How long can a dry cough last

Table of Contents Show

• The Downsides of Antibiotics
• How long does it take to get rid of a dry cough?
• How do you get rid of a dry linger cough?
• How do I know if my cough is serious?
• What causes long lasting dry cough?

MONDAY, Jan. 14, 2013 — Once you develop a cough, how many days should you expect to have it? Researchers at the University of Georgia in Athens found that our expectations for how long a cough should last don’t quite match up with reality, and that this gap may account for why so many people go to their doctors and ask for antibiotics when they have a cough.

The researchers looked at data in 19 studies that included 23 to 1,230 subjects each to find out how long an acute cough lasted in patients with acute bronchitis — a condition people often refer to as a chest cold (as opposed to a head cold in which the symptoms are mostly nasal). They found the average duration of a cough among the people in the studies was 17.8 days.

Then they surveyed almost 500 adults to find out if their expectations for how long a cough should last matched up with clinical data.

In the survey, they asked about 500 Georgia residents 18 years-old and older, “[S]uppose that you get sick and the main symptom is a cough. You are coughing up yellow mucus and have a slight fever. You are not taking any medicine for the cough. About how long do you expect that it will take from the time you first feel sick until the time where you feel well and the cough is gone?”

Study author Mark Ebell, MD, Associate Professor at the College of Public Health at the university, says that those polled generally thought a cough should last an average of seven to nine days.

Men and nonwhite respondents predicted a shorter cough duration, while those with self-reported asthma or chronic lung disease predicted a longer cough duration.

“I knew that bronchitis will often last a couple of weeks, but I wanted to see if this was my impression or if it is real,” says Dr. Ebell. “[Now] we have pretty good evidence the mismatch [between patient expectations and clinical data] is real, so we need to do more to educate patients about what they can expect when they get a chest cold.”

He says he often sees patients in his practice who, if they don’t get better from bronchitis after four or five days, think they need antibiotics.

“As soon as people see a doctor" for a cough or cold, he says, "60 percent or more will get an antibiotic for it, while only a small percentage would need an antibiotic or benefit from it."

The Downsides of Antibiotics

Of course, some people with a chest cold or cough should seek treatment from a doctor: those who are chronically ill, elderly, or very young, or patients who are short of breath or cough up blood. But most people don’t fit in those categories and could ride out the sickness and let the cough run its course — without taking antibiotics, says Ebell.

There are many downsides to taking antibiotics. One of the main reasons physicians worry about over-prescription of antibiotics is that they are concerned bacteria will become resistant to the medicines available, which could be dangerous for those who develop pneumonia or another serious infection and desperately need antibiotics to work.

Another reason is nasty side effects. About 10 to 20 percent of those that take antibiotics experience diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting, and in some cases people develop severe diarrhea that can be life-threatening and lead to hospitalization, Ebell says.

There’s also the cost of antibiotics. Going to the doctor and paying for antibiotics is a lot more costly and time-consuming than simply going to the nearest drug store for an over-the-counter cough medicine, Ebell says: “We spend so much more than any other country in the world on healthcare because we’re spending money on things that don’t make us healthier, and this is a good example of that.”

The study was published in the January/February issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.

While many coughs can be treated with an over-the-counter cold medication and Mom's advice to rest up and drink lots of fluids, sometimes a cough is a sign of something more serious than a cold. Make sure you see a doctor if your cough is accompanied by chest pain, wheezing, or shortness of breath, if you cough up blood or yellow or green mucus, if you have a fever of 101 or higher, if you've lost weight, or if you're soaking the sheets with night sweats.

A cough that lingers past eight weeks is considered a chronic cough and could be related to gastroesophageal reflux disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, allergies, smoking, and in rare cases, even lung cancer.

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A little coughing can be a good thing. It's your body's way of expelling microbes, allergens, and other unwanted invaders from your airways. Most coughs go away on their own in a few days or a couple of weeks. But some coughs can linger, lasting a month or longer, and might make you wonder if something more serious is going on. A cough that lasts eight weeks or more is considered chronic, according to the American Lung Association.

Whenever a cough lasts that long—and especially if it's accompanied by other worrisome symptoms–it needs to be checked out by a medical professional. Luckily, 90% of the time, it's related to post-nasal drip, acid reflux, or asthma, per UpToDate. In the minority of cases, a persistent cough can be something more serious—an infection like pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and even lung cancer.

Even if it's just due to a lingering cold, a chronic cough can have significant repercussions of its own, like making it hard to sleep or causing you to strain muscles, sweat, and feel dizzy. Your voice may become hoarse and, in some cases, your bladder may even leak.

If you have a chronic cough, ask yourself these questions to decide if you need to seek medical attention.

This may be your main clue that something is amiss. Most coughs—like the ones caused by colds and the flu–go away on their own within three weeks, according to MedlinePlus. These coughs also tend to get better gradually as time passes.

"In general, we don't [worry] about a chronic cough until it has been present for about four weeks," Norman Edelman, MD, senior scientific advisor for the American Lung Association, told Health. "If you've had a really bad cold, sometimes it takes six to eight weeks for a cough to go away, and I wouldn't worry about it if there's a clear-cut, obvious cause."

If a cough with no obvious cause lasts beyond the four-week mark, and definitely if any cough lasts longer than eight weeks, see your healthcare provider, says the American Lung Association. It's probably nothing serious, but at the very least they may be able to relieve some of your discomfort.

"In general, when someone comes in with a chronic cough, we can identify the cause and treat it," Joshua Septimus, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital, told Health.

Consider what your cough is like. Is it just a polite, little ahem that hardly anyone notices, or is it severe hacking that causes you to double over and others to move far, far away?

"If you're coughing your head off, it's a big deal," said Dr. Edelman. "If you're waking up at night, it's a big deal."

Extreme coughing may be a sign of something serious like an infection, but even if it's not, a cough that interferes with your quality of life is reason enough to seek help. One study published in 2021 in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice found that chronic cough was self-reported to be a burdensome condition.

Average colds usually produce white or clear sputum. That isn't a big deal. Yellow or green mucus, on the other hand, suggests a more serious infection or other underlying cause, according to MedlinePlus.

"If you are raising colored sputum, you should see a doctor," said Dr. Edelman.

The same goes if your coughing is making you tired or light-headed, results in chest or stomach pain, or causes your bladder to leak—all of which can be complications of chronic cough, according to a 2020 article published in Chest.

If you're coughing up blood, you should be concerned. "That's one of those alarm-bell symptoms that you really need to see your doctor," said Dr. Septimus. "The most common cause is bronchitis, but you don't want to assume that."

It could also be pneumonia, a blood clot in the lung, tuberculosis, lung cancer, or an autoimmune disease such as lupus, according to MedlinePlus.

"If you're coughing up blood, you need a chest X-ray," said Dr. Septimus. Per MedlinePlus, you should seek immediate medical attention if you cough up more than a few teaspoons of blood or have other symptoms such as chest pain, dizziness, or severe shortness of breath.

If you have a runny nose and a sore throat, there's a good chance the cough is just from a cold, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Other symptoms, especially shortness of breath, could spell bigger trouble.

"In the context of a cough this is very important because it can indicate a number of different things," said Dr. Septimus. Not being able to catch your breath could mean whooping cough (pertussis) or asthma. It could also mean tuberculosis, COPD, lung cancer, or heart failure.

According to a 2018 article published in Patient Assessment in Clinical Pharmacy, asthma can come not only with a cough but also with wheezing and chest tightness. Tuberculosis typically also causes weight loss, while swelling in your legs, especially when you're lying down, could indicate heart failure. A fever could signal pneumonia, bronchitis, or whooping cough.

See your healthcare provider right away any time you have a high fever, if the cough or shortness of breath comes on suddenly, or if you have chest pain.

If you have a cough that just won't go away (lasting weeks on end), if you are coughing up blood or yellow or green mucus, or you simply feel like something is off, it's best to see a healthcare provider about it. While it could turn out to be nothing, it could also turn out to be something, and a healthcare provider can help you determine the best treatment options based on your particular cough and other symptoms.

How long does it take to get rid of a dry cough?

How do you get rid of a dry linger cough?

How do I know if my cough is serious?

What causes long lasting dry cough?