In medical manuals there is no diagnosis of "protracted bronchitis." So doctors call a condition during which bronchitis in adults is not treated, and a person at the same time suffers from coughing for a long time. Prolonged bronchitis in adults, the treatment of the symptoms of which will be described in this article, is also often called chronic. You can read more about this pathology below.
Causes
There are several reasons why the disease does not leave a person for a long time. These include the following:
- Illiterate therapy of acute bronchitis.
- Non-compliance by the patient with the recommendations of a specialist, improper dosage of funds, as well as the duration of treatment.
- Treatment was started later than necessary.
- Long neglect of symptoms, as well as self-treatment of bronchitis.
Quite often, a prolonged course of bronchitis in adults is observed precisely because of independent therapy of the acute form. There is currently a lot of information on the Internet that people use to treat this or that disease. Bronchitis is no exception.
Another common cause of prolonged bronchitis in adults, the treatment of which we will examine below, is an interrupted course of therapy. Having received the doctor’s prescriptions and recommendations, the patient begins treatment, and when he begins to feel better, stops it. However, at the moment, bronchitis is still not cured, and it will remind of itself with new symptoms.
Additional factors
Specialists also highlight some factors that contribute to the protracted form of the disease. These include:
- Alcohol abuse.
- Smoking
- Work related to hazardous production.
- Too wet climate.
Symptomatology
Before proceeding with the treatment of protracted bronchitis in adults, it is necessary to diagnose this disease. But how to determine this ailment?
As you know, bronchitis is provoked by a bacterial infection. If the patient does not recover after using the prescribed medications, then this indicates that these drugs were not chosen correctly. A doctor should be consulted for help if symptoms persist for 3 weeks or more. The main ones are:
- Loss of appetite, weakness, fatigue for no apparent reason. These are signs of a weakened immune system, as well as microbial intoxication.
- A debilitating, persistent cough that appears amid difficult sputum discharge.
- Neurasthenia, pleurisy, pain in the sternum.
- Shortness of breath, which is a constant companion of prolonged bronchitis.
Stages of the disease
As mentioned earlier, treatment of protracted bronchitis in adults should be carried out only after diagnosis. For this, the specialist examines the patient, collects an anamnesis, and then prescribes certain procedures. For example, bronchoscopy allows the doctor to see how much the inflammatory process has spread in the respiratory system. In the case of a chronic form of the disease, the bronchi are affected at all levels. Speaking about how to cure protracted bronchitis, therapy will be prescribed based on the stage of the inflammatory process. As a rule, inflammation is divided into 3 stages:
- Small changes on the mucous membrane of the bronchi.
- The mucous membrane is bright red and dense, bleeding and suppuration are possible.
- The color of the mucous membrane becomes cyanotic, the epithelium bleeds, a large amount of pus is formed.
If bronchography must be done, then sanitation of the bronchial tree is initially carried out, otherwise the accumulated pus will not allow the specialist to examine small bronchi. In chronic bronchitis, an x-ray will show a change in the pattern of the lungs, as well as an increase in the transparency of the tissue.
Therapy Features
If a diagnosis of protracted bronchitis has been made, then it is impossible to carry out therapy without drugs. Quite often, experts prescribe bronchodilators. In addition, antibacterial drugs are prescribed, for example, Amoxiclav and Augmentin. However, attention should be paid to the fact that other medications may be prescribed. This will depend on the sensitivity of the harmful bacteria to the active drug substance. If symptoms of protracted bronchitis in adults appear, a specialist can also prescribe the following medications:
- Mucolytics, which dilute phlegm, facilitate its withdrawal from the bronchi.
- Vitamin complexes that strengthen the body and the immune system as a whole.
- Bronchodilators that improve breathing.
- Expectorants that accelerate sputum excretion.
Special attention was given to the drug "Berodual" for inhalation. Instructions for use for adults are discussed below.
Berodual
This drug is used to treat bronchial asthma, as well as chronic bronchitis. This product is available in the form of a solution for inhalation. Instructions for use "Berodual" for adults:
- Use a medication in the amount of 20-80 drops.
- In case of long-term treatment, a reduced dosage of 20-40 drops is used.
- The tool is used up to 4 times a day.
- For auxiliary ventilation, 10 drops of this solution are prescribed.
Contraindications
Before using this tool for the treatment of protracted bronchitis, contraindications should also be considered. These include:
- Obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
- The first and third trimester of pregnancy.
- Tachyarrhythmia.
- Hypersensitivity to the components that make up the product.
In addition, this drug must be used very carefully in the presence of the following diseases and pathologies:
- Arterial hypertension.
- Angle-closure glaucoma.
- Diabetes.
- Hyperthyroidism
- Myocardial infarction, which has been transferred over the past three months.
- Vascular and heart disease.
- Pheochromocytoma obstruction of the neck of the bladder.
- Hyperplasia of the prostate.
- Cystic fibrosis.
- Lactation period.
- Second trimester of pregnancy.
Other drugs for protracted bronchitis in adults
To lower the temperature, antipyretic drugs are used, for example, Teraflu, Paracetamol, Ibuprofen. Antibiotics for prolonged bronchitis in adults are prescribed for treatment only in those situations if infectious bacteria in the patient's body have been identified.
For inhalation, you can also use mineral water, in which salt must be dissolved. This solution helps sputum discharge from the lungs.
Erespal tablets are very effective in controlling cough. With bronchitis in children, you can use this drug in the form of a syrup.
Folk remedies
There are many different recipes of traditional medicine, thanks to which you can alleviate the symptoms of protracted bronchitis in adults. This should include all kinds of tinctures and decoctions based on medicinal plants. Below you can find the most effective recipes. Most of them involve the use of an aloe plant, which has a number of healing properties:
- To stop the course of bronchitis, you need to use aloe and honey. To do this, a glass of plant juice is mixed with the same amount of natural honey. After that, 100 milliliters of vodka or alcohol are added there. Such a mixture should be infused throughout the day, after which it is taken from inflammatory diseases of the respiratory tract in the amount of one teaspoon twice a day. You can store the healing composition in the refrigerator.
- In a glass of warm milk, add one tablespoon of natural honey, as well as cocoa butter. Such a drink is drunk before going to bed, after which in the morning the sputum will cough well.
- Mix 350 g of crushed aloe leaves, 100 ml of alcohol, as well as 750 ml of cahors. Ready tincture is stored in a dark room. The treatment composition is taken in the amount of one tablespoon twice a day.
- Mix 200 g of cocoa, 150 ml of aloe juice, 300 g of natural honey. Add badger fat to the mixture. The ingredients are mixed together, after which the finished mixture should be stored in the refrigerator. The finished product is used in the amount of one tablespoon twice a day.
- Take one glass of birch buds, four thick leaves of an aloe plant, 500 g of natural honey. Heat the beekeeping product in a steam bath, add birch buds, as well as chopped leaves of the aloe plant. The finished mixture is stored in the refrigerator, and taken three times a day, one teaspoon.
- 300 g of chopped aloe leaves are mixed with the same amount of natural honey. 500 ml of cognac is added to the ingredients, as well as the juice of two medium-sized lemons. All ingredients are thoroughly mixed again, after which the healing composition is used twice a day in the amount of one teaspoon.
Those patients who will not delay taking a trip to a medical facility when they have the first symptoms of bronchitis will recover much faster. The doctor can include massage, exercise therapy, pepper patch, compresses, mustard plasters, correction of diet and daily regimen in the complex of basic therapy.
Prevention
If you do not want to allow the development of protracted bronchitis, then you need to follow simple preventive rules. As a result of this, you can avoid very serious complications of this disease.
First of all, you should promptly seek help from a specialist, not hoping for the advice of friends. Only a qualified doctor is able to accurately diagnose, identify the root cause of the development of the disease, as well as choose the right method of therapy, which will depend on the characteristics of the patient's body. Self-medication very often provokes an increase in the number of pathogenic microorganisms in the patient, as well as complications in the work of other organs.
In addition, during the treatment of bronchitis, the main task is to remove sputum from the respiratory system, as well as to stop the inflammatory process. The same applies to the protracted form of the disease. You can get rid of sputum with a plentiful drink.
Particular attention should be paid to cleanliness, as well as freshness in the room in which you are. In this case, we are talking about regular cleaning, walking away from the track, airing the premises.
Little conclusion
Based on the foregoing, it can be concluded that protracted bronchitis is the result of untreated acute bronchitis. For the reasons listed above, harmful microorganisms become very resistant to drugs, other pathologies begin to develop, and treatment becomes complicated and long-term. That is why it is always necessary to bring the treatment of acute bronchitis to the end, so that you can protect yourself from unpleasant problems in the future. When the first signs and symptoms of bronchitis appear, be sure to contact the clinic for help.