Can smoking cause a tickly cough?

The short answer is yes. Smoking can give both mucus coughs and tickly coughs.

Mucus coughs might also be called smoker’s coughs and this happens after many years of smoking and more typically in older people. What happens is that many years of smoking increases the number of mucus producing cells in the lungs and increased mucus production leads to irritation and repeated bouts of coughing in order to rid the body of mucus.

Tickly or dry coughs, on the other hand, can be caused by any form of irritation to the back of the throat. Cigarette smoke, a dusty atmosphere and pollution are common triggers.

Dr. Jen Tan