A Guide to Kids' Coughs »

Posted By Jayson 1 year, 2 months ago in Family

Prop it 7 Drop it

As miserable as a cough can make your kid -- and you -- it does serve an important purpose: "That forceful exhalation of air propels mucus, bacteria, and other irritants out of the airways," explains Thomas Ferkol, M.D., director of pediatric allergy and pulmonary medicine at Washington University, in St. Louis. While that's all well and good, relief is all anyone really wants. The key to finding it? Knowing what's causing the hack to begin with.