Have Little Chest Congestion With Cough. Getting Relief While On Antibiotic. Any Permanent Cure?

Posted on Mon, 7 Jan 2013

Question: Hi There , my name is XXXXXXX. I am chronic sinus patient . Also , I had had PTB ( its cured ). Now , I have an issue of little chest congestion with cough. If I continue with antibiotic and some other medicine , I feel OK . But as soon as the medicine is over. I start little cough and chest congestion again.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Naveen Kumar Nanjasetty (1 hour later)

Hi

Thanks for posting the query

If you are sure that PTB has been cured, then the cause of your cough and chest congestion could be chronic sinusitis.

During an nose gets congested, because of which there will be blockage of the sinus opening leading to stagnation of the secretions in the sinus and increased viscosity. Stagnation of the secretions gives rise to headache and nasal infection. When the infected secretions trickle down into the throat it can cause irritation of the throat, followed by cough and difficulty in swallowing.

Apart from antibiotics you need to follow other measures to get rid of sinusitis.

1. Drink plenty of warm water – this helps in improving the blood circulation, keeping the mucosa moist and relief from pain
2. Use saline nasal spray followed by steam inhalation 3-4 times a day - this helps in removing the thick secretions from the sinuses and thus reduces the nasal block and cough.
3. A mucolytic such as bromhexine or ambroxol will be beneficial in reducing the consistency of the sinus secretions and effective clearing of the sinuses.
4. If the symptoms do not improve, request your doctor to get a CT scan of the nose and the paranasal sinuses done to assess the extent of the blocked sinuses and the anatomy.
5. Also, avoid smoking/chilled food & beverages/coffee till you recover.

Hope I have answered your queries; I will be available for the follow-up queries.

Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar N.
ENT and Head & Neck Surgeon

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar