, heart failure or vascular atherosclerosis will always cause shortness of breath.
Pulmonary edema - any exercise can cause rapid breathing, coughing attacks with the release of viscous secretions, and shortness of breath. The condition is life-threatening and requires immediate hospitalization.

It is important to understand that if a person suffers from any disease of the bronchi, lungs or heart, excessive training is contraindicated. The only exercise that will be beneficial is breathing exercises.

How and how to treat cough during exercise

Only a doctor should treat cough during physical activity in a child or adult after examination results and a final diagnosis. If after diagnosis no abnormalities are identified, and the cough quickly goes away after training, there are no other symptoms, perhaps the reason lies in poor physical training. In such cases, the doctor recommends contacting a professional trainer and starting any exercises in stages, increasing the load each time. In this way, the body will adapt to the sport and breathing will normalize.

If the cause is any disease, then treatment therapy depends on the diagnosis, the intensity of symptoms, the age of the patient and the characteristics of his body. Standard methods of treating cough include taking medications, physiotherapy, and folk remedies.

Cough therapy depends on the underlying diagnosis. For example, for pneumonia, bronchitis or tracheitis, the doctor may prescribe antibiotics, mucolytics, expectorants and antitussives. If the patient has bronchial asthma, the attack can be controlled with bronchodilators and antihistamines. For cardiac pathologies, cardiac medications are prescribed, since taking mucolytics or antibiotics will not have any effect. Based on this, we can conclude that treatment of cough after physical activity should be carried out individually and only as prescribed by a doctor after determining the underlying cause.

The child has

If a child coughs after active games, and the cause is bronchitis or residual effects of ARVI, the doctor may prescribe drugs that help remove phlegm - mucolytics or expectorants (Prospan, Gerbion, Pertusin, Lazolvan). Taking them will thin the mucus in the bronchi and speed up its evacuation. Drinking plenty of water, milk with honey or inhalation will bring benefits.

Compresses or massage, as well as herbal infusions, raspberry tea, infusions of coltsfoot, sage or chamomile will help reduce the intensity of a child’s cough after physical activity.

Doctors during the acute period of any respiratory disease, when in addition to coughing there is an elevated body temperature, advise avoiding walking outside, as well as any physical activity. It is recommended to stay in bed, drink plenty of fluids, take prescribed medications and follow all procedures.

Adult

Treatment of cough in adults, as well as in children, depends on the underlying cause. If it is a consequence of smoking, you need to give up the bad habit, since active sports and smoking are incompatible. The vast majority of adults are aware of their chronic diseases, so they avoid physical activity. If the cough appears for the first time, and there are no accompanying symptoms, just catch your breath, stop training, and your breathing will return to normal. When it is a consequence of an illness, a doctor will prescribe treatment. It will include medications and inhalation procedures. During the treatment period, intensive training should be avoided.

What is a cough

This is not only the body’s defense mechanism against any external influence, but also a short, fixed exhalation with simultaneous tension of the entire apparatus of the respiratory system. Coughing after exercise is not uncommon. The respiratory apparatus reacts to body tension with a cough reflex.

It is expressed in irritation of certain areas of the respiratory system by the vagus nerve. Under this influence, a nerve impulse enters the area of the medulla oblongata responsible for coughing, from where a complex reaction begins, forming a reflex process.

It can be caused by impulse and stimulation of the central nervous system. The intensity depends on the strength of the irritating factor. If a foreign body enters the respiratory tract, it is removed by coughing. After colds and pulmonary diseases, the reflex helps get rid of sputum, in which a lot of bacteria accumulate. That's why it's so important to get rid of it.

Types of cough.

There are types - acute and chronic, by sound - dull and voiced, by secretions they distinguish between dry and wet:

With dry cough, sputum is not produced and its characteristic symptom is the desire to constantly cough. If an attack begins suddenly and does not end, then there is no need to try to cough intensively at any cost. If you exert too much stress, you can damage small blood vessels and temporarily lose your voice.
Wet is productive. In its presence, sputum is formed, which accumulates in the bronchi. Together with the cough, it is expelled, removing bacteria accumulated in the lungs.
In the acute form, a person coughs constantly, without interruption. Accompanies colds.
The chronic form appears after 3 months of presence. It is characterized by periodicity: after a period of absence, it appears again and takes on an acute appearance.

What to do if you have a cough.

If an attack begins, you should find out the cause of its occurrence and then take corrective measures. To do this, you must visit a doctor. He will order an examination and, after establishing the cause, prescribe treatment.

Although coughing is a protective reaction of the body, it can also be dangerous. For example, transition to a chronic form. It is very difficult to get rid of this type. During a persistent attack, there is a strong strain on the entire respiratory system and upper body. Strong pressure can cause rupture of the blood vessels in the eyes.

Cough disrupts the normal blood circulation of a pregnant woman. Spasms block the flow of nutrients to the fetus and provoke placental abruption. All this negatively affects the condition of the fetus and can lead to miscarriage.