Stop that
cough.
Evidence-based treatment
for persistent, chronic cough.
3 locations across Melbourne.
Telehealth, Australia-wide.
Clinical Pathways
Welcome. The Cough Clinic is the first, dedicated clinical service for chronic cough in Australia, offering a choice of treatment pathways including multidisciplinary team assessment in Melbourne, as well as successful, evidence-based therapies in-clinic or via telehealth consultation across Australia. Multidisciplinary evaluation is advised if you have not seen a medical practitioner in the last 12 months, however many patients have undergone numerous specialist investigations to no avail and are keen to start rehabilitative therapy as soon as possible. Ready to fix that cough?
Multi-discIplinary evaluation
Joint ENT Surgeon and Speech Pathologist assessment with bulk-billed naso-endoscopy.
Bulleen, Melbourne
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In-clINIC,
COUGH Therapy
Rehabilitative cough therapy.
3 Locations across Melbourne
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TElehealth,
COUGH therapy
Rehabilitative cough therapy.
Australia-wide
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Relief at last…
Our approach to the management of chronic cough has changed the lives of many patients for the better. Preferring to view chronic cough as a symptom, not a diagnosis, we search for potential causes and then tailor treatment to your unique clinical picture. Medical treatment works some of the time but not always, and with the emergence of cough therapy, we now have a proven, effective treatment for these particularly stubborn cases of chronic cough, as either a treatment adjunct, or a substitute for those that have exhausted medical treatment. Cough therapy has enjoyed a very high clinical success rate and with the option of telehealth, access is now both easy and affordable.
Cough Treatment
≤ 4 sessions required
Cough therapy is not normally a protracted process and most patients are discharged after 4 treatment sessions or less.
How does it work?
At The Cough Clinic, initial assessment looks to exclude or account for potential organic causes, including a thorough, patient-focussed case history. Our multidisciplinary evaluation routinely involves ENT fibreoptic nasendoscopy of the upper airway, but for those choosing to start therapy directly, your care may involve facilitation of this procedure, or referral to a wider medical care team to instigate unexplored work-ups such as lung function tests, chest imaging and reflux testing. Such referrals are more likely if you have not been reviewed by a medical specialists in the last 12 months. Written reports are provided to your GP for continuity of care.
Chronic cough therapy is essentially an airway desensitisation program with supplementary treatment of associated conditions and causes, such as inducible laryngeal obstruction, acid or non-acid reflux, and voice disorders. Treatment is non-intrusive and seeks to moderate cough reflex sensitivity by optimising throat/airway hygiene, recovering mucosal integrity and barrier function, progressively attenuating the stimulation of cough receptors, and improving both the awareness and control of cough. If treatment doesn't work, you may be recommended to undergo testing for less common causes.
Cough clinicians are university trained allied health professionals with qualifications in speech pathology and advanced training in middle/upper airway disorders. Chronic cough and speech therapy are curious bedfellows and yet appropriately aligned given the accompanying expertise in head and neck pathology and ability to elicit behavioural change. Chronic cough treatment can be successful for both adults and children (usually over the age of five). We take clinical evidence seriously. Cough therapy is an evidence-based program with science at its core.
3,895 +
Patients and counting
3 Locations across Melbourne
MOONEE PONDS
ENT North
65 Holmes Rd
Moonee Ponds VIC 3039
BULLEEN
Melbourne Specialist Rooms
52 Templestowe Rd
Bulleen VIC 3105
BOX HILL
ENT Victoria
Suite 1, 28-32 Arnold St
Box Hill VIC 3128
Do you have a chronic cough?
A cough is typically labelled a ‘chronic cough’ if the duration of persistent coughing exceeds 8 weeks (or 4 weeks for children). As a helpful, protective reflex, we all experience short-lasting or ‘acute’ coughs from time to time when exposed to airborne irritants or during a respiratory tract infection. For some of us however, the cough can out-stay its welcome and the urge to cough or clear the throat persists for many months, years or even decades. Still got that tickle in the throat? Does it feel like there’s phlegm or something stuck there? Although chronic coughing is a symptom, the term ‘chronic cough’ is also used medically as a diagnosis of exclusion following failure to establish a cause and failure to respond to empirical treatment. Roughly 20% of chronic cough patients do not respond to extensive medical work-ups and medications, leaving many frustrated by a lack of cure and unaware that there are further treatment pathways, such as the those at our specialised chronic cough clinic.
Impact
It’s not all in your head! The underlying problem in chronic cough remains undiscovered in almost 1 in 10 Australians at some stage in their lives, often with profound occupational, social and financial consequences. Debilitating side effects of constant coughing include sleep disturbance, urinary incontinence, depression, headaches, fatigue, hoarseness, gagging and vomiting. You may have been told to ‘live with it’, but we enjoy putting a stop to that.
Underlying Causes
Chronic cough causes can be varied and frequently multi-factorial, with interplay of conditions such as post-viral airway irritation, reflux, asthma, rhino-sinusitis, inducible laryngeal obstruction (aka paradoxical vocal fold motion), obstructive sleep apnoea, cigarette smoking and long-term use of ACE Inhibitors. Prevailing theories seeking to explain chronic refractory cough point to hypersensitivity of the throat and/or central reflex sensitisation as playing substantive roles. In many cases a prolonged cough-injury-cough cycle is thought to induce neuropathic changes in the upper airway that then leads to the development of a cough hypersensitivity syndrome. Breaking this vicious cycle is often a key element of cough therapy.
Post-COVID Cough
The social stigma associated with coughing in public has been compounded by the advent of COVID-19. Numbers vary greatly between studies but a pooled analysis of the prevalence of persistent cough post-COVID has been estimated at 18%*. A post-COVID cough can be exhausting and frustrating, impacting your capacity to work and your ability to socialise without risk of judgement that you are still spreading the virus. Read more about post-COVID cough here.
84%
Significant treatment effect
Based on all patients seen with chronic cough and discharged from therapy between October 2016 and February 2018.
Success
Whilst we have received numerous testimonials of surprise and happiness from patients following therapy, we are not permitted to publish them as per guidelines from our national peak body, Speech Pathology Australia. We are, however, permitted to boast of our success rate (84%) for significant improvement of patients for clients receiving behavioural therapy for chronic cough. Whilst testimonials would be helpful in highlighting the diversity of competence within speech pathology, further reading concerning speech pathology intervention in the field of upper airway dysfunction can be found here and here.
Get in touch!
Fed up with your cough? Reach out to The Cough Clinic - the first, dedicated clinical service for chronic cough in Australia. Our proven, evidence-based treatments and expertise in clinical care can help you to finally put a stop to that cough. It’s a small investment for a big return in your future health and well-being. Call us today or book online.
FREE Cough Tracker App!
By Dr Deb, the Travel Doctor
Download here (iPhone only at this stage)