Coughs can be annoying. Everyone gets them from time to time, and they are normally nothing to worry about. They will usually go away in their own good time. Often they will not need any treatment, but if they are at all bad, then you can help yourself by using the right sort of cough medicine.

Different coughs need treating in different ways. What is a good treatment for one cough may make the other sort worse. This makes it rather important to choose the right medicine in the first place.

There are two main types of coughs:-

Dry Coughs

These are the dry, hard, irritating type, which are so annoying, and can keep you awake at night. They can be exhausting, tiring, and disturb other people, both at home and at work. They can make your chest muscles ache with coughing.
This cough is not doing you any good at all, and should be suppressed.
A cough suppressant will help to calm the cough down, by suppressing it. This will help you to get on with your life, and make the cough far less troublesome.
If you use the other sort of cough medicine it will do nothing

Chesty Coughs

These are the chesty, loose, phlegmy type, which help you cough up all the phlegm lying on your chest.
This cough is doing you good, and should be encouraged to bring up more phlegm.
An expectorant will help to loosen and thin the phlegm, so that it is easier to cough-up. This will help to get rid of the phlegm on your chest, which can get infected if it collects in your lungs.
If you use the other sort of cough medicine it will encourage the phlegm to collect on your chest, and increase the chances of infection turning this to bronchitis or pneumonia. This is not a good idea.