Treatment of acute bronchitis may include various medications, such as antibiotics or cough suppressants. But home remedies are also used in the therapy of acute bronchitis. What helps in such a case and what you can do yourself to relieve the symptoms, you can learn here.
Home remedies for acute bronchitis – what helps?
The following tips and home remedies can help in the treatment of acute bronchitis:
- In acute bronchitis caused by viruses – and especially in fever – bed rest must be observed. Breathing air must be kept moist (inhaler, addition of essential oils). The viral or acute bronchitis otherwise requires no special therapy.
- The best expectorant, however, is an abundant supply of fluids. About three to four liters of tea or mineral water daily ensure that the mucus is liquefied and can be coughed up well. In addition, hot drinks such as sage tea or a hot milk with fennel honey can soothe the irritated airways and thus relieve the sore throat.
- As a home remedy for the cough is recommended to boil milk, honey and onions in equal parts. This has an expectorant effect and facilitates coughing.
- It is important to have a sufficient supply of vitamin C (fruit, juice, possibly tablets).
- A moist chest compress can be applied twice a day for about two hours. Especially recommended, for example, body-warm curd compresses, because they have an anti-inflammatory and expectorant effect.
- Of good success are sweating cures: you take a hot bath or drink elderberry or linden blossom tea to boost the defenses. For older people, sweating procedures should not be carried out too intensively, to avoid overloading the heart and circulation.
- Vibration massage can help facilitate expectoration and prevent the occurrence of pneumonia.
- Rubbing with essential oils (for example, thyme, lemon balm or eucalyptus) or ointments can also support breathing.
For older people, caution is generally required with all applications. They should also sit up more often.
Treatment of acute bronchitis with medication
In addition, the following medications may help treat acute bronchitis:
- Because the cough can be excruciating, especially at night, cough suppressants with codeine are recommended.
- Cough suppressant medications should not be taken during the day, as they inhibit the desired expectoration of mucus. Expectorant medications (mucolytics) such as acetylcysteine, on the other hand, may help.
- Fever, joint pain and headache can be treated with commonly known pain-fever medicines.
In addition, in the case of bacterial bronchitis, an antibiotic is usually prescribed.
Complications of acute bronchitis
Acute bronchitis usually does not cause further complications and should be cured after a few days.
However, because breathing capacity is often reduced in acute bronchitis, exercise is not advised during the illness. Otherwise, bronchitis can be carried over and lead to serious sequelae such as pneumonia.
Take antibiotics correctly
If an antibiotic has been prescribed as part of bacterial bronchitis, it should be taken for the prescribed period of time, even if signs of bronchitis are no longer present.
Early discontinuation may result in the bacteria not responding to subsequent antibiotic therapy. In this case, it is called antibiotic resistance. Furthermore, lack of compliance with antibiotic treatment that has already begun can lead to extension of the disease to the adjacent lung tissue and additionally cause pneumonia.
