What Is Acid Reflux Cough? How It Can Be Diagnosed?Acid reflux is a common indigestion problem which occurs when stomach acids and juices come into the esophagus. This condition has many symptoms including heartburn, chest pain, swallowing difficulties and dental erosion. Acid Reflux cough is one of the many symptoms associated with this ailment. The cough is not particularly a common symptom of this ailment. This makes the diagnosis difficult in some cases as the symptoms may mimic other conditions as well. The acid reflux cough usually occurs at night and is almost always persistent. This occurs when the refluxed acid irritates the wind pipe. Diagnosis of this particular type of cough is haphazard at the moment.
It usually relies on long therapeutic trials of expensive medications. This persistent cough can occur at any time, especially when you laugh, talk or after eating. The ailment acid reflux has long been known to be a top triggering factor for chronic cough conditions. Heart burn or sour burps are usually not present on patients who suffer from acid reflux coughs. Even a tiny amount of acid in your airways could cause acid reflux cough. Patients of emphysema and asthma are more prone to this ailment. Normal asthma or COPD medications will not help in this case. An acid reflux cough condition occurs when the gastric acid comes up high into the esophagus. In this state it is likely to trickle into the vocal chords and then make to the lower airway. An accurate diagnosis will be able to help in assessing this condition and get proper treatment. This is a difficult to diagnose condition however. Some of the diagnostic methods are as follows: Esophageal pH probes: A wire is passed down the nose and throat into the esophagus. The wire is attached to a box attached to the waist. It is expected to stay in the esophagus for 24 hours and measure the acidity in the esophagus fluid. The pH of the fluid is low when it is acidic. Needless to say, this particular method is not very comfortable for the patient. Trials of proton pump inhibition medications: PPI medication, include drugs which are used to suppress stomach acids. Though they can do little to stop gastric reflux, they do ensure that the reflux is not at least acidic. These medications may be prescribed by physicians to monitor any form of reaction by you. A trial of PPO to see whether it helps your cough usually lasts for about 2-3 months. For the duration the medication is to be taken for in heavy doses twice daily. Aeriflux: This is the latest method to diagnose an acid reflux cough. This works by identifying acid that is exhaled. If there is sufficient acid in your airway, your breath will also automatically become acidic. Aeriflux helps in collecting breath samples for diagnosis. These samples have to be taken right after a cough. These samples can then be sent to a laboratory for analysis. Therefore, acid reflux cough can be diagnosed and treated with proper care. Though the methods of diagnosis may not always be very comfortable, they can help in identifying the ailment and treating it. Once the diagnosis has proven this condition, treatment is only a doctor's appointment away. |