Features of the appearance of cough in a lying position

Causes of cough in healthy people when lying down

Many people wonder why they have a strong cough when they go to bed. This is a physiological reflex that occurs due to contraction of the muscles of the respiratory tract due to irritation of the receptors.

Cough while lying down becomes more severe as a result of slowing blood flow in the organs of the respiratory system and disruption of the drainage function of the bronchi and lungs. Sputum gradually accumulates, which leads to a cough of varying intensity.

If you cough while lying on your back, this is due to the accumulation of mucus in the nasopharynx.
Due to the horizontal position, it is not excreted in such quantities as in the vertical position, resulting in a paroxysmal cough. In this way, the body tries to eliminate mucus. A healthy person may cough for the following reasons:

• The body reacts to smog and dust. This problem arises among those who live in a metropolis, workers at chemical plants, and people who spend a long time in dusty rooms.
• Tobacco is a serious irritant. The respiratory tract suffers due to constant exposure to toxic hot smoke. Smokers have difficulty breathing when lying on their back, a sore throat, and a severe cough with sputum discharge.
• Asthmatics cough constantly when lying down. They are tormented by a strong dry cough, which is accompanied by pain in the chest, wheezing in the bronchi, and difficulty breathing.
• Eating a large amount of food before bed sometimes provokes reflux disease, when the contents of the stomach are thrown into the esophagus. Symptoms intensify after taking a horizontal position. At the same time, a feeling of bitterness in the mouth and heartburn appears.
• An allergic reaction can also cause coughing while lying on the right/left side and back. Allergies can occur to the filling of pillows and blankets, to dust mites or washing powder. In this case, the cough is dry, without fever, sometimes accompanied by a runny nose, skin rash, and sore throat.
• Intense dry cough attacks without sputum production begin due to low humidity in the room and insufficient ventilation.
• Painful attacks when a person lies down are intensified due to heart failure, as a result of congestion in the respiratory organs. In this case, the cough is dry, and in rare cases, clear sputum is produced. If a baby coughs for a long time and only during sleep, this sometimes indicates a congenital heart defect.

Seizures in a healthy person may occur due to weakened immunity. This is often due to an incorrect lifestyle.

Why does the cough get worse when lying down?

Often, in an upright position of the body, the cough is either absent or insignificant. But as soon as a person goes to bed, an attack begins.

This happens as a result of the fact that in a supine position, the outflow of sputum is hampered, the airways can narrow, which causes a spasm. The person's breathing becomes impaired and he begins to choke. This condition may be a natural reaction of the body. During the day, people inhale dust, debris, smoke and other particles. They irritate the lungs and airways, which leads to the production of large amounts of mucus. It is expelled from the respiratory apparatus during coughing.

But in most cases, a dry cough in a horizontal position indicates various diseases. Therefore, if such a symptom occurs for several days, you should urgently consult a doctor. Let's take a closer look at the reasons that can lead to a cough while lying down.

What affects the severity of a cough during a cold?

Coughing when you go to bed is often due to diseases of the respiratory tract. If it does not go away for a long time, the treatment may have been incorrect or the disease has caused complications. Here is a list of pathologies that cause attacks at night:

• Lung diseases - emphysema, uncomplicated pneumonia. These pathologies are characterized by coughing when changing body position to horizontal. During the day the attacks are mild.
• Bronchitis or tracheitis at the acute stage, in which the cough in the lying position is paroxysmal, short-term.
• Rhinitis. The cough can intensify when a person is lying down, from snot that flows down the back wall of the nasopharynx. Excessive mucus discharge is a consequence of ARVI, acute inflammatory process of the paranasal sinuses, and influenza.

Why does a cough appear before bed?

Only a qualified specialist can determine the cause of the disease. If the cough gets worse when lying down, the following factors can trigger it.

• Asthmatic reaction to secretion. During the night, in people with this pathology, biological fluid accumulates in the respiratory tract and blocks breathing. Because of this, a person wants to clear his throat and get rid of the irritant.
• Harmful chemicals that enter the lungs and accumulate there. This happens to those who work in chemical plants or live in large industrial cities with unfavorable environmental conditions.
• As a consequence of chronic tracheitis, when the patient, after completing the course of treatment, still suffers from some symptoms of the disease.
• Mild pneumonia. This condition is characterized by the absence of high body temperature, heaviness and pain in the chest, suffocation and frequent coughing when lying on the back.
• Bad habits: smoking and alcohol addiction. A person's reaction to harmful chemicals can occur during the day, at night, or before going to bed while lying down.
• Allergy to an irritant. This could be dust on the bed, feathers from pillows, synthetic or woolen blanket fabric.

Additional symptoms

Cough in a supine position in an adult, when it is caused by diseases of the bronchopulmonary tract, is often accompanied by additional symptoms that worsen the patient’s condition:

• weakness, drowsiness;
• heaviness and pain in the chest;
• fever, chills;
• rapid breathing, blue discoloration of the nasolabial triangle;
• swelling of the face;
• sputum with bloody impurities.

In the case of heart failure, attacks are accompanied by shortness of breath during physical activity, as well as when lying on your back, swelling, numbness of the arms and legs, and fainting.
With reflux disease, in addition to coughing, there is heartburn, sour belching, pain, a burning sensation in the sternum, radiating to the shoulder blades, dryness, and hoarseness. During an allergic reaction, the skin turns red, itching, and frequent sneezing appear.

If, in addition to an attack that occurs when a person is lying down, there is a fever, headache, problems with appetite, or sweating, a doctor’s consultation is necessary.

External factors that help reduce night cough

There are several simple techniques that will reduce the likelihood of coughing attacks at night:

• do not overeat at night (dinner no later than 3 hours before bedtime);
• ventilate the room before going to bed;
• sleep at a temperature of 20-22 ° - without overheating and hypothermia;
• eliminate smoking in the apartment;
• keep a thermos with warm drink at your bedside to moisturize your mucous membranes at night;
• ensure the room humidity is at least 60% (purchase a humidifier);
• regularly carry out wet cleaning, change the bed - dust, even in the absence of allergies, provokes a cough;
• Do not use substances with strong odors in the apartment - air fresheners, household chemicals, perfumes.

Choose a low pillow for sleeping or abandon it altogether.

Advice: if the cough at night cannot be stopped for a long time, do not take a horizontal position - sleep sitting up.

How to treat a cough that occurs while lying down

The choice of treatment options depends on the cause. You need to immediately find out why a person coughs while lying on his back, what additional symptoms are present and the general condition of the patient. The treatment is complex and prescribed by a doctor.

Drugs

Medicines are prescribed depending on the reason why a cough occurs when a person lies down:

• In the case of bronchial asthma - glucocorticosteroids (Prednisolone, Dexamethasone), bronchodilators (Salbutamol, Salmeterol), antihistamines (Zodak, Loratadine), mucolytics (ACC, Ambroxol).
• Reflux disease - antacids (Almagel, Rennie), prokinetics (Motilium), heartburn medications (Omez, Omeprazole), H2-histamine receptor blockers (Ranitidine, Nizatidine).
• Chronic pneumonia or bronchitis is treated with antibiotics (Amoxiclav, Sumamed), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Nimesulide, Ibuprofen), expectorants (Ambroxol, Bromhexine).
• Heart failure is treated with ACE inhibitors (Captopril, Enalapril), cardiotonics (Cordigit, Digoxin), B-blockers (Bisoprolol, Atenolol), diuretics (Lasix).

If a cough in a lying position is caused by snot, it is necessary to regularly rinse the nasal cavity with saline solutions (Aquamaris, Dolphin).

Traditional medicine

If you constantly have a cough when you lie down, you can resort to alternative medicine that will ease the attacks and improve the condition. The most effective are:

• Milk with honey and soda. Liquefies and removes mucus. Add 1 tbsp to 200 ml of warm milk. honey and ¼ tsp. soda Take before going to bed.
• Infusion of pine buds. 1 tbsp. raw materials pour 200 ml of boiling water. Drink throughout the day and always before bed.
• Black radish with honey. Cut a hole in the root vegetable into which to pour honey. After 4-6 hours, juice is formed, which should be taken 3-5 times a day.
• Herbal decoctions. To prepare them, you can use sage, licorice root, coltsfoot. 2 tbsp. pour 200 ml of boiling water over the herbs, leave or boil in a water bath for 15 minutes. We drink 50 ml 3-5 times a day.
• Orange juice with mineral water (Narzan, Borjomi) in the same proportion. Take 100 ml after sleep and at night.

Before using traditional methods, you should consult a doctor.

Other methods

Cough when lying down is also treated with inhalation using a nebulizer. For hoarseness and sore throat, Lazolvan, mineral water, Rotokan, Berodual are used. When the cough is dry - Salgim, Atrovent, Berotek. When sputum is discharged - Lazolvan, Mukaltin, Pertussin.

Rubbing with turpentine ointment, Doctor Mom ointment, badger fat, ointment with camphor, eucalyptus, and menthol helps a lot.

To relieve coughing while lying down during the day or night, you can massage your back and chest.

Fighting cough

Considering the many reasons that cause the appearance or intensification of cough when taking a lying position, different methods of dealing with it are also necessary. First of all, this is a careful study of the coughing person’s lifestyle, a methodical rejection of acquired bad habits:

1. drinking various types of alcohol;
2. smoking;
3. too late dinner.

In the case of diseases such as bronchitis, pneumonia or the like (regardless of the cause of the disease, its duration and severity), there is no way to do without medical help.

Medication

After conducting a series of necessary studies to establish all the possible reasons why the cough may worsen in a lying position, appropriate treatment is prescribed.

If it is a tumor process in the bronchus, surgical removal is carried out with chemotherapy, a course of radioisotope irradiation; if there is a foreign body in the bronchopulmonary system, it is also removed. Pleural effusion (the presence of fluid in the pleural cavity) serves as an indication for its evacuation (pumping).

Read these articles, they will help you: ultrasound of the pleural cavity and this puncture of the pleural cavity

For inflammatory and suppurative diseases of the bronchi, lungs, and pleura, the capabilities of various classes of drugs are used.

It is rational to combine antibiotics with drugs:

• sulfonamides;
• antihistamines;
• decongestants (diuretics);
• hormonal;
• reducing intoxication.

Traditional medicine

In addition to the methods of official medicine, it is impossible for someone who cannot lie in bed without developing a coughing attack or its intensification to do without the help of traditional medicine.

It includes the use of:

1. means taken orally (infusions, decoctions, tinctures);
2. rubbing products;
3. compresses;
4. wraps;
5. bath

After consultation with a doctor, the following methods can be used:

• honey and kumys treatment;
• apitherapy (treatment with bee stings);
• acupressure, acupuncture, moxatherapy (point impact on reflexogenic zones of the body by pressing, injecting specially designed needles into the skin or cauterizing it).

Important! Staying in a certain climate can also serve as a traditional method of treatment - the patient can temporarily stay with relatives or move to a suitable area permanently. For those suffering from frequent colds, bronchitis and other diseases associated with cold, damp weather (category of weather conditions in the Leningrad region), which causes the appearance or intensification of cough, staying in the hot, dry climate of the countries of Central Asia and the Middle East will be beneficial.

How to prevent coughing in a horizontal position

Most patients do not know how to lie down so as not to cough. It is enough to sit up in bed, placing another pillow under your head to take a semi-sitting position, or turn on your side. You should also follow certain preventive measures:

• Before going to bed, try not to eat. The last meal should be approximately 2-3 hours before going to bed.
• Wash bedding regularly. If you have allergies, replace the washing powder with a hypoallergenic one.
• Ventilate the room, as fresh air improves ventilation and prevents stimulation of the cough center.
• Try to maintain optimal air humidity of 45-65%. For this, it is better to purchase a humidifier.
• Give up bad habits, especially smoking, including avoiding inhalation of tobacco smoke (passive smoking).
• If you have a professional cough, you should change your occupation.
• If there is contact with provoking factors, it is advisable to use a mask.
• Try to be less nervous.

If these preventive measures are ignored, coughing while lying down often causes asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and respiratory failure.

What should you do if a problem occurs?

Having identified the causes of night cough through diagnostics, appropriate therapy is prescribed. It includes a set of drugs in accordance with the etiology of the disease in order to eliminate the causes leading to activation of the cough center. The next group of remedies is aimed at relieving coughs and improving sputum removal - these are medications, physiotherapy, folk methods to ease breathing, recommendations on the regime and position during sleep.

Drug therapy

The choice of drugs for the treatment of a cough-provoking disease is made by a specialized specialist.

Chronic pathologies are put into remission with the help of a course of medications, which usually eliminates coughing attacks.

The following groups of drugs are used:

• in case of an infectious nature - antiviral, antibacterial drugs (classes of penicillins, macrolides, cephalosporins);
• anti-inflammatory drugs - Erespal, Fespalen, Erispirus;
• antispasmodics – Eufillin, Theotard;
• mucolytics and expectorants - Lazolvan, Ambrobene, Flavamed, Ambroxol, Bromhexine;
• bronchodilators – Foradil, Berotek, Ventolin, Salbutabs;
• antitussive drugs – Terpinkod, Codelac, Glycodin;
• adaptogenic and restorative drugs – Trekrezan, Trekresil;
• immunostimulants – Broncho-Vaxom, Bronchomunal;
• combination drugs with several types of action - Ascoril, Cofasma.

If an allergic component of the cough appears, antihistamines are prescribed - Pipolfen, Tavegil, Zyrtec, Fenkarol. For inflammation of the nasopharynx and excessive mucus discharge, which provoke a night cough, it is recommended to use nasal sprays before bed - Tizin Xylo, Galazolin, Xylen.

Traditional medicine

If you have a cough at night and you can’t get to the doctor, home remedies will help. Proven methods of traditional medicine:

1. Dissolve 50 grams of butter and a teaspoon of honey in a glass of warm milk. Drink 2-4 times a day, including at night.
2. Sprinkle chopped black radish with granulated sugar (3 tablespoons). Bake in the oven for 1.5-2 hours. Drain the juice. Take the drug 2 teaspoons before bedtime.
3. Boil potatoes, apples and onions (one at a time) in a liter of water. Boil the mixture to half the liquid volume. The strained decoction is taken in a teaspoon 2-3 times a day.
4. Viburnum juice is mixed in equal proportions with honey. Take the drug one teaspoon 2-4 times a day.

Herbal remedies can help cope with night coughs (you can buy a ready-made drug at the pharmacy). Take 2 tablespoons of coltsfoot, oregano and marshmallow. Pour a liter of boiling water and leave for 4-5 hours. Drink ½ glass three times a day.

Other treatments

Physiotherapy improves the drainage functions of the bronchopulmonary system and stimulates the healing of mucous membranes. For night coughs, the following methods in combination with medications are effective:

1. Inhalations. Steam and heat-moisture methods are shown. Soda, herbal solutions, essential oils, and sea salt are suitable as medicinal substances for the solution. Inhalations are done 2-4 times a day for a week.
2. Compresses. Applying medications to the respiratory area improves mucus removal and accelerates the healing process of mucous membranes. They use alcohol-containing substances, potatoes, goose and badger fat.
3. In medical institutions, sessions of ozokerite and paraffin therapy, electrophoresis are carried out.
4. Massage. Different types are shown - postural drainage, acupressure, regular massage.

The procedures are carried out in the prescribed course - without skipping and early completion when the cough subsides. Breathing exercises help strengthen the defenses of the bronchopulmonary system.

Wormwood infusion against night cough attacks

If you have been bothered by night attacks for a long time, and the cough does not respond to taking pharmaceutical drugs or herbal compositions of traditional medicine, you can prepare an infusion of wormwood. This remedy has an effective effect on cold symptoms. The only thing you need to remember is that it can only be used by adults; to treat a child, you will have to use a more gentle composition.

Preparation of medicine:

1. Grind fresh wormwood raw materials; you will need about 100 grams of it.
2. Place the prepared vegetable pulp into a glass container.
3. Pour good vodka (300 ml) over the plant material.
4. Close the container tightly and place it in a cool, dark room for a week.
5. While infusing, shake the container with infusion vigorously several times.
6. Filter and pour into a dark glass bottle.

Take the prepared infusion five times a day. The dosage for one dose is only 15 ml. If for any reason alcohol is prohibited, you can dilute this amount of medicine with boiled water. You can drink any liquid, but during intense coughing attacks it is not advisable to do this. The duration of treatment is two weeks; it is not recommended to exceed the course. After this, be sure to visit a doctor and find out whether hidden diseases are developing in the body.

It is not recommended to independently diagnose a cough when you go to bed in an adult - it can alert not only to colds, but also to more serious diseases developing in the body. Only after a visit to the doctor can you begin to treat this unpleasant symptom, and not only pharmaceutical, but also effective folk remedies will help with this.

Save the information.

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If a patient complains of a cough, an experienced doctor, before prescribing him pills and medicines, will have a detailed conversation and find out all the ins and outs of this symptom. The fact is that not only bacteria and viruses can cause it, but also a dozen other reasons.

Night cough: causes and how to treat

One of the most unpleasant types of cough is a cough that gets worse at night.

Coughing attacks torment a person who is in a horizontal position and cannot clear his throat completely. At night, the resorption of mucus in the nasopharynx and blood circulation slow down, as a result, sputum accumulates, which causes coughing attacks.

Night cough can be dry or wet. Also, night cough is a symptom of acute inflammation of the bronchi. But the causes of night cough may also be hidden in other diseases.

Night cough: causes

1. Physiological. When lying down, mucus may accumulate in the nasopharynx.

2. Cold or dry indoor air.

3. Viral infection in the bronchi

4. Allergies

5. Bronchitis, whooping cough, trachebronchitis (respiratory tract diseases)

6. If you have a night cough but no cold, this may be a sign of bronchial asthma.

Night cough in adults

Night cough in adults can be caused by asthma, congestive heart failure. With asthma, the cough is accompanied by wheezing exhalations, heavy breathing, and heaviness in the chest.

A dry night cough appears in heart failure and is accompanied by shortness of breath and rapid heartbeat.

Night cough in children

Most often, night cough in children occurs due to a viral or bacterial infection, or becomes the onset of bronchial asthma.

Also, the causative agents of night cough in children can be allergies to dust, wool, and pollen. Chemicals, smoke from smoking. Children who have a weakened immune system due to taking antibiotics may suffer from a fungal or allergic cough at night.

Other causes of night cough are whooping cough, sinusitis, rhinitis, adenoiditis.

How to get rid of night cough

Herbal decoctions, milk with honey or mineral water are good for night coughs. Such drinks will help soften a dry, hard cough and help the sputum clear up faster.

You can install a humidifier in your room to minimize the dry hot air that causes coughing.

You can take a cough suppressant before going to bed. If the cough is caused by allergies, take antihistamines.

If a child suffers from a night cough, remember that antitussives are contraindicated for him (otherwise breathing may stop). Until 6 months, you should not rub your breasts, do steam inhalations, or take antihistamines. Change your baby's position while sleeping to prevent mucus from accumulating. You should not use mustard plasters if you have a fever.

If you have a cough at night, be sure to consult your doctor. Only he can determine the cause and prescribe the correct treatment!