Smoking is associated with a wide range of ill effects to your health and those around you and Smokers cough is one such ill effect. Smokers cough is particularly seen in long term chronic smokers who are addicted to the habit for a prolonged period of time. Most new smokers usually do not develop this condition. many consider that the onset of smokers cough is a strong indication from the human body that smoking has started to cause irreparable loss. Apart from smokers, smokers cough is also seen in people working in unhealthy environments. For example, it has been observed to appear in people who work in environments that exposes the body to lung, nasal and throat irritants.
Just like smoking, continued long term exposure to these irritants becomes harmful to health and could ultimately lead to smokers cough. The cough is broadly categorized into two, one is the dry cough and the other one is the chesty cough. The characteristic that separates these two coughs are that the chesty cough is accompanied with a lot of mucus. both are equally painful and need to be seriously considered for further treatment.
The human nose and the trachea have small tiny fibers known as cilia. their primary function is to keep harmful irritants from entering into the human body. Long term smoking affects the functioning of these cilia and it reduces the effectiveness of the cilia thus ultimately leading to a situation where in the cilia become totally nonfunctional. This is one of the main smokers cough symptoms. The smokers cough problem is worse while sleeping at night as the cilia no longer remains capable of moving the phlegm to the throat where it can be swallowed to get relief. Thus, most people suffering from smokers cough suffer from phlegm in their throats especially when they wake up in the morning.
This in turn leads to the reflex action of smokers cough in the morning in order to release the phlegm stuck in the throat and thus offer relief. Thus incessant coughing is another one of the smokers cough symptoms. In addition to smokers cough, the damaged cilia also can cause various other health hazards particularly respiratory illness, which is also another smokers cough symptoms as the cilia is considered to be a strong line of defense for the body from any external germ attack. Once these defense lines are taken down, it becomes very easy for the germs to infect the body and the person becomes susceptible to practically every form of respiratory illness. unlike the normal cough, the smokers cough lasts for a longer time and could potentially span several weeks before a relief is possible. Moreover, due to the increasing degradation in the cilia, the condition appears at very frequent intervals. In extreme cases the smokers cough symptoms include severe coughing that there have been instances wherein the patients have broken their ribs. other smokers cough symptoms include chest pain, wheezing and crackle. some have even reported shortness of breath causing severe breathlessness. Sometimes, smokers cough is also accompanied by diseases such as Chronic Bronchitis. This may lead to several other smokers cough symptoms like fatigue, confusion over simple things, pallor and even anxiety.
The primary smokers cough cause is smoking itself though there are cases wherein people in particular environments have reported smokers cough symptoms. Thus people working or living in environments that expose them to nasal, lung or throat irritants are also one of the smokers cough causes. many smokers are made to believe that the toxins inhaled during smoking are exhaled when the smoke leaves the body. This is not true as the body because of its inherent nature absorbs much of the toxins. Once these toxins are inside the human body, they usually start to destroy the defense mechanisms and starts reducing the immune levels. as the immune levels are lowered, the individual is directly affected by smoking but also becomes susceptible to other infections including viral and bacterial.
The best way to handle smokers cough is to give up the habit of smoking. However, due to prolonged addiction, it may be very difficult for an individual to stop smoking immediately. there are a number of rehabilitation centers as well as physicians who help smoker’s kick the habit at its butt. some of the smokers cough remedies includes chewing gum or candy as it helps an individual resist the temptation to smoke. Drinking water has been observed to have a huge number of beneficial impacts and this includes lubricating the throat making the smokers cough symptoms a little less painful. some of the smoker’s cough home remedies also include consuming lemon juice in order to supplement the deficiency of calcium and Vitamin C and other Vitamin D supplements to help cure people suffering from smokers cough.
Another smokers cough home remedy often cited to be helpful is using a paste made by mixing 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar, ¼ tsp. red pepper, 1 tbsp. honey, ¼ tsp. ground ginger with 2 tbsp. water. when one teaspoon of this paste is consumed it helps reduce the smoker’s cough symptoms. other smokers cough home remedies include inhaling the vapors of boiled mint and eucalyptus leaves. some people have also practiced drinking milk boiled with garlic and sugar. These smokers cough home remedies have been around for decades and are even advised by medical practitioners as they come with no side effects whatsoever. Antibiotics are usually administered for patients suffering with smoker’s choice. Antihistamine is the most favored one as it suppresses the brain signals that prompt coughing. it should be noted that this is just a temporary relief and not a permanent cure of the underlying issue.