Cough Treatment in Spokane, WA

A cough is a symptom of a medical condition and can be classified as acute, subacute, or chronic. Coughs lasting less than three weeks are considered to be acute, coughs lasting in the range of three to eight weeks are subacute and anything longer than eight weeks is considered to be a chronic cough. Coughing can be accompanied by additional symptoms such as a stuffy or runny nose, sore throat, heartburn, hoarseness, or an unpleasant taste in the mouth. In some cases, a cough can be a sign of a serious condition that requires medical attention. See a doctor immediately if you have any of the following symptoms in conjunction with your cough:

– Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
– Wheezing or rapid, shallow breathing
– Chest pain
– Fever
– Coughing up yellow or green phlegm, or coughing up blood
– Violent coughing that causes you to vomit
– Unexplained weight loss
– Fainting
– Persistent coughing that doesn’t ease up for more than 8 weeks
– Swelling of the ankles or feet

A constant cough can interfere with your day-to-day life by making it difficult to fully catch your breath. It can also cause you to have trouble sleeping at night, leading you to feel completely exhausted all the time, making it hard to focus and concentrate, and can lead to accidents and mistakes at work. Constant coughing can be caused by any number of issues such as postnasal drip, allergies, bronchitis, asthma, acid reflux, medication, exposure to irritants, and many other common causes. Other less common causes include lung cancer, tuberculosis, blood clots, collapsed lung, fungal infections, and other causes. The doctors at Franklin Park Urgent Care diagnose and treat many different coughs and will work with our patients to find the root cause to provide them with relief from persistent coughing. Our doctors will go over your medical history and complete a physical exam to see if they are able to pinpoint the cause. Additional tests may be ordered, depending on the initial exam to further investigate the source of the cough.

Coughs can seem to get worse at night or actually get worse, for many different reasons. The number one reason for this issue is the pull of gravity. Gravity can cause mucus to pool at the back of the throat when we lay down, which can lead to coughing. Dry air can also lead to nighttime coughing by aggravating the nose and throat especially if they are already feeling irritated. The doctors at Franklin Park Urgent Care can help you determine what is causing your cough and provide you with some recommendations to try in order to prevent or reduce nighttime coughing. They can also work with you to determine the root cause of your cough in order to treat an underlying medical condition that could be causing the nighttime coughing.

Finding the cause of a persistent cough is the first step to determining how to treat it, and ideally, get rid of the cough once and for all. If you are experiencing a persistent cough, you can book an appointment with one of the doctors at Franklin Park Urgent Care or see one of our doctors on a walk-in basis through our urgent care. Our doctors will ask you about your symptoms and medical history, as well as perform a physical exam and check your vital signs. They may need to order additional tests to find the root cause. Once that has been determined, a proper treatment plan can be implemented. This could include the use of acid blockers, antibiotics, antihistamines, inhalers, or cough medicine to help suppress the cough, although this won’t treat the underlying cause. At Franklin Park Urgent Care we want to find the cause of your persistent cough to enable you to get relief once and for all and not have to worry about a nagging, constant cough interfering with your day-to-day activities.
 
If you want to know more about our services, call us or schedule an appointment online! We serve patients from Spokane WA, Cheney WA, Deer Park WA, Millwood WA, and surrounding areas.