Acute bronchitis: symptoms and treatment

The most common disease of the respiratory system is bronchitis - inflammation of the respiratory apparatus. There are acute bronchitis and chronic. Acute, as a rule, is a complication after the flu, colds and other inflammatory infections.

Chronic bronchitis can be caused by genetic factors, adverse environmental conditions, smoking. Chronical includes professional factors, namely: work with volatile aggressive substances, characteristic for coal, cement, wood industry, in galvanic shops, as well as gas and electric welding.

Usually, Acute bronchitis is a consequence of past colds and is characterized by a transient onset and completion without complications. Chronic, especially common among smokers, is characterized by a long course with periodic exacerbations. According to the decision of WHO, chronic bronchitis is usually called a disease accompanied by a cough with sputum mucus, which lasts more than three months a year, for 2 years.

Acute bronchitis: symptoms

The first signs of the disease can serve as general malaise, runny nose, sore throat, muscles and joints, decreased performance, worsening of sleep and lack of appetite. The body temperature may rise slightly (rarely - up to 38 ° C) or remain normal. In the second stage, 3-4 days later, dyspnea appears, a severe cough, at first dry, and after a while - with sputum secretions.

The main symptom of acute bronchitis is a debilitating dry cough with hard-to-recover sputum, after which there is a sensation in the throat, sadness and even pain behind the sternum, arising from overstrain of the intercostal muscles.

As the inflammatory process spreads deep into the bronchi, grabbing deeper layers of its walls, the cough gradually subsides, but there appears profuse purulent or mucopurulent sputum. At this time there are common symptoms for inflammatory diseases: general malaise, chills, fever, headache, feeling of heat, etc.

The patient can see the beginning of the recovery himself: the sputum becomes less viscous and it becomes easier to cough it out. By the end of the week, in most cases, the main symptoms of the disease disappear, and a full recovery may occur in a week.

How to treat acute bronchitis?

It is important to know that acute bronchitis may well lead to complications, so it is necessary to make a survey, which should be addressed in time to the doctor. Treatment should be comprehensive, which means the following: along with the intake of medications prescribed by the doctor, you should observe bed rest, do not smoke (smokers, of course), moisten the air in the room, drink plenty of warm still water or decoctions of sweatshops (linden, black elderberry , Raspberry, etc.). Particular attention should be paid to the diet - food should be easily assimilated and rich in vitamins.

In addition to antibiotics and antiviral drugs, treatment of acute bronchitis involves the use of the following groups of drugs:

• Antipyretic;
• Expectorant;
• Antitussive.

Antipyretic drugs (paracetamol, antigrippin, koldreks) should be used at a temperature exceeding 38C.

Expectorants, such as bromhexine, acetylcysteine, ambroxol, make the sputum more fluid, which helps to withdraw it from the bronchi.

Antitussive drugs (libexin, broncholitin) should be used only with a painful cough, as they prevent free sputum excretion, thereby increasing the duration of the disease.

Acute bronchitis can be treated with folk remedies, combining them with traditional ones. At the beginning of the disease, you should prefer a plentiful drink (milk with honey, tea with raspberries or lemon, still mineral water), which has a diaphoretic effect, and in the future - the application of charges that exert an expectorant effect. Such a collection, consisting of chamomile flowers, leaves of eucalyptus roach, peppermint, Scotch pine and sage medicinal, is mixed in equal parts and insisted. Infusion take 3-4 times a day for half a glass.

Remember! Only timely provided professional help can be a guarantee of rapid recovery