Contact & Location Information
Address
729 Arapeen Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84108
Treating Chronic Coughing Lasting Longer Than One Month
The Chronic Cough Clinic treats patients who have chronic cough that doesn’t get better with conventional treatments.
Our clinic is interdisciplinary. We combine treatments from pulmonary, ENT, and behavioral speech therapy to find the best treatments for cough when other treatments don’t work.
Why Do I Have a Cough That Won't Go Away?
A cough can last for weeks, months, or even years. A cough that lasts up to eight weeks or more is considered a chronic cough; these types of cough usually start with a respiratory infection.
The most common causes of chronic cough include the following:
- post-nasal drip
- asthma & allergies
- GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) also called acid reflux
- chronic bronchitis
- ACE inhibitors (treatment for hypertension and cardiac problems)
But even if you’ve been treated for these diseases, your cough may not go away.
If you’ve been treated for any of these conditions but you still have a cough, talk to your provider about getting a referral to our clinic.
Meet the Interdisciplinary Team
The chronic cough clinic is designed with the goal to address identify and address cough in a comprehensive manner. During your visit, you will meet with a pulmonologist (Dr. Sundar) and a speech-language pathologist who will evaluate you to assess and treat the cough.
Treatments for Chronic Cough
During an appointment, we use a scope to look in a patient's upper airway and do a laryngeal exam. Our goal is to evaluate for all conditions that lead to persistent, disabling cough.
We also give a comprehensive evaluation to see if any other problems might be causing the cough, including:
- pulmonary (lung) problems,
- ENT (ear, nose, throat) problems,
- laryngeal problems, and
- sleep problems.
Behavioral Therapy Treatments for Chronic Cough
Persistent cough can be caused by a condition called cough hypersensitivity syndrome.
This is when your cough reflex gets more sensitive, causing you to cough when you're exposed to even small stimuli like talking, smelling perfumes, drinking cold liquid, etc.
Cough hypersensitivity syndrome often gets better after behavioral speech therapy techniques that we offer in this clinic.
For Referring Providers: When to Refer Your Patient to the Chronic Cough Clinic
Please refer your patient to the Cough Clinic even if they have normal X-ray results or normal breathing tests.
Our clinic is interdisciplinary, combining providers in:
- pulmonary,
- ENT, and
- behavioral speech therapy.
This means specialists from multiple areas will work together to find the best treatments for your patient.
To refer your patient, please call:
- 801-587-3550
From Our Specialists
Solving Your Chronic Cough Results in Better Well-Being
Krishna M. Sundar, MD, the medical director of U of U Health's Sleep-Wake Center, reports that a substantial proportion of patients persist with their cough that can't be attributed to a common cause.