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.
1 Chronic coughs last longer than 2 to 3 weeks. 2  Causes of chronic cough include. 3  water can help ease your cough-whether you drink it or add it to the air with a steamy shower or vaporizer. 4  If you have a cold or the flu, antihistamines may work better than non-prescription cough medicines.