What helps me the most is the combination of exercise and water. Not too much water during exercising of course!

Jean, I have the same issue and found out I have acid reflux. When it is active, it puts pressure on my diaphragm that causes all kinds of problems...in addition to the coughing which is sometimes productive and sometimes not. Meds like Albuterol normally cause coughing. I treat it with Tums, Omeprazole Gas X, Zofran.

The key is to do two things: strengthen the muscles around the rib cage and do everything possible to reduce the mucus or make it thinner so it's easier to cough out. Talk with your doc about both these problems. There are a number of things you can use to get rid of the mucus a little easier, some require prescriptions, some not. Drink lots of water, use mucinex or NAC, nebulize saline solution and albuterol, learn the huff cough method, use postural drainage, etc.

Those muscles get sore from coughing hard. You need to cough hard to get the junk up and out. As the coughing reduces, so does the muscle pain.

Thanks for sharing. Then you could also have gas which puts pressure on the Diaphram and causes difficulty breathing and with pain in the ribs. I take Gas X, Tums, and Zomfran to treat all the side effects. Make sure you eat sitting up not like me.

Mine never heal because I keep coughing .... not all the time though Not sure if there is an answer. I also have GERDS which doesn't help. You may want to look at that because there are pills for that; it's acid reflux