Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Living with a persistent cough can be frustrating, exhausting, and difficult to control. Follow these simple breathing exercises and learn strategies to help you take control of your cough. In this video, Clinical Specialist Speech Pathologist Dr Danielle Stone shares practical cough control breathing techniques to help reduce throat irritation, manage cough urges, and improve day-to-day confidence.
Don’t be discouraged if these exercises don’t work straight away. Learning these techniques can take time and may require several attempts before they start to feel natural. The goal is for you to be able to use them without having to think too hard in the moment, which is why regular practice and persistence are so important.
Take control of your cough with this breathing exercise
- Catch the urge to cough early
- Turn your thinking brain on - avoid over scanning the throat
- Match the tightness in the throat to your lips and nose when breathing and
- Keep practicing
For other helpful strategies, use this video alongside our tips to manage chronic cough factsheet (https://lungfoundation.com.au/support-resources/resource-hub/tips-for-managing-a-chronic-cough/) with things you can try and things to avoid, to help you gain the skills to reduce your cough.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and everyone responds differently. This video is to be used for dry coughs. These strategies are most effective when used with guidance from your healthcare team.
Ready to practice? The step-by-step breathing exercises to stop your cough begins at 4:10
0:00 Introduction
1:32 What is cough control?
4:10 Cough control techniques
6:05 When your cough starts to get worse
6:36 When your cough starts to settle down
7:00 Managing your coughing fit
This resource was created as part of the Be Cough Aware project supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care under the Quality Use of Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Pathology program.
Living with a persistent cough can be frustrating, exhausting, and difficult to control. Follow these simple breathing exercises and learn strategies to help you take control of your cough. In this video, Clinical Specialist Speech Pathologist Dr Danielle Stone shares practical cough control breathing techniques to help reduce throat irritation, manage cough urges, and improve day-to-day confidence.
Don’t be discouraged if these exercises don’t work straight away. Learning these techniques can take time and may require several attempts before they start to feel natural. The goal is for you to be able to use them without having to think too hard in the moment, which is why regular practice and persistence are so important.
Take control of your cough with this breathing exercise
- Catch the urge to cough early
- Turn your thinking brain on - avoid over scanning the throat
- Match the tightness in the throat to your lips and nose when breathing and
- Keep practicing
For other helpful strategies, use this video alongside our tips to manage chronic cough factsheet (https://lungfoundation.com.au/support-resources/resource-hub/tips-for-managing-a-chronic-cough/) with things you can try and things to avoid, to help you gain the skills to reduce your cough.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and everyone responds differently. This video is to be used for dry coughs. These strategies are most effective when used with guidance from your healthcare team.
Ready to practice? The step-by-step breathing exercises to stop your cough begins at 4:10
0:00 Introduction
1:32 What is cough control?
4:10 Cough control techniques
6:05 When your cough starts to get worse
6:36 When your cough starts to settle down
7:00 Managing your coughing fit
This resource was created as part of the Be Cough Aware project supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care under the Quality Use of Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Pathology program.
