Cough is a difficult, multi-component protective reflex of the body. A cough is necessary in order to exclude pathological secretions and / or foreign bodies from the respiratory tract. The cough has more than fifty factors; it is able to accompany heart disease, gastrointestinal tract, paranasal sinuses and other things. However, the main cause of cough, of course, are respiratory diseases. Tracheitis belongs to this kind of disease, and can have a different nature. Symptoms and treatment of tracheitis in adults depend on the causes of the disease.
Causes of Tracheitis
Often, tracheitis is caused by the presence of a viral infection in the body, develops against the background of acute inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system, or it can be caused by other pathological agents. The cause of acute tracheitis of a bacterial nature are bacteria of the Streptococcus genus, in particular S-pyogenes, bactericides, anaerobes, and bacteria of the genus Staphylococcus; Haemophilus influenzae bacillus.
In addition, the following factors affect the development of the disease:
- hypothermia, as a result of which the protective mechanisms of the body are reduced;
- weakening of the immune system against the background of hypo- and vitamin deficiency, serious diseases, stress;
- inflammation of the tracheal membrane due to allergic reactions;
- trauma or inflammation of the trachea associated with the ingress of foreign bodies;
- smoking, which irritates the respiratory tract;
- alcohol consumption;
- damaging effects of chemicals, overdried or cold air.
Sometimes the cause of tracheitis becomes diseases of the heart and lungs, in particular, pulmonary emphysema, kidney pathologies and chronic inflammation of the nasopharynx, which affect the circulation of blood and oxygen.
Symptoms of tracheitis in adults
The disease in adults and children manifests itself immediately after the start of pathogenic mechanisms in the respiratory system.
The main symptom of tracheitis is cough, which is quite dry. In addition, tracheitis can be expressed in the following symptoms:
- hoarseness of voice;
- increase in body temperature;
- chest pain in the chest;
- weakness;
- headache.
In a chronic disease, a person suffers from a painful cough, which becomes stronger at night. A cough appears when crying, laughing, changing air temperature. Coughing can be either dry or with a lot of sputum. The disease lasts about 3 months, sometimes subsiding, then intensifying. In children, signs of tracheitis usually appear at night or late in the evening. The baby has sleep disorders due to prolonged dry cough. Symptoms of the occurrence of tracheitis in the morning can be a suddenly sagging voice, sneezing.
However, the most significant sign of the disease in children, as well as in adults, is considered to be a “barking” dry cough, which gains strength before bedtime. In addition, another symptom is a burning sensation in the chest.
Acute tracheitis
The main symptom of acute tracheitis in adults and children is regular bouts of dry cough. It is most intense in the mornings and evenings, due to the accumulation of sputum in the respiratory tract. However, a seizure can be triggered by a sharp laugh, screaming, a sharp drop in temperature and other similar factors. Often after coughing, the patient feels severe pain and burning sensation behind the sternum.
The disease is also indicated by general weakness and fatigue of the patient. It is very likely that severe headaches will be noted. If acute tracheitis has received complications, then a high temperature should be expected. As a rule, in the first days the presence of sputum is not observed. This explains why coughing is not beneficial. But in the future, the amount of sputum will begin to increase significantly.
However, after a certain period, the cough flows smoothly from dry to wet. Attacks are not repeated so often. The patient feels much better. And if at first the sputum was extremely thick, but left with extremely great difficulty, then as the disease develops, it noticeably liquefies. The cause of the development of the disease can be a mechanical injury resulting from the ingress of a foreign object into the respiratory tract.
In addition, tracheitis can provoke excessively hot or cold air. Also, irritation of the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract with too polluted air can cause the disease.
Chronic tracheitis
In the case of untimely attention to acute tracheitis, the onset of signs of the disease, sooner or later the disease will inevitably progress to a chronic form. In this case, the change procedure is accompanied by depleted or hypertrophic transformations of the mucous layer of the trachea. Like the acute form, chronic inflammation in a child and adults expresses itself with prolonged coughing fits and quite severe pain in the lower chest. Symptoms of chronic tracheitis are discharge, which have a different look. In some patients, they are scarce and malleable, while in others they are abundant, mucopurulent. We emphasize that regardless of the density and intensity of secretions, they are almost always very easily separated.
Diagnosis of tracheitis
Usually tracheitis occurs with pronounced symptoms, however, the diagnosis should be made by a specialist. Only in this way is it possible to prescribe the right treatment, which will have the desired effect. The final diagnosis is made by the doctor based on the following data:
- Symptoms of tracheitis (photos on this topic are presented in the article). These include patient complaints of pain in the throat and chest, cough, hoarseness, a slight increase in temperature, weakness of the body, etc.
- Medical history. The doctor needs to find out during what period the patient is unhealthy, at what point the first signs of the disease appeared and with what they may be associated.
- General inspection. As a result of listening to the lungs with a phonendoscope, hard breathing, dry or wet rales are detected. To check the condition of the laryngeal mucosa, an examination using a laryngoscope can be performed.
- General blood analysis. A general blood test is aimed at establishing the fact of the presence of inflammatory processes in the body. In this case, an increased level of white blood cells and an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate will be recorded.
Situations of late treatment of patients for medical help are possible. Then additional diagnostics may be required: chest x-ray and laboratory examination of sputum.
Drug treatment
Drug therapy, as a rule, is used if the disease is provoked by a bacterial infection. The most commonly prescribed medications are in the form of an aerosol. Much less often, patients are given pills. This is due to the fact that the aerosol allows you to get into almost the entire area of the trachea, which cannot be achieved with tablets.
But despite this, a list of the most effective drugs against tracheitis should be given:
- "Bioparox". It is an aerosol. The course of treatment takes from a week to ten days. The price of the drug is four hundred and forty rubles. It is strictly forbidden to give children under three years of age. Persons prone to bronchospasm should also be cautious about the medicine. Greatly removes the initial symptoms of tracheitis. Reviews about the drug are quite positive.
- Sinecode. This medicine is supplied as a syrup. The cost varies from four hundred to eight hundred rubles. It is undesirable to take women in the first trimester of pregnancy, as well as during lactation.
- "Lazolvan." May be sold as tablets, solution for inhalation and oral administration. The price is three hundred and forty-five rubles. Do not use with other cough medicines. In case of peptic ulcer of the stomach or duodenum, it should also be abandoned.
- Sumamed. As described above, it is available in the form of tablets and capsules. It can also be prescribed in the form of powders for syrup. It costs from two hundred to one thousand eighty-three rubles. It is not recommended for use in the presence of severe liver or kidney function disorders. In addition, it is contraindicated in children under three years of age.
Alternative treatment for tracheitis
There is a fairly extensive list of methods for combating tracheitis. It is provided just below:
- Inhalation procedures using a nebulizer.
- Drug therapy.
- Ethnoscience.
Of course, each of the above methods has its own disadvantages and advantages, however, in this article we will focus on the latter method of treatment.
Ethnoscience. In the arsenal of folk remedies there is a fairly impressive list of recipes to eliminate the disease.
The most popular are listed in the following directory:
1. Mustard baths. Mustard foot baths do an excellent job with tracheitis. To do this, you just need to wear socks in which dry mustard is poured in the form of a powder.
2. Blackberry infusion. Also effective is a blackberry infusion, prepared in this way:
a) two tablespoons of berries / leaves for two hundred milliliters of boiling water;
b) insist for fifteen minutes. Drink at least four times a day.
3. Propolis. An excellent tool against tracheitis will be home inhalation with propolis. In order to cook it, you need to warm up forty grams of wax and sixty grams of propolis in a water bath. Then, covered with a blanket over the container, breathe for ten minutes.
4. The potato. A compress of crushed potatoes, which are applied to the upper chest, helps a lot. However, it is worth considering that this method is strictly forbidden to use if the patient has a high temperature.
5. Compress of honey, flour, sunflower oil and mustard. The above ingredients must be mixed in similar proportions, for example, a teaspoon, then heated in a water bath, after adding a spoonful of vodka. Put the resulting mass on the chest. Repeat recommended until the symptoms stop.
6. Decoction of milk and pine buds. Very useful properties for tracheitis are characterized by a decoction of milk and pine kidneys, prepared as follows: in five hundred milliliters of milk, previously boiled, pour a teaspoon of pine buds. Let it brew and drink in small "doses" throughout the day until the disease disappears.
Inhalation of the disease
Symptoms and treatment of tracheitis at home include inhalation. They can be of two types: steam (over a pan with hot water with the addition of various funds) and with the use of a nebulizer (drugs are used, the selection of which the attending physician is responsible for).
1. Steam inhalation. They are carried out with the addition of the following herbal preparations:
- Melissa;
- daisy flowers;
- St. John's wort
- coltsfoot;
- thyme.
2. Inhalation using a nebulizer. The nebulizer is intended for the use of medications. Most often, the following drugs are prescribed:
- "Mucosolvan" - promotes liquefaction of sputum and its rapid elimination. Efficiency is achieved through penetration into the tissues of the trachea and lungs.
- Saline solution - provokes separation and subsequent withdrawal of sputum due to warming of the trachea tissue. It is allowed to use even during pregnancy, since the product is non-toxic.
How are inhalations for tracheitis?
- It is forbidden to talk and move while carrying out the procedure;
- the procedure is performed one hour before a meal, or an hour later;
- it is not recommended to strain the ligaments for an hour after the procedure;
- should be treated with this method three times a day to achieve the desired effect.
Tracheitis in children
By its nature, tracheitis is classified into the following groups:
- Infectious tracheitis.
- Non-infectious tracheitis.
Based on the name, it becomes obvious that infectious tracheitis is provoked by bacteria and viruses that irritate the mucous membrane of the trachea.
The most common symptoms of tracheitis in children are caused by the following microorganisms:
- Adenovirus.
- Flu.
- Measles.
- Whooping cough.
- Staphylococcus
However, the disease can be triggered not only by infectious pathogens. It is quite capable of irritating the mucous membrane:
- Excessively hot air.
- Too cold air.
- Contaminated air.
The presence of the disease can be judged if the following symptoms of tracheitis in children are present: dry, annoying cough that does not bring any relief. Most often with tracheitis there is no sputum. Cough reaches its climax in the morning and evening. In this case, the patient feels severe pain behind the sternum. The child's voice becomes hoarse and whistling.
Another symptom of tracheitis in infants and preschoolers is sleep. It becomes intermittent, because a cough torments even at night.
To identify the disease, the doctor listens to the child: loud wheezing occurs when coughing.
Tracheitis during pregnancy
Launched tracheitis during pregnancy is fraught with infection of an unborn baby. In addition, the disease can significantly complicate the birth.
A dry cough, which reaches its zenith in the morning and evening, quite clearly indicates a disease that has arisen. This is because it is precisely during such periods that the maximum amount of sputum is accumulated in the airways. Also, an attack can be triggered by a deep breath, laughter and scream. In the process of coughing, the patient feels a cutting pain in the throat due to an attempt by the affected organs to reduce their respiratory capacity, who want to avoid another attack of coughing.
It should be borne in mind that in the early days the disease is characterized by a dry cough, devoid of sputum, but gradually it is "retrained" into a wet, less painful, much more productive one. Sputum itself is usually purulent.
The following methods are used to combat the disease during pregnancy:
- inhalation;
- ethnoscience;
- medicines.
The most effective way is considered the first option. For its implementation, you can use both an ordinary steam and an ultrasonic inhaler. In the absence of these, you should build a home one - having prepared the necessary infusion, cover yourself with your head above the container and inhale the emitted vapors.