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Winter
Infections
What is a chronic cough?
The type of cough discussed here has typically been present for 2 months or more without any signs of infection. No cause can be found by a medical doctor. Especially in children, there may also be a continuously runny nose. This may have prompted parents to have their child checked for allergies to dust, mould or pollen, but nothing has been confirmed.
Conventional treatment
There is no conventional treatment for this type of cough, except – as a last resource – inhalation of steroid medication. This suppresses the inflammation or irritation of the airways that provokes the cough. While one course of this may be very effective, the cough may return within a few weeks or months after the course of steroids has finished. This means that the reason for the initial irritation has not been cured, but just temporarily removed. Usually, a second course of steroids will be recommended, and so on.
Apart from not solving the problem, a more dangerous side-effect of this treatment is “paradoxical bronchospasm”. This condition occurs in some people while on steroid inhaler treatment. It is in effect a reaction to the steroid and looks like an asthma attack, with the airways suddenly restricting. The person will experience severe difficulty breathing and will be worried about subsequent attacks. This condition can be life-threatening and therefore needs to be treated with emergency medication dilating the airways.
What starts out as a cough can this way turn into an asthma-like condition. It is important to note, that the steroid as well as the emergency medication can produce dependency if taken for prolonged periods of time. This means that the person will not be able to come off these drugs without experiencing serious adverse reactions.
Homeopathy for chronic coughing
Homeopathy addresses the reason why there is a constant irritation in the airways. Homeopathy recognises that there may be a combination of factors involved. One such factor may be an inherited tendency to respiratory problems or to recurrent infections. Another prominent factor in the causation of chronic coughs may be the DPT vaccination. The P standing for Pertussin or whooping cough may trigger an inherited tendency. Other factors may be allergic triggers or frequent use of Calpol and antibiotics which may have suppressed the immune system to such a degree that a simple cold may leave a person with chronic coughing as a lingering symptom.
Homeopathy concentrates on identifying all the factors involved in each individual case and applying remedies to address these.
The therapy includes a first appointment lasting up to 2 hrs. There are no physical examinations, but I will guide the patient through a set of questions to establish all individual factors in the case. A prognosis and probable therapy duration will be given at the end, and the homeopathic remedies will be sent by post within a few days together with instructions on how to take and store them. The patient will also be advised when to come for a follow-up appointment and how and when to contact me in between appointments for ongoing support.
Two chronic cough stories
Hanna (3) was brought to me for chronic coughing that she suffered from throughout every winter. In previous winters the coughing had developed into a chest infection. During the consultation it became clear to me that on the mother’s side of the family there was an inherited weakness that may have lead to recurrent and chronic coughing. With this inherited weakness in place, I understood the infant DPT vaccination* to potentially have triggered her chronic winter choughing. This led me to prescribe a single homeopathic remedy in liquid form to be given daily. Her symptoms cleared within a few days. Unfortunately, on a subsequent skiing holiday, the coughing recurred. A local doctor put Hanna on a steroid inhaler for 6 weeks and Hanna’s mother decided not to use homeopathy alongside. On the inhaler the coughing cleared up, only to recur 2 weeks after the inhalations were stopped. At this point I was again asked for help and I prescribed the same remedy as before. 6 weeks later the coughing had cleared again and did not return the following winter.
Anne (3) came to me with a chronic cough that in the past winters had led to several chest infections including pneumonia. In this case there were several factors that may have contributed to the chronic cough. One was an inherited tendency to overproduction of mucus in the airways that set in every time the weather changed. A second factor was an operation to cap Anne’s oversized tonsils which had prevented her from breathing properly. Operations - although often necessary and beneficial – may act as triggers for other health problems. The third factor may have been - as in the previous case - the infant DPT vaccination*. Putting these factors together, I prescribed several different remedies in tablet and liquid form. Over the course of 2 years, Anne’s immune system and resistance to infection improved dramatically. She now develops a mild cough occasionally along with a common cold, but she has not needed any more therapy for this as her body is now strong enough to fight the problem by itself.
* This vaccination covers Diptheria, Pertussin, and Tetanus. The common name for Pertussin is whooping cough, and this part of the DPT vaccination may be a risk factor in developing chronic coughs.
** According to homeopathic thought, every person has a so-called constitution. A person’s constitution is shaped by a particular body-shape, metabolism, body temperature, temperament, and characteristic likes and dislikes in food, weather and occupation. Also, it includes tendencies to develop certain problems such as tendency to skin problems, a tendency to lung problems, a tendency to fungal problems, etc. Constitutional treatment is used to strengthen those weak areas and to bring out the best of what the person has been born with.