There is no essential difference between a dry cough and a productive cough. Both dry cough and productive cough are among the common symptoms of the respiratory system, while dry cough refers to a cough with sound and no substance, while productive cough refers to a cough with phlegm and substance. Dry cough is mainly seen in the early stages of respiratory tract infections and is caused by inflammatory stimuli, mostly in upper respiratory tract infections such as acute pharyngitis, acute tonsillitis or chronic pharyngitis. Cough with phlegm is most often seen in the later stages of the disease, such as bronchitis, pneumonia, and long-term smokers, resulting in infections of the tracheal mucosa as well as the lungs. Since the tracheal mucosa and lungs are infected with bacteria or viruses, phlegm is produced, which causes coughing and phlegm. When a dry cough occurs, simple anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and detoxifying drugs are sufficient, while coughs with phlegm, especially those with phlegm that cannot be easily coughed out, need to be treated with cough and phlegm-reducing drugs.