<s>[INST] i believe i aspirated small amt chicken salad on fri i feel discomfort around rib cage from coughing but no sputum cough is only ocasional. will it clear by itself? Will cough syrup or decongestant help. I find hot liquids help and moist heat on the rib cage. Im 78and on bp meds. [/INST] Thanks for your question on Chat Doctor. In my opinion you should not worry much for this. As it does not sound serious. It will mostly heal by its own. This may be due to muscular pain because of coughing after aspiration. So you can take cough suppressant syrup if you want. If you develop fever or not improve in cough after 5-6 days than better to get done chest x-ray to rule out aspiration pneumonia. And yes, you can definitely apply warm water pad or moist heat on local site for pain relief. </s>