Hi, My son is 21 months old and has had a dry hacking cough for several weeks - months... however, whenever we go to the doctor, she says his lungs sound fine. He always seems congested, so I m always asking the doctor at his checkups... Usually the coughing is worse at night, but it strikes in the day, too. I m just trying to figure out at what point do I push this with the doctor or do I ride it out? If it s something like allergies, is there really anything we can do about it?
Thanks for putting up your query on Chat Doctor. I am sorry that your 21-month-old son is suffering from cough. Cough or Cory in medical terms is basically an allergic reaction that is triggered by agents like dust or viruses like respiratory synovial virus (RSV) or certain other viruses that are always around us. Our respiratory secretions have something called sol-gel ratio and normally get mobilized upward on its own but when this ratio gets disturbed and more gel-like, we call is cough, and it is no longer able to be moved up spontaneously and needs to be coughed out. When it is even Chat Doctor. 