How to Get Rid of Bronchitis?
- Bronchitis occurs when the passages into your lungs become inflamed
- The way you treat the condition depends on the type of secondary infection you have.
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The seemingly endless coughing and the wheezing accompanying the slightest activity can become frustrating even for the most mild-mannered bronchitis sufferer. And most want to know how to get rid of bronchitis as quickly as possible. The answer is that no easy, miracle bronchitis treatment exists in most cases but there are some ways to make people more comfortable while the illness runs its course.
Basics of Bronchitis
Bronchitis occurs when the passages into your lungs become inflamed. As a result, they begin producing more mucus than normal, and the coughing is your body’s way of trying to get rid of all the excess phlegm which is narrowing the airways and making breathing more difficult. While there are acute and chronic cases of bronchitis, not much can be done to treat the latter which is normally caused by smoking or exposure to dangerous dust or chemicals for an extended period of time.
Acute bronchitis, however, is typically caused by another infection. The right course of treatment for the condition then depends on the type of infection your body is trying to fight off.
How to Get Rid of Acute Bronchitis
As mentioned above, the way you treat the condition depends on the type of secondary infection you have. In some cases, that infection is bacterial in nature. When you run a very high fever while also exhibiting the symptoms of bronchitis, you may be fighting off a bacterial infection. Your physician can prescribe some antibiotics that will help you destroy the source of the infection.
However, most of these are viral infections. Most are caused by the same viruses that lead to a cold or to the flu. In these cases, antibiotics won’t do anything to help you. There are other ways to treat the condition.
First, you don’t want to take any type of cough suppressant if you suspect or know you have bronchitis. If you want to get better, you’ve got to get out all of the extra mucus and that won’t happen if you’re not coughing. You may even want to consider taking an expectorant which will help you get up more of the mucus during each cough.
If your cough is so bad at night that you aren’t able to sleep, then consider talking to your physician and asking him or her to prescribe you something that can quiet your cough at night and maybe help you get the rest that will help you fight off the infection.
Second, you need to keep drinking plenty of fluids. Because you want your immune system to be working at full capacity, you can’t afford to become dehydrated which will cause your body to stop working as effectively. Drinking hot liquids can help soothe your throat which can become irritated and sore from the excessive coughing.
Bronchitis is often accompanied by sinus and chest congestion which furthers irritates your condition and makes you feel more horrible. You can treat these types of congestion without medication by running very hot water in the shower and closing the bathroom door. You don’t have to be in the water but the steam created in the shower will help open up your sinuses and will reduce some of the congestion.
The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.
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 Bronchitis 23 Dec 2008 |
