Bronchitis is a disease of the bronchi , most often affecting the mucous membrane . The cause of this disease is a viral or bacterial infection, and the latter is much less common.
Bronchitis can also be allergic, but it has slightly different symptoms and is never accompanied by an increase in temperature and disappears after the allergen disappears.
For your information! As a rule, bronchitis occurs against the background of other pronounced diseases - most often, influenza or whooping cough.
Therefore, it is not always diagnosed separately, although it firmly ranks first among respiratory diseases.
Symptoms of bronchitis
Everyone has suffered from bronchitis at least once in their life. Therefore, almost all adults are familiar with its symptoms:
- temperature increase , up to 39 degrees;
- dry cough ; after a while it may turn wet;
- wheezing when breathing;
- heaviness in the chest;
- weakness and fatigue.
As the disease develops in adults, if it is infectious, the symptoms may intensify, coughing discharge may become purulent, and the initial acute bronchitis may develop into chronic bronchitis. Therefore, dry cough should be taken seriously .
Expectorants and mucolytics to remove sputum
Treatment of bronchial cough is aimed at increasing its productivity, restoring the motor activity of the epithelial cilia in the bronchi and their ability to cleanse themselves. For these purposes, mucolytic and expectorant drugs are used.
How to cure a cough with bronchitis depends on its nature and characteristics of its course. If sputum does not cough up, acetylcysteine (ACC and other drugs based on it) is used to thin it. The substance reduces the viscosity of bronchial secretions and promotes their removal from the bronchi.
For acute or low-grade inflammation of the bronchopulmonary system, 400-600 mg of ACC is prescribed 1-3 times a day. To prevent stomach irritation, take bronchitis medicine after meals. Acetylcysteine is not prescribed to children under 2 years of age, as they cannot effectively cough up bronchial mucus.
A mucolytic agent helps reduce the viscosity of mucus in the bronchi and accelerate its removal from the respiratory tract. It has a thinning effect not only on sputum, but also on purulent masses. Used to increase cough productivity in cases of emphysema with bronchitis, tracheobronchitis, cystic fibrosis, etc. Adults are prescribed 200 mg, and children - 100 mg of Fluimucil three times a day.
Features of dry cough with bronchitis
Note! Dry coughing, if it is not a single cough, is the first sign of incipient bronchitis. The following symptoms appear:
- sore throat;
- paroxysmal, recurring cough, and each time the attacks become more frequent;
- there is pain in the chest area;
- attacks last from 2 minutes or more;
- deep breathing becomes difficult;
- in a supine position, the symptoms do not disappear, but, on the contrary, increase;
- no feeling of relief comes after a coughing attack.
If this illness lasts more than 2 weeks - these are already obvious signs of the disease , a month or more - the doctor can diagnose chronic bronchitis, its treatment is long-term.
How to treat bronchitis and cough in an adult at home: 5 folk recipes
Medicinal herbs and bee products are included in many preparations for bronchial cough.
To soften the throat, relieve inflammation and speed up phlegm discharge, alternative medicine is used. For bronchitis in children and adults, the following are used:
- Plantain decoction. 4 tbsp. l. Boil the leaves in 200 ml of water for 3-5 minutes. The strained liquid is divided into 3 equal parts and drunk 20 minutes before meals in the morning, afternoon and evening.
- Phytocollection. Mix 1 tbsp. l. sage, marshmallow, coltsfoot. Boil in 1 liter of water for 10 minutes and filter. Drink 100 ml after meals three times a day.
- Honey with milk. Add 1 tbsp to 200 ml of hot milk. l. honey Drink 40 minutes before meals for acute bronchitis 4 times a day.
- Oregano infusion. 2 tsp. dry herbs are poured with a glass of boiling water and left for 2 hours. Take 50 ml up to 4 times a day.
- Dead bees. 15 g of dry powder is poured into 700 ml of vodka. Leave in a cool place for at least 3 days. For dry cough, take 15 drops three times a day after meals.
Folk remedies for bronchial cough should be combined with medications. Complex treatment helps eliminate foci of inflammation, phlegm and cough attacks.
Causes of dry cough with bronchitis in adults
Infectious diseases, as a rule, occur where there are prerequisites for this.
Both bronchitis and dry cough in particular have their own nutrient medium that helps the disease develop.
There are risk factors that are constant:
- smoking ; men suffer from bronchitis for this reason much more often than women; there is even a term “smoker's cough”;
- unfavorable environmental conditions;
- heredity at the genetic level; in the body of every healthy person there is a protein alpha-1-antitrypsin, it is produced by the liver and protects the lungs from harmful influences; Some babies do not produce this substance from birth.
- hazardous production ; workers of chemical, grain-processing and metallurgical enterprises consider this disease almost an occupational one;
- climatic conditions ; this effect is individual; often a change of place of residence completely cures the patient.
Treatment of residual effects after bronchitis
Treatment will be determined based on the form, type and causes of prolonged boozing. It is important that only after a detailed diagnosis is a particular treatment recommended.
Keep in mind! Chronic occurrence is a sign of a more serious illness. Treatment for a prolonged cough usually gets worse. Everything is individual.
As a rule, this phenomenon remains in more than 50% of patients after bronchitis.
Main types of treatment:
- Tusuprex is a drug that is suitable for reducing membrane irritation and eliminating residual effects of bronchitis. Responsible for blocking reflexes;
- Lazolvan is an effective remedy for removing phlegm. It is produced in the form of syrups, tablets, capsules;
- Libexin is an anesthetic and antispasmodic. Good help in treating dry cough.
- Various syrups and mucolytics are used for treatment: Erespal, Codeine, Omnitus, Libexin, ACC, Ambrobene, Bromhexine, Ambroxol . Mucaltin and Herbion are often used . To increase the body's defenses after bronchitis, it is necessary to use vitamins and mineral supplements.
It is also necessary to ensure optimal indoor humidity and comfortable air temperature . It is advisable to regularly ventilate the room where the patient is.
Remember! Traditional medicine methods are quite effective methods of treatment. Black radish juice, for example, or garlic infusion speeds up treatment and improves immunity.
Where to start treatment?
Important! Such a symptom in any disease is also called unproductive - it does not cause the separation of sputum, which stagnates in the body and, at the same time, intensifies the inflammatory processes occurring in it.
Neglecting treatment in such cases can lead to serious complications, including pneumonia .
At the same time, prolonged dry coughing causes the patient a lot of suffering and even physical pain in the chest area and makes it difficult to sleep at night.
Therefore, the approach to treating this disease is based on two principles:
- mucus removal;
- mitigation of cough and pain .
should not be used in case of viral bronchitis ; they will not help, but will only harm, destroying the body's bioflora.
The doctor prescribes them only when the bacterial origin of bronchitis, caused, for example, by staphylococcus, is clearly established, or the course of bronchitis progresses to more severe forms - pneumobronchitis, etc.
Keep in mind! Therefore, when treating bronchitis at home, it is also not necessary to use antibiotics without appropriate diagnosis.
What kind of cough with bronchitis is dry or wet?
The clinical manifestations of bronchitis are varied, but the main one is cough. Based on the nature of the course, two forms of the disease are distinguished:
- acute – diffuse (widespread) inflammation of the bronchial tree, characterized by the release of excess mucus from the bronchi;
- chronic - constant, persistent inflammation, which leads to changes in the functions of the bronchial secretory apparatus.
In acute inflammation, a dry (non-productive) cough first appears. During bronchospasms, pain occurs behind the sternum and in the ribs. A cough with fever is caused by a viral or bacterial infection in the lungs. Much more often, bronchitis appears as a secondary disease against the background of influenza, tonsillitis, laryngitis, etc.
At the first symptoms of bronchitis, you need to contact a specialist. Acute inflammation lasts 10-14 days, after which the disease becomes indolent. With chronic bronchitis, patients are bothered by a lingering wet cough, which intensifies at night. The attacks sometimes cause abdominal muscle spasms and vomiting.
The nature of the cough largely depends on the stage of the disease:
- Dry. Acute bronchitis with a dry cough indicates the onset of inflammatory processes in the ENT organs. It is not accompanied by expectoration of sputum and often provokes gagging.
- Wet. A productive cough occurs 3-5 days after inflammation of the bronchi. Accompanied by expectoration of mucus, due to which the patient’s condition is alleviated.
- Protracted. The intensity of the cough is much weaker than at the very beginning of the disease. Occurs in chronic inflammation of the ENT organs.
- With blood. Bloody impurities in the sputum indicate complications. This symptom indicates pneumonia, pleurisy, tuberculosis.
- Suffocating. With obstructive pulmonary disease, the lumen in the bronchi narrows, which is why during an attack a person begins to choke. Choking is accompanied by muscle spasms and severe pain in the chest.
Bronchitis is a respiratory disease that is dangerous due to its complications. Therefore, if you experience a spasmodic cough that gets worse at night, you should consult a doctor.
How to treat dry cough?
It, as a rule, begins with the prescription of mucolytic drugs - they transform coughing from unproductive to productive, in other words, they transfer the disease from dry to wet.
Thus, sputum, abundantly accumulated in the bronchi due to inflammation, begins to leave the body along with a cough.
As a rule, such drugs relieve chest pain within a day, and after a week the symptoms of bronchitis begin to disappear.
There are many medications that have worked well at this stage of treatment for a relatively long time.
This group of drugs includes: Ambroxol, Flavamed, Lazolvan, Abrol . As a rule, they are available in the form of syrup, drops, or tablets and are taken 3 times a day.
You should know! The already well-known Acetylcysteine (ACC, Fluimucil) is taken after meals in the form of a powder, soluble in water, or tablets 2 - 4 times a day.
The effect of this drug begins faster than those listed above; this group of drugs appeared relatively recently and is highly effective.
Antitussive drugs are also prescribed . They do not have direct medicinal properties, but act on the cough center in the medulla oblongata, reducing its conductivity.
The coughing reflex decreases, gagging and chest pain stop. Most often, this is Codeine - the medicine is taken twice a day, 1 tablet.
Drugs in this group should not be taken for a long time (more than 1 week).
In case of severe pain in the chest area during illness, is useful . Many doctors pay attention to the diet at this time; food should not contain anything spicy or salty.
If the cough remains after illness
Note! Sometimes it happens that bronchitis has already passed, but the cough remains after the illness. In this case, it is usually called protracted.
It is recommended to treat it with herbal mixtures of sage, licorice, plantain and chamomile . Based on these herbs (there are other recipes), a decoction is made and 150 ml is taken before meals.
Natural milk with honey and butter helps a lot.
It is useful to carry out inhalations using aromatic oils from pine, spruce, eucalyptus, fir or juniper.
Folk remedies
The use of traditional medicine and physiotherapy allows you to get rid of cough at any stage. Among folk expectorants you can find a large number of recipes. One such treatment is black radish with honey.
The medicine recipe is quite simple. It is necessary to cut off the top of the radish and make a small indentation. 2-3 tablespoons of honey are placed in the cut hole and covered with the cut part of the radish. Within 5 hours the radish will begin to produce juice. The resulting mixture is drunk 3 times a day and helps to get rid of a lingering severe cough.
Video: black radish with cough honey
In addition to folk recipes, physiotherapy is used - massage and breathing exercises.
Percussion and drainage massages can relieve wet coughs by quickly and effectively removing phlegm from the body.
For breathing exercises, Strelnikova or Bodyflex techniques are used. Such exercises help not only normalize breathing, but also metabolism. It is recommended to do gymnastics in the morning.
Types of cough
Cough after bronchitis in adults and children is divided into 2 main types:
- Dry.
- Wet.
Sukhoi does not bring a person’s recovery any closer. Its appearance rather indicates a new infection, or an allergic response to a certain allergen against the background of a weakened immune system. He requires starting treatment again because there is no sputum discharge.
A wet cough indicates that microparticles or pathological cells remain, which are released along with sputum. You need to understand that the recovery process with such a cough reflex is already close.
