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.
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.
