Cough clinic offers patients relief

Cleveland Clinic Florida diagnoses patients with chronic cough

WESTON, Fla. – A team of doctors at the Cleveland Clinic Florida are working to address the causes of chronic cough and offer patients relief.

For two years, David Hintzke battled a chronic cough.

"It was affecting my sleep, affecting my wife," said Hintzke. "I was at the point where I was heading - they did tests on me and the tests told them, if this continues, you're going to the hospital."

Hintzke found relief at the Cleveland Clinic Florida's cough clinic.

"There are people who've seen many times in the urgent care and seen their physician for cough and they've done a chest x-ray and a cat scan and we don't see anything and they have received multiple courses of antibiotics and those are the patients we see in our clinic here," said Dr. Gustavo Ferrer.

The clinic brings together a variety of experts to assess and treat the patient.

"The whole intention is in a short period of time, we try to make a diagnosis for those patient," said Ferrer.

The most common cause of a chronic cough is smoking. Acid reflux, sinus problems, and blood pressure medications can also lead to a chronic cough.

"So when we put it all together, we can get proper treatment," said Ferrer.

Doctors prescribed the occasional use of nasal spray for Hintzke.

"I had no idea. I'm glad I went. They made a big difference," he said.

Research shows that diets high in fruit fiber and flavonoids may help prevent some types of chronic cough.

Designated cough clinics have an 85 to 90 percent success rate in identifying the cause of a chronic cough and relieving it with proper treatment.