Marc, UK

Hi, have you tried chiropractic? I used to have cough for 4 months (dry, irrative cough) and I visited chiropractor who found tight joints from my back - after 1st treatment the cough was gone ;)

NP writes: I've had a similar suggestion from an osteopath, so I may investigate this one further.

Latest news from NickP:

I promised to report back a few weeks ago ..... nothing's working yet I'm afraid. The Bowen therapy was an interesting experience - very relaxing, and did produce a sort of result. For about five months I had had a pain in my side, between my ribs, which I and the doctors put down to the repeated coughing - pulled a muscle or ligament, maybe even cracked a rib, and the continued coughing wouldn't allow it to heal. Anyway on the day I went for my first referral it was particularly painful. I told the therapist, Alastair, about it and he said he'd try to help. Well I'm not sure what he did with his soft tissue manipulation, but by the end of the session it had gone, and hasn't returned.

But the cough shows no real signs of abating. I tried stopping drinking alcohol during the week, which helped me to sleep better but didn't affect the cough. I stopped chewing gum for a while too and drank lots of water - no difference. I've just finished a two-week course of marshmallow tablets, suggested by a couple of my blog correspondents - all to no avail. And now I've started on a course of homeopathic tablets prescribed by a lecturer at work ... we'll see.