Services · Chronic cough
Aoife-led
Chronic cough that won't clear
A cough that lasts more than eight weeks and is often dry and irritable. When medical work-up comes back normal, the problem usually sits in laryngeal hypersensitivity, and that responds to speech therapy.
Speech therapy for chronic refractory cough. We require a respiratory or ENT work-up before therapy begins to rule out other causes.
Clinical overview
Understanding chronic refractory cough
Chronic refractory cough: a cough that lasts more than eight weeks and is often dry and irritable.
We require respiratory work-up to rule out other causes of respiratory dysfunction before therapy begins.
When chronic cough persists despite normal medical results, the problem usually sits in laryngeal hypersensitivity or habitual patterns. Both respond to the techniques we use in clinic.
Our approach
How we treat chronic cough
Education, suppression strategies, and breathing techniques, informed by a thorough case history of your coughing pattern.
Thorough case history
Chronic cough management often includes a very thorough case history and description about the coughing pattern: what triggers it, when it worsens, how it has changed over time.
Education and suppression strategies
Followed by education and strategies to suppress a cough and manage hypersensitivity.
Cough diary tools
Supplementary tools including chronic cough diaries can be used to track patterns and progress between sessions.
Breathing techniques
Breathing techniques can be used to encourage relaxed open-throat breathing and nasal route breathing to calm irritability.
First-line treatment
Why speech therapy works for chronic cough
When chronic cough persists despite normal medical results, the problem usually sits in laryngeal hypersensitivity or habitual patterns. Both respond to the techniques we use in clinic.
We require respiratory work-up to rule out other causes of respiratory dysfunction before therapy begins. Once medical causes have been excluded, the laryngeal component is what speech therapy is designed to address.
Pricing
Clear pricing, no surprises
In-person · Wellington clinic
Initial assessment
$320
Follow-up sessions
from $240
Telehealth · nationwide
Initial assessment
$260
Follow-up sessions
from $200
Frequently asked
Questions about chronic cough therapy
Do I need a referral?
To effectively work with chronic cough we do require a respiratory or ear, nose and throat assessment prior. This rules out other causes of respiratory dysfunction and confirms the laryngeal component before therapy begins.
How long does a cough need to last before it's "chronic"?
Chronic refractory cough is a cough that lasts more than eight weeks and is often dry and irritable. If your cough has lasted longer than eight weeks and medical work-up has not identified a cause, speech therapy may be appropriate.
What does speech therapy actually do for a cough?
When chronic cough persists despite normal medical results, the problem usually sits in laryngeal hypersensitivity or habitual patterns. We treat this with education and strategies to suppress the cough and manage hypersensitivity, supplementary tools including cough diaries, and breathing techniques to encourage relaxed open-throat breathing and nasal route breathing to calm irritability.
Start with a free conversation
Ready to settle the cough?
Free 15-minute telehealth conversation to talk through what's happening and whether speech therapy is the right next step.