In the cold season, colds are often complicated by the development of tracheitis. The symptoms of this disease are familiar to many. The main manifestation of acute tracheitis is the appearance of a dry, debilitating cough. The cough is especially disturbing at night and in the morning, as a result of which normal night's sleep is disturbed. Then the seizures appear during deep breaths. In the throat and behind the sternum there is a feeling of scratching, tickling. Since tracheitis is often accompanied by inflammation of the larynx, the patient’s voice changes and becomes hoarse. All these complaints are accompanied by common signs of inflammation - fever, weakness, headache, but basically the patient's condition changes slightly.
If there is no treatment for tracheitis, it can spread to large bronchi. As a result, tracheobronchitis develops, which is manifested by a more intense cough, an increase in temperature. A distinctive feature of tracheitis is the absence of changes in the lungs and bronchi with objective examination methods - percussion and auscultation. The development of tracheobronchitis is accompanied by the appearance of dry and then wet rales in the lungs. The diagnosis of acute tracheitis is based on the clinical picture and the absence of changes in other respiratory organs. A common complication of tracheitis and tracheobronchitis is the spread of inflammation to the lung tissue and the development of bronchopneumonia.
Repeated inflammation of the trachea leads to the development of atrophy or hypertrophy of its mucous membrane, which is a characteristic manifestation of chronic tracheitis. Patients complain of frequent dry cough, worse at night and in the morning.
Tracheitis treatment
Treatment of the disease is prescribed depending on the reasons that caused its development. In the presence of a viral infection, the appointment of antiviral drugs - remantadine, amisone, arbidol is indicated. These drugs are most effective in the initial stage of the development of the disease. A good therapeutic effect is observed when taking interferon. In addition to antiviral drugs, symptomatic treatment of tracheitis is carried out: thermal procedures, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory drugs, inhalations.
Patients with tracheitis can put mustard plasters and warming compresses on the sternum, make mustard foot baths.
Treatment of tracheitis with inhalations can be carried out using a household inhaler. For inhalation, decoctions of medicinal herbs with anti-inflammatory and antitussive effects (eucalyptus, chamomile, sage, coltsfoot) are used. In the absence of an inhaler, you can do steam inhalation using improvised means. To do this, you can use a saucepan and funnel made of thick paper. A hot broth of medicinal herbs is poured into the pan, after which it is covered with the wide end of the funnel. Through the narrow end of the funnel, the patient breathes hot steam. An even simpler way of carrying out inhalations is to put the patient over a pan or bowl with a hot broth and cover his head with a towel. Inhalation is indicated daily once or twice a day.
Treatment of tracheitis in pregnant women does not differ from conventional therapy for this disease, but the administration of pharmaceutical preparations should be limited, replacing them with traditional medicine methods. It is especially recommended to exclude taking medications in the first trimester of pregnancy when the fetus is forming.
In the chronic course of the disease, it is necessary to avoid hypothermia, stay in rooms with high dust content. In the acute stage, treatment of chronic tracheitis is carried out similarly to treatment acute bronchitis.