In my home and the the homes of our clients it is not uncommon to have a child coughing for what seems to be a long period of time. In practice, and regarding coughs, clients ask questions along the lines of …… should I be concerned? It seems to have been occurring for a couple weeks, do you think it can be something (more) serious? Thankfully, In January of 2013 the Annals of Family Medicine published an article to help health care providers and parents make informed decisions. In this article there was a distinct mismatch between parents expectations and the review of scientific evidence of published/actual data.
Facts according to this article:
-The duration of cough in published literature is 18 days vs parents reported 5-7 days.
-Cough is approximately 2-3% of visits to outpatient physicians.
-Typically, coughs are self-limited and caused by viruses….. many times antibiotics are requested and/or administered.
-The rate of antibiotic prescribed/use for acute cough “remains too high”According to the authors, it is important for parents and patients to know it is normal to still be coughing 2 or 3 weeks after onset. They go on to say ‘only seek medical care if they are worsening or if an alarming symptom such as high fever, cloudy sputum or shortness of breath occurs.’
-The duration of cough in published literature is 18 days vs parents reported 5-7 days.
-Cough is approximately 2-3% of visits to outpatient physicians.
-Typically, coughs are self-limited and caused by viruses….. many times antibiotics are requested and/or administered.
-The rate of antibiotic prescribed/use for acute cough “remains too high”According to the authors, it is important for parents and patients to know it is normal to still be coughing 2 or 3 weeks after onset. They go on to say ‘only seek medical care if they are worsening or if an alarming symptom such as high fever, cloudy sputum or shortness of breath occurs.’
In my experience, chiropractic care is an excellent option for boosting the immune system via the central nervous system. Often the physical discomfort experienced with a cough is relieved by aligning the body. Additionally, we are allowing the body to work through the sickness/cough process. When symptoms are suppressed without addressing the problem the result is a larger stress on the body.
Annals of Family Medicine – January/February 2013; Vol. 11; No. 1; pp.5-13
http://www.annfammed.org
