How to Recover from Bronchitis

Ideas for Speeding up Recovery

Feb 22, 2008 Lisa Rufle

Sure, you're on doctor prescribed antibiotics, but you still feel awful. What are some other ways to speed up your recovery when you're dealing with bronchitis?

What is bronchitis?

Simply stated, when the bronchial tubes cannot carry air to your lungs because they are inflamed and irritated, they swell and produce mucus, which makes you cough. It begins with a dry and hacking cough and then the cough will start producing mucus. It is not unusual to have fever and body aches as well.

There are Two Types of Bronchitis:

Webmd defines two types of bronchitis: acute and chronic. Acute bronchitis usually affects those who are generally of good health and can last two-to-three weeks in one's system before you begin to feel better again. On the other hand, chronic bronchitis is typically keeps coming back and is seen in patients who are smokers. This article will talk only about acute bronchitis.

What are the Medical Treatment Options?

Acute bronchitis is caused by a virus and is treated with antibiotics. Most people feel better after 2-3 weeks of being on antibiotics.

Are They Other Treatment Options As Well?

1. Drink plenty of fluids

Water is essential to drink as it helps to wash all of the mucus out of your system.

2. Use a product like Mucinex

Check with your doctor first to make sure there are no adverse reactions to other medication you are currently taking. This product is really great at breaking up all the chest congestion and mucus. It makes breathing much easier.

3. Suck on cough drops

Sucking on cough drops will soothe your throat's discomfort from all the coughing.

4. Go in a steamy hot shower.

Step into a steamy hot shower and feel the water break up all the mucus in your chest. There is also a product called Sudacare Shower Soothers, which work wonders and clearing out your head and helping you to breath better.

5. Try using a vaporizer.

A vaporizer works much the same way as the hot shower method; the idea is to inhale the steam, which will break up the mucus in your lungs.

6. Gargle with warm water and salt.

By combining one teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water, you are soothing the irritation in your throat and you are breaking up stubborn mucus.

7. Sleep.

Last but not least, you want to listen to your body and get some rest. Walking around when you have bronchitis only increases the chances of it getting worse or of you passing on your germs to others.

These are all ways that you can minimize the discomfort of bronchitis and speed up your recovery time.

The copyright of the article How to Recover from Bronchitis in General Medicine is owned by Lisa Rufle. Permission to republish How to Recover from Bronchitis in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Lungs are directly affected by bronchitis

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Comments

Jan 4, 2009 3:07 PM

Guest :

Do not write medical info. just to sound good. Do your research-- Your info on treating viruses with antibiotics would not be cosigned by even one physician. Antibiotics only treat bacterias. Occasionally bronchitis patients are treated with antiobiotics yet are rarely effective and would only work because bronchitis can be both viral and bacterial. Rebuilding the immune system is almost the only treatment, though there are exceptions, such as the use of steroid inhalers, etc.

Jan 5, 2009 10:26 AM

Lisa Rufle :

Thanks GUEST for your comments, but this information came straight from a board-certified, practicing physician. Furthermore, it was intended to offer treatment solutions for the common, not chronic bronchitis. In addition to citing this information as medically sound, I was treated by my own doctor shortly after this article was written due to bronchitis. I am pleased to say that the treatment was effective for me. Also, this article was written to offer readers additional ways to speed up recovery time in addition to whatever method of treatment a patient's doctor deemed appropriate. Whether or not a patient is treated with antibiotics or not, these other NON-MEDICAL treatments also aid in providing relief to bronchitis sufferers.
-Lisa Rufle

Feb 6, 2009 7:45 AM

Guest :

I just recently (last week) went to my Dr. for bronchitis and she prescribed antibiotics, rest, lots of water, a room vaporizer and vitamin supplements. So the above information jives with what my Dr. did for me. And yes, I do still feel weak and am still coughing a little, but I no longer have the 'death rattle' type cough like I did before the antibiotics. Thank you for this article...it gives me hope that I'll be over this soon.

Mar 13, 2009 8:21 PM

Guest :

Lisa,
Unfortunately, thousands of "board certified practicing physicians" unnecessarily prescribe antibiotics all the time. Overuse and misuse of antibiotics are the primary reasons that drug-resistant bacteria have evolved.
Acute bronchitis usually is caused by a virus. Antibiotics are COMPLETELY ineffective against viruses. Sometimes doctors prescribe antibiotics because there is some risk of bacterial infection due to the system being originally compromised by a virus. Sometimes doctors prescribe antibiotics just on the rare chance that there IS a bacterial infection. And sometimes, doctors are just covering their a**, and care more about their own liability and bottom line than the fact that they are contributing to a serious problem of over-prescribing antibiotics.
The other treatments given here are not harmful (unless overdone), and many of them are indeed helpful. So this article is not without merit, but does cast a great deal of suspicion on itself when it starts out with the totally incorrect statement "... virus and is treated with antibiotics."
If your doctor DOES prescribe antibiotics for bronchitis, as a patient, you should ask why. Does you doctor feel there is a probability you actually have a bacterial infection? Most people do not require antibiotics for bronchitis. In fact, antibiotics often also kill beneficial bacteria that normally live in our bodies in a symbiotic manner. Be an informed patient, do your homework, read reliable information (which by the way, excludes this site, and even my comments), and demand to know the treatment you are given, and the reasons for such treatment.

Oct 6, 2009 2:05 AM

Guest :

guest
you couldn't be more right about being informed. thanks for the sensible advice.

Oct 14, 2009 10:14 PM

Guest :

Actually I agree with the other guest. I am prone to acute viral bronchitis. I used to always be prescribed antibiotics by my doctor. However there has been a reversal in this trend. Most doctors no longer prescribe antibiotics unless the trigger for the bronchitis was bacterial in nature. So you are both right. Yes it used to be the treatment of choice but that is NOT the case any loner. At least not by well researched and up to date physicians.

Nov 5, 2009 8:01 AM

Guest :

I was diagnosed with Bacterial Bronchitis on Oct 19th, 2009. They gave me an antibiotic called Bactrium, which after 2 days I started having an allergic reaction to. After that they changed me to ZPAC. I took all the mediciation as directed. Took a cough syrup with a expectorant (cheratussin), also have had a vaporizer/humidifier going, have taken steamy showers, gargle with warm salt water, use a saline nasal spray, and use cough drops. After I stopped taking the ZPAC on Oct 26th (that was my last dose) I started felling increasingly better. I stopped taking all cold meds on Oct 31st. I was feeling great, until last night Nov 4th, 2009. Now I am a lil congested again, and coughing..miserable. Should I go back to the Doc? Take Mucinex? what should I do? I am at my whits end.

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