Being sick can be miserable. Regardless of what your symptoms are, it is never fun to suffer from illness symptoms. Being sick can disrupt your everyday life and make it easy to fall behind on your normal routine. While your exact symptoms will vary depending on what the underlying cause of your illness is, a common illness symptom during the wintertime is coughing up mucus. This is called a productive cough, where you produce mucus when you cough.
Although it is normal to cough up mucus, there are certain factors such as the color of the mucus and additional symptoms which could indicate that you should seek medical care for treatment. If you’re coughing up mucus and in need of urgent symptom relief, walk into AFC Urgent Care North Bergen! Our walk-in urgent care clinic is available daily to provide rapid illness care for symptoms such as productive coughs to patients in North Bergen, NJ, and the surrounding areas. Walk in today, or schedule your visit online in advance here.
What Causes a Productive Cough
Coughing is a natural reflex that aims to clear the airway from debris and irritation. However, when you’re sick, coughing can become persistent in an attempt to get rid of an infection. If you’re coughing up mucus, you may have an infection caused by a pathogen. There is a wide variety of illnesses that can cause you to cough up mucus. Clear mucus indicates a mild infection such as a cold, however, discolored mucus that is yellow or green suggests you may have a bacterial infection. Depending on the severity of your cough, you may need medical treatment to clear the infection that is causing your symptoms.
When to Seek Medical Care
If you’re coughing up mucus, it is important to seek medical care. Although coughing up mucus is a normal symptom of many different illnesses, you should seek medical care for a diagnosis and any necessary treatment. If your symptoms are accompanied by a fever or additional illness symptoms, you may need treatment from a medical professional. If you are coughing up firm mucus, have severe coughing fits that make it hard to breathe, are wheezing, or the mucus is green - seek medical treatment. These are signs that your infection is caused by a bacteria which will require treatment with antibiotics.
Visit AFC Urgent Care North Bergen for Cough Treatment
If you have a cough that is producing mucus, it is important to seek medical care. At AFC Urgent Care North Bergen, our walk-in clinic offers rapid cough diagnosis and treatment. Our clinic has an on-site lab for advanced diagnostic testing. Based on the results of your exam and diagnostic testing, your medical provider will review the treatment options available to relieve your symptoms. Our clinic is open 7 days a week, including on weekends. Simply walk-in when it’s convenient for you!
