To minimize the health risks of a non-mainstream treatment. 1  Discuss it with your doctor. It might have side effects or interact with other medicines. 2  Find out what the research says about it. 3  Choose practitioners carefully. 4  Tell all of your doctors and practitioners about all of the different types of treatments you use.
1 Acute coughs usually begin rapidly and are often due to a cold, flu, or sinus infection. They usually go away after 3 weeks. 2  Subacute coughs last 3 to 8 weeks.  Chronic coughs last longer than 3 weeks.
A cough that has lasted for between three and eight weeks is termed a âsub-acute cough.â And coughing that has been going on for more than eight weeks is termed a âchronic coughâ. While some people have been coughing for years, the cause of a cough can be determined in at least 90% of these cases. 1  Therapies for a cough have a success rate of at least 85%, and therefore, treatments should be aimed at the underlying cause, rather than just medications that cover up a cough temporarily.