If you've been coughing for two weeks or longer, with or without a cold, you may have bronchitis.
A lingering cough is the most common symptom of bronchitis, according to Yarden Tahan, MD, an HonorHealth family medicine physician. Bronchitis usually is caused by a virus. It causes inflamed airways, which results in a cough.
"Unfortunately, you can't avoid it because the virus can be in the air you breathe or on the surfaces you touch. It can be transmitted by close family members or strangers in the grocery store," says Dr. Tahan.
In addition to viral infections, bronchitis can be caused by a bacterial infection, tobacco smoke, air pollution, fumes, vapors and dust.
Bronchitis can be either acute or chronic, depending on how long you've been coughing and what other symptoms arise.
If you have acute bronchitis, your cough generally lasts fewer than six weeks, with about three weeks being the most common.
Chronic bronchitis
If you have chronic bronchitis, your cough generally lasts longer than six weeks because the airways are repeatedly irritated by one or more of the causes listed above, especially tobacco smoke.
In addition to persistent coughing, you may have these symptoms:
- Tightness in your chest
- Mucus when you cough
- Body aches
- Stuffy nose and sinuses
- Wheezing
- Sore throat
- Breathlessness
- Headache
- Fever and/or chills
Either type of bronchitis can go away naturally by practicing self-care at home, including:
- Washing your hands frequently.
- Sanitizing surfaces you touch, such as light switches and doorknobs.
- Using over-the-counter medications, including cough drops and pain relievers.
- Drinking lots of fluids, including tea with honey.
- Staying at home to avoid spreading the disease.
It's not always necessary to see your doctor if you're a young, healthy person with no history of lung disease and no difficulty breathing. But it can be useful to be evaluated so your doctor can ensure you don't have pneumonia.
Watch for pneumonia
Pneumonia is suspected in a patient who comes in with cough but who also has these symptoms:
- Fast heartbeat
- Fast breathing
- Difficulty breathing
- Abnormal breath sounds
And, partially because of the decline in vaccination rates, whooping cough is also a possibility for a patient with a persistent cough, particularly one that sounds like a bark or whooping noise. Whooping cough also is often accompanied by vomiting after a cough.
"Physicians don't recommend antibiotics for bronchitis because it's usually caused by a virus," says Dr. Tahan. "The negative side effects from the antibiotics — yeast infections, diarrhea, C. diff (clostridium difficile) — are more concerning than the minimal benefit you would receive from antibiotic use."
Bronchitis can create an environment in the lungs that's hospitable to pneumonia in some cases — especially in very young or older patients, or in those who are immunocompromised, have existing lung disease or who smoke.
If you have one of these risk factors or are not getting better after a few weeks, you should see your doctor. If you have any pneumonia symptoms, you should see your doctor sooner rather than later.
Bronchitis is so common that Dr. Tahan sees several bronchitis patients each week, especially during the winter. She advises supportive care, not more care, to treat what's happening first.