A seemingly simple cold and cough is actually not as good as we think it is. There are countless real-life examples around us of people who have a cold and cough and either don’t take it seriously and put it off as long as they can; or just go to the pharmacy and buy some “cough medicine” to eat, but they often cough more than once; or casually believe in the so-called prescriptions and delay formal treatment; or are on the verge of the enemy, from community clinics to big hospitals, and ask for “However, some of them are difficult to be cured for a long time, and the course of the disease is as short as a few weeks or as long as half a year, and they are transferred to various examination rooms and spend a high amount of medical expenses, but their condition remains the same. In addition to the lack of knowledge about the prevention and treatment of cold and cough, random treatment is also one of the reasons that cannot be ignored. Coughing is a defensive reflex activity that occurs when the respiratory system is stimulated. Post-cold cough is a very common clinical subacute cough, also known as post-infectious cough, which refers to a recurrent cough that does not resolve within the third to eighth week after an upper respiratory tract infection, without significant abnormalities on X-ray chest examination, and excluding cough caused by other diseases. A cough without sputum or with very little sputum is called a dry cough (dry cough). When dry cough symptoms appear, people often use many cough suppressants and even antibiotics, but the effect is not always good. In fact, there are many causes of dry cough and no sputum, such as chronic nasopharyngitis, cough variant asthma, and gastroesophageal reflux cough. Many patients themselves do not pay much attention to post-cold cough, and there are misconceptions in their understanding. For example, many people think that they will be fine after taking some random cough medicine after a cold and cough. When the cough is not cured for a long time, the mentality evolves into seeking medical help everywhere, and even some folk remedies are easily believed. This will not only greatly increase the medical costs, but also easily cause patients to have different degrees of irritability, anxiety and other psychological disorders, affecting the lives of patients and their families. As a result of not seeking formal treatment and taking medication on their own, the results are often contrary to their wishes and delay their illness. On the contrary, insisting on rehydration, using large amounts of antimicrobial agents and cough suppressants can also cause the condition to lurk and remain untreated. Excessive cough suppression tends to conceal the true nature of the cough, making diagnosis and treatment more difficult and the course of the disease more prolonged. The following aspects are most evident in the treatment of cough after a cold: first, the random selection of various cough medicines without differentiation; second, the use of certain medicines when they should not be used; third, the premature and excessive use of certain medicines; fourth, the abuse of antibiotics; and fifth, excessive medical examinations (including routine examinations such as chest X-ray, chest X-ray, and special examinations such as CT or MRI). Among them, the most common is the random selection of cough medicine. At present, there are many cough medicines on the market, including traditional Chinese medicines, modern Chinese medicines and Chinese and Western synthetic medicines, as well as various Western cough medicines, to name a few. In fact, each cough medicine has its own special composition and function, and also has its own specific adaptation. If you choose them at random and do not distinguish between them, they will be ineffective and even aggravate your cough. Standardizing the treatment of post-cold cough requires physicians and patients to master some important principles. First, it is important to distinguish the nature of the cough, especially in Chinese medicine, which is hot and cold. Generally speaking, a cough is caused by wind and cold, such as rain or cold, and is characterized by a cough that is incessant, with a large amount of sputum that is white and foamy, accompanied by a fear of cold and a worsening of the cough when it is cold. In the treatment of coughs, drugs that are warm in nature and have the effect of dispersing cold and promoting the lung, resolving phlegm and relieving coughs should be used. If the cough is not obviously related to cold, but is paroxysmal, with a small amount of yellow sputum, accompanied by a sore throat and dry mouth, it is mostly a hot cough, and should be treated with drugs that are cold in nature and have the effect of clearing heat and resolving phlegm to stop coughing. It must be pointed out that there are differences between Chinese and Western medicine in the treatment of acute or subacute coughs. Western medicine is basically antagonistic, suppressive and cough suppressant, while Chinese medicine is relatively situational (upward and outward), repellent (to dispel evil) and unobstructed (to promote the lungs). Otherwise, it may be “pressed but not obeyed”. Second, not all post-cold coughs must be treated with antimicrobials. This is because antimicrobials are not effective against viral infections. Appropriate antibiotics should only be used if there is evidence of a combination of bacterial infections. Third, use cough suppressants with caution. This type of medicine can “calm” the cough for a while, but obviously cannot remove the root of the disease. In contrast, Chinese medicine emphasizes the need to promote the lung and dissolve phlegm to clear the airway in order to really stop the cough.