The use of inhalation in the treatment of acute and chronic respiratory diseases is considered one of the most effective methods. The procedure can be done both in a medical institution and at home. For inhalation, you can use many medications that help relieve the inflammatory process, facilitate the removal of sputum and mucus, and remove microbes.
What are the benefits of inhalation?
Such a procedure as inhalation, among other methods of treating respiratory diseases, is one of the first places. For example, if you compare this method with tablets and syrups, then it has a significant advantage:
- The sprayed drug enters almost the entire surface of the mucous membrane, through which it is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, and thanks to this helps a quick recovery.
- Medicinal substances act directly on a sore spot, unlike tablets or syrups, which before reaching their destination, make a long way through the stomach and intestines.
- Thanks to this procedure, the respiratory system is cleansed.
What diseases can inhalations help with?
Inhalation is good in the treatment of the following diseases:
- Rhinitis, its cause may be a cold or an allergy.
- Sinusitis.
- Pharyngitis is an inflammatory process on the mucous membrane of the pharynx.
- Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils, in which case inhalation significantly eases the condition, acute pain disappears, and relief comes.
- Pneumonia is pneumonia.
- Bronchitis. It is recommended to add a few drops of eucalyptus oil, which has a very good effect on the bronchi (it is important to find out whether it is possible to use oil in the current inhaler model).
- Attacks of bronchial asthma.
- Allergy to pollen of plants.
How to do inhalation
The main rules of inhalation for adults:
- The procedure should be done after a meal (after 1-1.5 hours).
- During inhalation, you can not talk or do any other things. This will prevent you from concentrating on proper breathing.
- Clothing should not constrain the neck, breathing should be free.
- After the procedure, you can’t talk, eat, smoke, go out in the cold for an hour.
- You should be especially careful with boiling water inhalers, as you can get burned. Such inhalers are not recommended for young children.
- In order not to cause the opposite effect, the dosage of essential oils must be strictly observed.
- Before starting treatment, it is necessary to check whether the drugs will cause an allergic reaction.
- It is not recommended to mix essential oils with each other.
How to do inhalation
To carry out classical inhalation, you should use a conventional steam inhaler. Of course, not every person has it at home, in which case you can use an ordinary pan. The only condition for cookware is that it should be wide. Water should be heated to a temperature of no more than 40 degrees. Various medicinal herbs and a small amount of essential oils should be added there. Leaning toward the pan is necessary so that there is a distance of about 25 centimeters from the face to the water. For a better effect from inhalation, it is recommended to cover your head with an ordinary towel.
During the procedure you need to breathe correctly. If there are diseases of the nose or paranasal sinuses, then in this case, inhale and exhale through the nose. If the goal of inhalation is to treat a throat or cough, then air should enter and exit only through the mouth. First you need to take a deep breath, hold the air in your lungs for 2-3 seconds, and then exhale as much as possible. You should not breathe over boiling water.
Not everyone knows how many minutes to do inhalation at home. The trial procedure should last no more than 1-2 minutes. If an allergy to the drug is not detected, bring the duration of inhalation to 10 minutes.
Nebulizer inhalation
A nebulizer is a device that converts medications into an aerosol and then sends them through the respiratory tract of a sick person. Thanks to this device, inhalation procedures can be carried out not only in the physiological rooms of clinics and hospitals, but also at home. The nebulizer is convenient and easy to use at home.
The device is suitable for patients of any age, it is considered comfortable, modern and the safest. Due to the continuous supply of medicine, there is no need to take deep breaths and exhalations. A very important advantage of the nebulizer is that it does not use propellants that create pressure to ensure atomization.
When a nebulizer is recommended
Inhalations can be done not only when it is necessary to fight the disease, but also for prophylaxis in order to maintain immunity, or if there are fungal infections of the mucosa. Diseases that are treated with a nebulizer can be divided into groups:
- Diseases that manifest with seizures and require urgent treatment. For example, if an allergic or asthmatic disease worsens, the medication is administered by inhalation. The medicine should be prescribed by an allergist.
- Inflammatory respiratory diseases with a chronic course (chronic rhinitis, bronchitis). The nebulizer is recommended for use in families where there are small children who often catch a cold. Inhalations in this case help the child recover faster. Many parents are interested in the question of how many minutes to do inhalation with a nebulizer for a child. Children aged up to 5 years can be inhaled 1-2 times a day, the duration of the procedure should be 3 minutes. Doctors often prescribe treatment with this device for obstructive bronchitis.
- This group includes such acute respiratory ailments as rhinitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis. After using the inhaler, after only a few procedures, the person feels significant relief. It is worth noting that not all drugs can so quickly help a person.
- Diseases, the appearance of which is associated with a certain professional activity. It can be miners, actors, chemists, etc.
- Fifth group. These are diseases of the heart, blood vessels, endocrine and nervous systems.
Inhalation for children
You can treat a child using inhalation with any type of cough. Most often, inhalation is prescribed to children with a diagnosis of obstructive bronchitis. The procedure should be carried out only with those medicines that are prescribed by the attending physician. Often, pediatricians prescribe Pulmicort for inhalation for children.
According to the instructions "Pulmicort" is used for such diseases:
- non-allergic and mixed asthma;
- hay asthma with an allergic component;
- hay fever;
- nasopharyngitis;
- various lung diseases;
- laryngitis;
- vasomotor rhinitis.
Pulmicort inhalations are effective for dry, whistling, inhaling, barking coughs. Thanks to the drug, the lumen of the bronchi significantly expands, swelling of the mucous membrane in the airways is removed.
According to the instructions "Pulmicort" for inhalation for children is mainly used when emergency treatment is necessary. With systematic treatment, Berodual is used more, which perfectly fights cough, shortness of breath and relieves spasms in the bronchi.
The regimen for taking Pulmicort in children depends on the condition of the sick child and his age. Small patients with acute laryngotracheitis with a hoarse voice inhalation are prescribed twice a day (morning and evening) for 3 consecutive days. As the main therapy - it is used for a longer time.
Sometimes, in order for the treatment to be more effective and the sputum departs faster, pediatricians recommend alternating Pulmicort inhalation with saline. Parents often ask how many minutes do inhalation with saline? This type of procedure for children should take no more than 5 minutes.
If the baby has an attack of shortness of breath, it can be removed by alternating the preparations “Berodual” and “Pulmicort”. First, using "Berodual", with the help of a nebulizer, spasms in the bronchi are removed, then after 20 minutes Pulmicort is inhaled.
Many parents note that after the first procedure the child becomes much easier, the drug almost does not cause complications and is well tolerated by children.
Inhalation with "Lazolvan"
To maximize the effect of treatment, any modern devices are used, most often it is a nebulizer.
The rules for inhalation with "Lazolvan" are the same as with other drugs. In addition to these rules, doctors categorically do not recommend doing this procedure at night. Since "Lazolvan" well dilutes and removes sputum, the patient may begin to have a strong cough.
How to prepare a solution
Before proceeding with inhalation, the medicine and saline should be diluted correctly.
Pure saline is not suitable for treatment. This drug must be diluted with Lazolvan in a ratio of 1: 1.
If the baby is not yet three years old, then 1 ml of saline must take the same amount of the drug. It should be understood that increasing the dose will not only not give a positive result, but in some cases it can only exacerbate the condition, therefore it is extremely important to observe all the indicated proportions.
Children from three to six years of age for inhalation should increase the dose exactly twice, compared with the previous case.
You need to know how many minutes to do the inhalation with "Lazolvan" to the child. In childhood, the procedure should not last more than 3 minutes, it can be done twice a day. The course of treatment is determined by the doctor, its duration depends on the severity of the disease. If the disease passes in a mild form, then the treatment lasts 3-4 days, and with a more severe course - up to a week.
For adults, the dosage is 3 ml of Lazolvan and saline. The duration of the procedure is 5 minutes. It happens that a person has discomfort, in this case, stop inhalation for a while, and then repeat again after a while.
Each patient should understand that it is impossible to increase the dose of the drug on their own, in any case, otherwise instead of relief, side effects may appear, which will complicate the course of the underlying disease.
Patients are often interested in how long the effect of inhalation procedures lasts. As a rule, this depends both on the severity of the disease and on the individual susceptibility of the person.
Inhalation for sore throat
When pain or soreness is felt in the throat, essential oils and solutions prepared from medicinal plants help. For sore throats, it is recommended to use the following essential oils: eucalyptus, menthol, pine, fir. For 100 ml of hot water (60 degrees), 10-15 drops of oil are added. Of the herbs, coltsfoot, chamomile, sage, thyme, lavender give a good effect. A tablespoon of a mixture of herbs is brewed in 250 ml of water.
Rhinitis treatment
With a runny nose, inhalation with the use of essential oils of eucalyptus, pine, menthol, geranium helps well. Procedures in which plants such as pine needles, juniper, birch leaves, oak, mint, chamomile flowers, blackcurrant leaves also give an excellent effect.
When inhalation can not be done
As already noted, inhalation helps in the treatment of many diseases of the respiratory tract, but despite their effectiveness, there are also contraindications for their implementation. Inhalation treatment is prohibited if the patient has the following pathologies:
- heart and vascular diseases, such as myocardial infarction, heart failure, stroke, hypertension, and others;
- purulent tonsillitis;
- a person often has nose or lung bleeding;
- pathology in the respiratory system.
Before proceeding with treatment, you should consult with a specialist. The doctor will determine if there are contraindications and advise which medications are best used.