Bronchitis: What to do if a cough persists
Educational Program Health / / December 19, 2019
Bronchitis, if you look, is not such a terrible disease. We'll have to, of course, to cough, but a careful attitude towards it is possible to cope with it.
symptoms of bronchitis
Bronchitis - an inflammation of the bronchial tubes, which carry air into the lungs and back. The fact that it affected the bronchi, says cough - the main symptom of the disease. Coughing with bronchitis account for a long time, more than ten days. Together with a cough may be released clear or white phlegm, but not necessarily.
Other symptoms of bronchitis:
- Dyspnea. Due to inflammation of the bronchial mucosa can not operate at full capacity, so it is difficult to breathe. Plus a persistent cough, which also makes it difficult to breath.
- Temperature increase. If bronchitis is caused by an infection, then, as a rule, the body itself is trying to deal with it, and this raises the temperature.
- Tiredness and fatigue. When the body lacks oxygen, not to activity.
The main reasons for the bronchi fail - viruses, bacteria and allergic reactions to different stimuli.
Sometimes bronchitis takes complex forms, it becomes obstructive (when bronchial lumen narrowing and breathing extremely it is difficult, almost impossible), purulent (when the disease started and mucus becomes a breeding ground for bacteria) or no leads to pneumonia.
treatment of bronchitis
Here much depends on the kind of bronchitis. Acute - is the one that started abruptly, for the first time. Acute bronchitis is caused by viruses often. That is, if you are diagnosed with "acute respiratory viral infection, bronchitis," are not two different diseases, and bronchitis caused by a virus.
Viruses are not treated with antibiotics.
To prescribe antibiotics, it is necessary to make at least a blood test. In most cases, acute bronchitis passes without antimicrobial therapy, sufficiently follow general recommendations for treatment of SARS and cope with cough using herbal medicines or pills.
You need to drink more, do wet cleaning in the room and use antipyretics, if the temperature rises above 38.5 ° C. Only when an obstructive bronchitis, need special drugs that widen the bronchi. They are generally used for asthma in the form of inhalations.
Chronic bronchitis - a disease that is repeated three times a year, with at least two years in a row. To blame for the exacerbation of chronic bronchitis can be either bacteria or external stimuli. Cause determined by a doctor based on the results of examination and analyzes.
If the matter in bacteria, the doctor prescribes treatment: antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs. If blame poor conditions, advises them to improve: throw allergens, quit, to change their place of residence.
Most of the folk remedies of little help in bronchitis: compresses, mustard, hot foot bath and banks create the illusion of care, but against viruses and bacteria, they are powerless.
Where better to use breathing exercises. It will help bring phlegm.
Cough treatment for bronchitis
The choice of drugs depends on whether you have a cough:
- Unproductive, dry cough does not bring relief, and only a hindrance. Drugs suppress it.
- Productive cough need a body, because that is the bronchi get rid of sputum. And this help expectorant drugs.
Against dry cough use drugs that block the cough at the level of the nerves: they cut or the cough center in the brain or affect the nerve endings in the mucosa. The active ingredients are many: codeine, glaucine, butamirata, oxeladin, prenoxdiazine. You can distinguish them by the inscription "antitussive" on the package.
For the treatment of wet cough fit many herbs and herbal preparations. Mother-and-stepmother, licorice, thermopsis, mallow, oregano and nard - the basis for many drugs helps to remove phlegm. They have on the packaging says "expectorant".
With a wet cough is fighting another group of drugs - mucolytics. They thin the mucus so it was easier to bring.
Prevention of bronchitis
Measures for the prevention of acute bronchitis are the same as in the case of SARS: it is necessary to lead a healthy life, to do flu shotsDuring epidemics smaller visiting crowded places and wash hands often.
To become a chronic bronchitis do not need to remove risk factors do not carry the disease on their feet, not torture yourself by smoking, do not collect dust in the apartment and more walk in the fresh air.