Antitussive or mucolytic? What cough syrup to choose
Surely you will agree with us when we say that there is nothing more annoying than a coughing attack. And not any kind of cough, but that one that no matter how much you swallow saliva or carraspees does not calm down. In these cases, it is very common that the cough that causes this type of attack is known as dry cough (also called unproductive cough or irritative cough, mainly because it is a type of cough that does not secrete expectoration, ie, mucus or phlegm ).
In fact, With each attack of cough we tend to irritate our throat even more, which ultimately becomes a circle that bites the tail again each time we cough, as irritation will cause more coughing.
But far from what actually tends to think, we must not forget something fundamental: cough is not a disease or a problem, it is a defense mechanismthat our body uses to clean the respiratory tract of foreign substances or elements. Obviously, depending on whether the attack of cough is very intense or repetitive, it can become a problem.
Appears especially in the face of a flu or a cold, which cause infection and inflammation of the throat (pharyngitis). It also arises as a result of irritation and inflammation of the larynx (laryngitis), but it is important to know the different types of cough that can occur to know what treatment we should choose for relief.
And is that the cough can be dry or with mucus (phlegm). In the case that we are faced with a cough with phlegm means that there is an accumulation of mucus, present in our airways. As a consequence, our body uses cough as a mechanism of expulsion, with the aim of getting rid of that phlegm present in our throat and in our lungs.
In the case that we are facing a dry cough, the cause that causes its appearance is the irritation that occurs in the cough receptors, but in reality there is no need to expel mucus or secretions, since its cause is good different.
What syrup to choose? Antitussive or mucolytic?
Although the cough syrups fulfill the function of helping us to calm and relieve cough, the truth is that we must know the difference between antitussive syrups and mucolytic syrups, since their qualities will obviously be different.
Antitussive syrup
The antitussive syrup is also known as antitussive syrup. They are useful to relieve cough, especially dry or irritative cough, since they act on our central nervous system in order to reduce or eliminate the cough reflex.
On the one hand, the antitussive syrup depresses the bulbar center of the cough, numbing the afferent branch of the cough reflex, and also acts by modifying the mucociliary factors. In this way, it helps to calm and eliminate the cough.
And why are they useful in case of dry cough? Very simple, since the dry cough does not generate any kind of lubrication for the respiratory system, it tends to irritate it. And when irritated, the cough is prolonged, intensified and sharpened. The result? More cough appears, more intense and prolonged. Therefore they are useful, because they help to calm the cough by acting directly on the central nervous system.
The mucolytic syrup
Mucolytic syrup is also known as expectorant syrup. And, as its name suggests, They are useful to relieve productive cough, which secretes expectoration (mucus), so that it does not accumulate in our respiratory system and causes us major problems.
The cough, as we mentioned before, becomes a fundamental expulsion mechanism that precisely our body uses to eliminate the concentration of mucus present in the respiratory tract. But nevertheless, the mucolytic syrup helps accelerate the process of expulsion of mucus.
And how does the mucolytic syrup work? On the one hand, mucociliary clearance increases, a quality that translates to a better mucus fluid, thus decreasing both the frequency and the intensity of the cough. ThemesSyrup
