What's in a Cough?
- Feb 12
- 3 min read
February 12, 2025
Sometimes way more than you could ever imagine inn your wildest dreams. TBM comes with a very distinct, deep, seal-like barky cough. It has such a gentle, melodic sound floating on the breeze. One may want to record it & play it back on a loop in order to bring about relaxation and calmness. . . . 🤣🤣🤣 I totally crack myself up sometimes!
This cough is anything but gentle & soothing. It's more like the bull in a China shop that's taken over, shattering every aspect of your life. It does not shy away in the face of strangers. Oh no, it loves the attention of the spotlight, so it bellows out at the loudest volume it can muster, drawing the eyes & ears of everyone lucky enough to be within the range of its bullhorn megaphone. It draws looks of shocked curiosity, the kindness of sympathy, and pure unadulterated horror accompanied by whispers of concern or most likely, glares of annoyance and hostility.
People question if you're ok or comment that, "that sure is a nasty cough young got there." But what they really want to ask/say is "why are you or in public, speaking your genes getting everyone around you sick????" Well, that's easy enough to answer - this cough isn't infection, allergy or sinus driven. Nope, it's 100% mechanical, caused by the trapping of air in the windpipes as it tries to push through the vicelike grasp of collapsed cartilage. The more effort you put into trying to force that air out, the more those windpipes clamp down, the louder, more disturbing, & yes possibly dangerous, this cough becomes.
How's that, you ask? Well the harder you cough, the less air your exchanging, the more likely you are to crack a rib, pull/strain muscles, bring about a sore throat or headache, or any other numerous possibilities of bodily harm. The straight up truth is that we, the coughers, are in much greater danger than anyone blessed enough to be within earshot. A simple little head cold could very quickly turn into an extended hospital stay, or even better, an ICU visit. It also brings with it mental and emotional harms. Self conscious embarrassment with the need to apologize and explain to everyone within earshot that you're not contagious consumes you almost as much as the cough itself does.
Which brings me to today's little video. I wanted to try to record a bit of the TBM cough so that you could have an audible reference to it whenever anyone mentions TBM. This isn't the perfect example & I may try again to get a better clip, but it you can hear it. It lives at the end of every forced cough/breath. It goes from a fairly high octive range to the very deep bottom of the barrel. It's such a lovely noise that you may want to keep it & listen to it later just for fun. Oh, or even better yet, use it as your ring tone! That will draw some lookie lewers for sure! 😁
Seriously though, if you or someone you know of are having respiratory issues that doesn't quite "fit" any given diagnosis or respond to any medications/treatments and are hearing the bottom of the barrel seal-like barky cough, there's a very real chance that TBM may be playing a part in your breathing journey. Do not keep putting it off to a lingering side-effect from that bronchitis you had five years ago or it being allergy season. If this particular, persistent cough is there, address it with every doctor you possibly can until, finally, one of them really, truly listens to you & is willing to step up to help you figure this thing out.
Hope you all have a beautifully joyous day!
Comments