Acid Reflux May Cause Ongoing Sore Throat, Cough
If you have a sore throat and cough that won’t go away, a new Mayo Clinic study said that the cause may surprise you, and it may be very easy to treat, Dr. Bruce Hensel reported in an exclusive story for NBC4.
And the cure is simple.
Mary Labrash thought her cough was caused by a flower allergy or an infection.
“(I had) bronchitis that wouldn’t go away,” Labrash said. “A lot of times it was like I had laryngitis.”
Millions of people get those symptoms and think the same thing. But doctors at the Mayo Clinic found Labrash actually had acid reflux.
“In a small subset, (acid reflux) travels even farther up and causes throat symtoms,” Dr. Yvonne Romero, of the Mayo Clinic, said.
That can happen while you sleep lying down. The next day you have a chronic cough, a feeling of something being stuck in your throat, hoarseness and a sore throat.
A simple treatment is antacids that reduce acid already in the stomach or that block some acid production.
After a few weeks of treatment, Labrash’s symptoms began to disappear.
Her voice sounds better, and she no longer coughs.
All chronic coughs and hoarseness should be worked up to make sure nothing else is causing them, Hensel reported. Some doctors don’t even think of this to diagnose acid reflux. If you have these symptoms, talk to your doctor about them. Antacids may be the simple cure.
(info from http://www.nbc4.tv/health/4696911/detail.html)