Chronic Cough

Chronic cough is a cough that has persisted for more than 3 months. This may be due to a number of different causes, the most common being:

• Reflux disease
• Asthma
• Post nasal drip/ Sinusitis
• Vocal cord irritation

Quite often it is due to a combination of these.

Less common causes of cough include:

• Bronchiectasis
• Other lung conditions, such as interstitial lung disease
• Some chronic lung infections

Cough can also be habitual, have a psychological cause, or in cases of longstanding cough be due to increased sensitivity of the larynx. Rarely, cough can be indicative of something more serious like lung cancer.

There is no need to put up with a cough. If you have a chronic cough, that has persisted despite standard treatment, consider asking you GP for referral to a respiratory specialist for further assessment, investigation, and treatment.