When to see a doctor

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Call your doctor if your cough (or your child's cough) doesn't go away after a few weeks or if it also involves any one of these:

  • Coughing up thick, greenish-yellow phlegm
  • Wheezing
  • Experiencing a fever
  • Experiencing shortness of breath
  • Experiencing fainting
  • Experiencing ankle swelling or weight loss

Seek emergency care if you or your child is:

  • Choking or vomiting
  • Having difficulty breathing or swallowing
  • Coughing up bloody or pink-tinged phlegm
  • Experiencing chest pain

Self-care measures

Cough medicines usually are used only when cough is an acute condition, causes a lot of discomfort, interferes with sleep and is not associated with any of the potentially worrisome symptoms indicated above. If you use cough medicine, be sure to follow the dosing instructions.

Over-the-counter cough and cold medicines are intended to treat the symptoms of coughs and colds, not the underlying disease. Research suggests that these medicines haven't been proved to work any better than inactive medicine (placebo). More important, these medications have potentially serious side effects, including fatal overdoses in children younger than 2 years old.

Don't use over-the-counter medicines, except for fever reducers and pain relievers, to treat coughs and colds in children younger than 6 years old. Also, consider avoiding use of these medicines for children younger than 12 years old.

To ease your cough, try these tips:

  • Suck cough drops or hard candies. They may ease a dry cough and soothe an irritated throat. Don't give them to a child under age 6, however, because of the risk of choking.
  • Consider taking honey. A teaspoon of honey may help loosen a cough. Don't give honey to children younger than 1 year old because honey can contain bacteria harmful to infants.
  • Moisturize the air. Use a cool mist humidifier or take a steamy shower.
  • Drink fluids. Liquid helps thin the mucus in your throat. Warm liquids, such as broth tea or lemon juice, can soothe your throat.
  • Avoid tobacco smoke. Smoking or breathing secondhand smoke can make your cough worse.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

June 13, 2020

See also

  1. Acute bronchitis: Is it contagious?
  2. Acute sinusitis
  3. Acute sinusitis: Do over-the-counter treatments help?
  4. Adjuvant therapy for cancer
  5. Albuterol side effects
  6. Allergies
  7. Allergy medications: Know your options
  8. Allergy-proof your home
  9. Aortic aneurysm
  10. Asbestosis
  11. Ascariasis
  12. Asthma attack
  13. Asthma: Colds and flu
  14. Atelectasis
  15. Atypical cells: Are they cancer?
  16. Barrett's esophagus
  17. Barrett's Study Results
  18. Bile reflux
  19. Biopsy procedures
  20. Bird flu (avian influenza)
  21. Blood tests for heart disease
  22. Aortic surgery: What patients need to know — Mayo Clinic
  23. Treating Pericarditis
  24. Video: Valve-sparing aortic root replacement
  25. Bronchitis
  26. COVID-19 and vitamin D
  27. Can vitamins help prevent a heart attack?
  28. Cancer
  29. Cancer
  30. Cancer blood tests
  31. Myths about cancer causes
  32. Infographic: Cancer Clinical Trials Offer Many Benefits
  33. Cancer diagnosis: 11 tips for coping
  34. Cancer-related fatigue
  35. Cancer pain: Relief is possible
  36. Cancer risk: What the numbers mean
  37. Cancer surgery
  38. Cancer survival rate
  39. Cancer survivors: Care for your body after treatment
  40. Cancer survivors: Late effects of cancer treatment
  41. Cancer survivors: Managing your emotions after cancer treatment
  42. Cancer treatment myths
  43. Cardiac asthma: What causes it?
  44. Castleman disease
  45. Chelation therapy for heart disease: Does it work?
  46. Chemotherapy side effects: A cause of heart disease?
  47. COPD
  48. Chronic sinusitis
  49. Churg-Strauss syndrome
  50. Cold and flu viruses: How long can they live outside the body?
  51. Cold or allergy: Which is it?
  52. Cold remedies
  53. Cold symptoms: Does drinking milk increase phlegm?
  54. Common cold
  55. Common cold in babies
  56. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
  57. COVID-19: How can I protect myself?
  58. Herd immunity and coronavirus
  59. COVID-19 and pets
  60. COVID-19 and your mental health
  61. COVID-19, cold, allergies and the flu
  62. COVID-19 drugs: Are there any that work?
  63. Long-term effects of COVID-19
  64. COVID-19 in babies and children
  65. Coronavirus infection by race
  66. COVID-19 travel advice
  67. COVID-19 vaccines for kids: What you need to know
  68. COVID-19 vaccines
  69. COVID-19 variant
  70. COVID-19 vs. flu: Similarities and differences
  71. COVID-19: Who's at higher risk of serious symptoms?
  72. Croup
  73. Curcumin: Can it slow cancer growth?
  74. Daily aspirin therapy
  75. Debunking coronavirus myths
  76. Cancer-related diarrhea
  77. Different COVID-19 vaccines
  78. Dilated cardiomyopathy
  79. Dust mite allergy
  80. Dysphagia
  81. Early HIV symptoms: What are they?
  82. Eating during cancer treatment: Tips to make food tastier
  83. Egg allergy
  84. Ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis
  85. Enlarged heart
  86. Esophageal Cancer
  87. Esophageal cancer
  88. Esophagitis
  89. Fasting diet: Can it improve my heart health?
  90. Fight coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission at home
  91. Flu masks
  92. Flu shots
  93. Flu shots and heart disease
  94. Flu: When to see a doctor?
  95. Flu vaccine: Safe for people with egg allergy?
  96. Football Spinal Cord Injury - The Chris Norton Story
  97. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
  98. GERD: Can certain medications make it worse?
  99. Goiter
  100. Granulomatosis with polyangiitis
  101. Grass-fed beef
  102. Group B strep disease
  103. H1N1 flu (swine flu)
  104. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
  105. Healthy Heart for Life!
  106. Heart cancer: Is there such a thing?
  107. Heart disease
  108. Heart disease in women: Understand symptoms and risk factors
  109. Heart failure
  110. Heart failure and sex: Is it safe?
  111. Heart-healthy diet: 8 steps to prevent heart disease
  112. Heart murmurs
  113. Heartburn medicines and B-12 deficiency
  114. High-dose flu vaccines: How are they different from other flu vaccines?
  115. High-dose vitamin C: Can it kill cancer cells?
  116. Histoplasmosis
  117. HIV/AIDS
  118. Hodgkin's lymphoma (Hodgkin's disease)
  119. Hodgkin's vs. non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: What's the difference?
  120. Holiday Heart
  121. Honey: An effective cough remedy?
  122. How do COVID-19 antibody tests differ from diagnostic tests?
  123. How well do face masks protect against COVID-19?
  124. Humidifiers
  125. Influenza (flu)
  126. Interstitial lung disease
  127. Is hydroxychloroquine a treatment for COVID-19?
  128. Laryngitis
  129. What causes laryngospasm?
  130. Legionnaires' disease
  131. Low blood counts
  132. Lung cancer
  133. Lung Cancer
  134. Infographic: Lung Cancer
  135. Lung nodules: Can they be cancerous?
  136. Mayo Clinic Minute: You're washing your hands all wrong
  137. Mayo Clinic Minute: How dirty are common surfaces?
  138. Measles
  139. Measles vaccine: Can I get the measles if I've already been vaccinated?
  140. Menus for heart-healthy eating
  141. Mesothelioma
  142. Milk allergy
  143. Mitral valve stenosis
  144. Monoclonal antibody drugs
  145. Mort Crim and Cancer
  146. Mouth sores caused by cancer treatment: How to cope
  147. Nasal Cleaning
  148. Neti pot: Can it clear my nose?
  149. No appetite? How to get nutrition during cancer treatment
  150. Nonallergic rhinitis
  151. Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
  152. Nuts and your heart: Eating nuts for heart health
  153. He's the bravest kid I've ever seen
  154. Omega-3 in fish
  155. Omega-6 fatty acids
  156. Opera Star's Surgery
  157. Pectus excavatum
  158. Pectus excavatum
  159. Pericardial effusion
  160. Pericarditis
  161. Pet allergy
  162. Pleurisy
  163. Plugged ears: What is the remedy?
  164. Pneumonia
  165. Pneumonitis
  166. Polypill: Does it treat heart disease?
  167. Pregnancy and COVID-19
  168. Pulmonary edema
  169. Pulmonary embolism
  170. Pulmonary fibrosis
  171. Recurrent breast cancer
  172. Red wine, antioxidants and resveratrol
  173. Researchers Develop New Stents for Complex Aortic Aneurysms
  174. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
  175. Roseola
  176. Safe outdoor activities during the COVID-19 pandemic
  177. Safety tips for attending school during COVID-19
  178. Sarcoidosis
  179. Self-care for the flu
  180. Self-Image During Cancer
  181. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
  182. Sex and COVID-19
  183. Sinus headaches
  184. Sinus infection and toothache: Any connection?
  185. Sjogren's syndrome
  186. Small cell, large cell cancer: What this means
  187. Spinal cord injury
  188. Stevens-Johnson syndrome
  189. Heart disease prevention
  190. Super Survivor Conquers Cancer
  191. Thoracic aortic aneurysm
  192. Throat cancer
  193. Treating COVID-19 at home
  194. Tuberculosis
  195. Tuberous sclerosis
  196. Tumor vs. cyst: What's the difference?
  197. Unusual symptoms of coronavirus
  198. Valley fever
  199. Vascular rings
  200. Vicks VapoRub: An effective nasal decongestant?
  201. Asthma attack video
  202. Cryotherapy
  203. Video: Heart and circulatory system
  204. How cancer spreads
  205. PICC line placement
  206. Radiofrequency ablation
  207. Walking pneumonia
  208. Warm-mist versus cool-mist humidifier: Which is better for a cold?
  209. Heart failure action plan
  210. What's the difference between H1N1 flu and influenza A?
  211. When cancer returns: How to cope with cancer recurrence
  212. Whipple's disease
  213. Whooping cough
  214. Whooping cough
  215. Do zinc supplements shorten colds?