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A nonproductive cough is dry and does not produce sputum. A dry, hacking cough may develop toward the end of a cold or after exposure to an irritant, such as dust or smoke. There are many causes of a nonproductive cough, such as: Viral illnesses. After...
A productive cough produces phlegm or mucus (sputum). The mucus may have drained down the back of the throat from the nose or sinuses (postnasal drainage) or may have come up from the lungs. A productive cough generally should not be suppressed; it clears...
A cough, in medicine, is a sudden and often repetitively occurring defence reflex which helps to clear the large breathing passages from excess secretions, irritants, foreign particles and microbes. The cough reflex consists of three phases: an inhalation...