If you’ve been struggling with a persistent cough that doesn’t go away despite treatments, the cause might not be in your lungs at all. Surprisingly, some digestive issues can trigger coughing, often leaving patients confused.
Dr Joseph Salhab, a board-certified gastroenterologist and popular health influencer known as @thestomachdoc on social media, shared in his September 22 Instagram post a surprising digestive condition that often goes unnoticed but can be the reason behind chronic cough.
Could your persistent cough actually be a digestive issue
“If you have constant throat clearing, a sour or bitter taste in your mouth, chronic cough, or a sensation of a lump in your throat that never seems to go away, these could be signs of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR),” Dr Joseph wrote in the caption.
In his post, he explained that many people are unaware of this medical fact, “Most people don’t know this. A constant need to clear your throat, a sour taste in your mouth, chronic cough, or a feeling or a sensation in your neck may not actually be from allergies, it could be from reflux. And when it tickles the voice box, it can cause you to chronically cough. This syndrome is called LPR, laryngopharyngeal reflux.”
Why is this condition often misdiagnosed
He added that LPR can be tricky to diagnose because patients sometimes don’t experience the typical symptoms of acid reflux. “Sometimes people with LPR don’t have the regular symptoms of acid reflux, which kind of makes it tricky to diagnose. This is why it’s often confused with allergies. If you have these symptoms and take allergy medications, you should talk to your doctor about LPR, maybe see a gastroenterologist who can work you up for acid reflux,” says Dr Joseph.
Dr Joseph also outlined the common treatments for LPR, which largely overlap with acid reflux management: “The treatment for LPR includes a lot of the treatments for acid reflux, which include dietary changes, weight loss, and anti-acid therapy.”
