Chronic or Refractory cough is a common condition we treat at Summit Speech Therapy. It is defined as:
A cough that lasts 8+ weeks despite treatment.
Can be caused by a variety of illnesses and conditions however typically lasts even after initial illness is treated.
Cough is typically a dry cough.
Can interrupt sleep.
Up to 18% of the US population has chronic cough.
About 20% of cough patients end up with Refractory Chronic Cough.
Research Says
In a study of SLPs who see patients with chronic cough
The majority of patients had cough for 9+ months before referral to SLP .
Most patients had seen 2-3+ physicians including specalists.
70% of patients were at least moderately frustrated by the number of doctors and/or tests they had to do.
Once cough therapy was initiated, 87% of patients had significant improvement within 4 weeks.
Treatment
Comprehensive evaluation regarding nature of cough and triggers.
Education on chronic cough cycle.
Laryngeal desensitization.
Behavioral cough replacement.
Improve vocal hygiene.
Improve voice efficiency.
Treat any concurrent voice disorder.
Most of our Patient’s see improvement in as little as 2 visits
