Coughing Up Phlegm: Causes & Treatment

What is Phlegm?

As the name suggests, this is a condition where cough is connected with sputum production. The term phlegm signifies a swelling that results into an extreme mucous production. This excessive mucous cough outs as a sputum. Sputum colour, consistency and nature may differ depending upon the nature of the problem. It can be clear or of various colours such as yellow, green, red or brown. It can be watery or thick in consistency.

Causes of Phlegm

A cough accompanied with sputum or phlegm or mucus is frequently referred as a productive cough. It is generally a sign of the infection within the lungs. There are different other aspects connected with the reason for the cough with phlegm such as allergic reactions, different irritants e.g. family pet dander, smoking cigarettes, chemical fumes or cleans etc, typical cold or infection by bacteria, fungi or viruses.

Spending phlegm is likewise seen in particular upper respiratory tract conditions such as whooping cough, pneumonia, bronchiolitis, gastroesophageal reflux or bronchitis. There are number of other etiological agents behind coughing up phlegm. These consist of:

Postnasal Drip
Tuberculosis (TB).
Flu.

Lung cancer.
Acute or chronic bronchitis.
Alcohol addiction.

Asthma.

There are many foods that likewise increase the production of mucous. These ought to be avoided. These are as follow:

Milk products for instance yogurt, home cheese and cheese.

Chocolate.
Refined sugars.
Salty foods.

Soy.
Products consisting of Yeast.

Coloured Phlegm and Causes

Phlegm of any colour than the white is the clear sign of an infection or some other issue. It then becomes essential to seek help from a doctor for early treatment. Various colours of sputum or phlegm with their causes are as follow.

Yellow Phlegm

It is the indication of bacterial infection or a lower breathing tract infection such as sinusitis, bronchitis, cold, flu or allergy. Chronic breathing tract diseases may cause production of thick yellow sputum.

Brown Sputum

It is not so rare and is seen typically in smokers. It may likewise be the result of smog inhaling or can be the sign of existence of blood in sputum or any infection.

Green Phlegm

It is the indicator of a lung parenchyma infection such as pneumonia. It is commonly seen in condition of a post nasal drip. Avoid meat and dairy products to avoid it.

Red or Pink Coloured Sputum

Red sputum is the clear sign of a presence of blood unless mentioned otherwise. The severe infection is responsible for it and therefore needs an immediate medical attention.

Grey Sputum

Information verified by the iytmed.com team.

It is again seen in smokers and may be an indication of the air pollution inhalation.

Phlegm in Neonates and Children

Neonates and children are more susceptible to develop cough with phlegm. In them virus is typically the primary element. The typical cold bacteria causes this cough and phlegm in them.

Coughing and Sputum During Pregnancy

Cough, nasal congestion and sputum production are a few of the common grumbles during pregnancy. This is the result of hormonal fluctuations particularly estrogen that intensifies mucus production.

Symptoms

Cough with sputum can be accompanied by numerous other symptoms that suggest the hidden conditions. For example in case of TB, there are night sweats, fever, and weight loss along with severe cough. In case of common cold there are rhinorrhea, malaise, and body aches in combination with sore throat and cough with phlegm. Bronchitis is associated with painful breathing, coughing and fever. Also, there are connected symptoms that may assist to detect a disease effectively.

Diagnostic Tests

After general physical exam your doctor will ask you to undergo following diagnostic tests depending on your history. These are necessary to verify the cause and finding a disease. These include:.

Blood tests.

Chest X ray.
Sputum evaluation.
Tuberculin Skin Test.

ECG.
CT scan.

Treatment of Coughing Up Phlegm

Self Care:

Caring yourself is the best approach in dealing with such issues.

You can safeguard yourself by avoiding environmental irritants such as cigarette smoke, pollution and family pet dander.
Attempt to keep yourself sufficiently hydrated and eat healthy and healthy diet.

Often, mucous remains within the respiratory passages and creates inflammation and produces cough. In order to relieve the release of mucous you can set up a vaporizer where you stay the majority of the time. It will develop high humidity that may relieve the bronchial passages and might help to slacken the phlegm.
You can likewise use a hot compression over your chest.

Medical Treatment

To get a perfect treatment, it is necessary to visit a doctor who will recognize your primary issue and give you treatment accordingly. First you have to avoid making use of over the counter cough suppressants because they just produce sedation and also increase the risk of addiction. Your doctor might recommend you mucolytics as well as expectorants that soften the mucous and allow it to quickly spend and clear the respiratory passages. Antibiotics are also recommended in case of infection.

It is very important that no delay happens in the treatment of efficient cough. Otherwise, it can lead to serious effects and problems in respiration.

Treatment Neonates And Children

You can ease the efficient cough in your infants by giving them stream. Offer them hot steam for a duration of about 10 to 15 minutes. A warm steam vaporizer may likewise assist them in loosening their mucous and clearing the breathing passages.

They ought to be placed in the upright position during sleep. It allows them to breathe easily. Give them enough liquid so to keep them hydrated as well as to make their secretions thin.

Treatment During pregnancy

During pregnancy, the best way to avoid condition of coughing up phlegm is to care yourself. Pregnant women ought to avoid various irritants that may stimulate cough in them. Take steam or gargles with saline solution. These girls must prevent utilizing the unneeded medications as they might cause harmful affects on their infants.