Folk remedies for inhalation for coughs and contraindications to them

For many centuries, coughs have been treated with inhalations. First of all, we are talking about a wet cough. It is worth noting that inhalations are also very useful for dry cough, so in any case this type of procedural treatment will be beneficial.

This procedure can be performed easily and simply at home: with a saucepan or a special nebulizer. Regardless of what exactly you use, you need to choose the right solutions for treatment. This is necessary for the treatment effect to be effective and noticeable.

For a wet cough, it is necessary to expel sputum, because it is with it that all infected organisms leave the lungs.

If left untreated, a wet cough can lead to pneumonia or even tuberculosis. Pregnant women should be especially careful, because the health of their body primarily affects the health of the unborn child.

Inhalations for sputum removal in children

To alleviate the condition of a child with bronchitis, it is recommended to actively use inhalations to remove sputum in children. Only in the first days, at the earliest stage, bronchitis occurs with a dry cough or without it at all.

Subsequently, the bronchi begin to produce sputum in fairly large volumes. It does not always come off easily, which makes breathing difficult and contributes to the accumulation and development of pathogenic microbes. The result is that the healing process is delayed.

What types of cough are there?

First of all, it can be physiological and pathological. Physiological is not capable of causing harm to health. It is caused reflexively, freeing the airways from dust and other foreign bodies.

Pathological is a consequence of a developing disease, is accompanied by other symptoms and has a classification.

By duration:

spicy. It occurs suddenly and may be accompanied by a runny nose, fever and sore throat. Most often, this type is caused by an acute respiratory viral infection. Therefore, it should be treated with antiviral drugs. If you delay in treating it, it can develop into a lingering cough, and then chronic;
chronic. It is characterized by its duration, without obvious accompanying symptoms. Most often, a cough that lasts continuously for about two months is called chronic. It is caused by the accumulation of fluid on the back wall of the throat and its flow down, which causes irritation of the mucous membrane, causing a cough. This type most often accompanies asthma, but to establish an accurate diagnosis you need to undergo a full examination to exclude tuberculosis and lung cancer. To treat chronic cough, the same drugs are used as for asthma, as well as antihistamines.

By intensity:

coughing Most often, it is not a type of pathological cough, but occurs as a result of clearing the airways or after nervous tension and stress. This “nervous” cough is treated with herbal decoctions with a sedative effect. It could be thyme, mint, chamomile;
hacking cough. Occurs when the body must get rid of foreign bodies in the body. Whether it is a foreign object or bacteria caused by disease. They are excreted with sputum, so you need to ensure it is coughed up copiously. The faster this happens, the faster the recovery will come.

Based on the presence of mucous secretions:

dry. It is characterized by scanty sputum production or its absence at all. This cough occurs due to a wide range of possible illnesses. It can be caused by inflammation of the larynx, bronchitis, asthma, viral and infectious diseases of the respiratory system, whooping cough, as well as allergies. In each case, only a specialist can help you figure it out. In inflammatory processes, a cough is accompanied by a sore throat and hoarseness. With viral infections the same is true, but after several days of illness, a dry cough turns into a wet cough with the release of a large amount of sputum. With pleurisy, bronchitis and more serious diseases, a person suffers from a painful, paroxysmal dry cough, accompanied by pain in the chest and between the shoulder blades. The rarest causes may be helminthic infestations. Therefore, without a doctor’s examination, you should not begin self-medication;
wet. The most common causes are respiratory diseases, bronchitis and pneumonia. A distinctive feature of a wet cough with pneumonia is the addition of elevated body temperature, chills, general weakness, and chest pain. To treat a wet cough, the doctor usually prescribes mucolytic drugs, as well as plenty of warm drinks to thin the mucus.

According to the nature of the secreted sputum:

watery. This is a cough with clear sputum. This species is not dangerous. It only indicates a discharge that removes pathogens and foreign bodies from the body;
with purulent impurities and/or bloody impurities. A cough with purulent and bloody discharge is very dangerous. It indicates the development of serious diseases or pathologies of the respiratory system, especially if it occurs suddenly and is accompanied by attacks of suffocation. In such cases, you must immediately call an ambulance. Self-medication is strictly prohibited. This situation cannot be avoided without the help of a pulmonologist. Typically, a specialist prescribes antibiotics, immunomodulators, antiviral drugs, in combination with physiotherapy and warming.

Based on timbre, coughs can be divided into voiced and dull.

Each of these types of cough is caused by certain reasons, which only a specialist can correctly determine. In addition, the time of cough occurrence and its intensity are also taken into account.

If the cough is caused by a simple respiratory viral infection, and not a dangerous disease, then you can try to get rid of it with folk remedies.

Problems specific to children

To alleviate the general condition of the patient, inhalations are prescribed to remove sputum in adult patients and young children. Of course, increased production of phlegm by the body is a normal reaction of the body to inflammatory processes, regardless of age. The mucous membrane has one of the purposes of protecting internal organs from germs and viruses. At the same time, the mucous membrane in children has its own characteristics, due to which the process does not always proceed normally on its own.

In children, this environment is often characterized by high viscosity and density. Various microorganisms are well retained here, but their removal becomes a problem. This is why experts widely recommend inhalation to thin mucus.

Symptoms

For different diseases, the main manifestations vary significantly.

With whooping cough, an attack of dry cough worsens at night. Sometimes it seems that a person is temporarily feeling better, but the severe bronchospasm that occurs significantly worsens his condition. Sometimes it is so strong that there is a urge to vomit. The patient's chest whistles and wheezes, and it may be difficult for him to catch his breath.
Also, an attack of bronchial asthma most often develops at night. It is often accompanied by suffocation, severe headache, a significant increase in blood pressure and fever. Usually the patient already knows what is required in such cases and immediately takes the medicine prescribed by the doctor.
When an allergy develops in the spring, during the flowering period, or upon contact with any agent foreign to the body, an attack of severe dry cough may occur, accompanied by severe chest pain. It appears due to significant swelling of the bronchial mucosa and is often accompanied by a runny nose, constant sneezing, nasal congestion and lacrimation. When contact with the allergen is interrupted or antihistamines are administered, the attack ends as quickly as it began.
If bronchospasm occurs when a person gets out of bed and disappears when he lies back down, then in this case, most likely, we are talking about dry pleurisy.
With bronchitis and tracheitis, a paroxysmal barking cough is often observed. It is characterized by very pronounced intensity and is accompanied by severe wheezing in the chest cavity. The attacks can be so severe that the patient completely rips off his vocal cords.
If a dry cough occurs during a conversation, then the cause may be the development of a tumor in the windpipe. Often, a person’s voice changes its timbre and becomes hoarse or cracked.
Severe, painful morning attacks are very common among heavy smokers. Over the years, the cough gradually turns into a wet one. But this does not make it any easier for the patient. In the morning, he tries to free the airways from the secretion accumulated in them, produced by the mucous membrane during chronic inflammation. If he succeeds in expectoration, the discharge is dark green in color. Over the years, such attacks begin to appear at any time of the day.

These symptoms vary significantly. The only thing they have in common is the presence of a strong dry cough.

Therefore, it becomes clear that they need to be treated with a variety of means. Only a doctor can determine what caused it - an allergen, a respiratory disease or damage to the lung tissue.

Sinusitis

Sometimes an attack develops as a result of a cold or sinusitis. Then it is accompanied by symptoms of these pathologies. The person experiences muscle pain, severe nasal congestion, or migraines.

Respiratory pathologies

If we are talking about influenza or ARVI, then pronounced respiratory symptoms and significant signs of intoxication are gradually joined by a strong inflammatory process of bronchial tissue, accompanied by spasms. In this case, the patient is tormented by frequent, long-lasting attacks of dry cough, from which he is sometimes simply unable to stand on his feet.

Targeting a cold will not cure the flu, and fighting bronchitis will not alleviate the condition of a patient with tuberculosis.

In these cases, a comprehensive examination of the body is required. If you do not provide help to the patient, the attacks will begin to occur more frequently, the person’s condition will constantly worsen, and the disease can take a chronic course.

It is very important to take your temperature immediately. The numbers on the thermometer can tell the doctor a lot

Inhalations are the best solution

Quite a long time ago, experts appreciated the advantages of the method, actively recommend and use inhalation in practice to remove phlegm for children and adults. There are many different options for this procedure. The most widespread are:

Steam inhalation at home can use improvised means, such as a kettle or a saucepan, to remove sputum.
Natural, natural remedies. This is, first of all, inhaling fresh air in the forest, on the seashore, etc.
Passive method. Provides for the spraying of aromatic oils and essential substances in the room using oil lamps of steam generators.
Hardware inhalations to thin sputum at home.

Advantages

Steam inhalation for removing mucus from the bronchi for an adult or child, using a nebulizer, allows you to achieve a number of beneficial advantages:

more effective thinning of mucus;
the correct use of modern means allows you to increase the speed of recovery of the body;
there is a general improvement in the patient’s well-being after the procedure;
wet cough disappears much faster than with standard drug treatment.

Procedure

To ensure maximum results when performing inhalation to remove sputum, you must follow 2 simple rules:

Plan and carry out the procedure only as prescribed by a doctor.
Strictly follow the instructions for using the nebulizer.

Only an experienced, qualified specialist can determine how effective a particular remedy will be, establish the frequency of the procedure and give other necessary recommendations.

How to use the nebulizer

install the device on a flat, stable base, connect to the network;
prepare a saline solution, add into specially purified water a liquid product recommended by a doctor for inhalation that thins sputum;
put on a mask for an adult or child (included);
take a deep breath and exhale. Breathing can and should be alternated: inhale through the nose – exhale through the mouth and vice versa;
the procedure ends after the solution in the nebulizer container is completely exhausted.

Simple and convenient, and the result exceeds all expectations!

How to identify a dry cough

Cough is not an independent disease; it is a sign of certain diseases. The main characteristic of a dry cough is that sputum is not coughed up or is released in scanty quantities. An accompanying symptom is a sore throat. A dry, painful cough causes pain and sometimes even leads to vomiting.

Causes of dry cough:

Cold, flu or ARVI. Often there is an increase in temperature at the same time. In the normal course of the disease, after some time the cough turns into a wet form and sputum is produced;
Laryngitis. Inflammation of the mucous membrane of the larynx, the throat with laryngitis is expressed red. The disease begins with a feeling of itching in the throat;
Tracheitis. Painful, debilitating cough. Inflammation of the mucous membrane of the pulmonary trachea;
Contact with caustic chemicals. Household and other chemicals cause respiratory irritation;
Pleurisy. When coughing, pain is felt in the side. Needs urgent help!
Pneumonia. Pneumonia. Occurs in the absence of treatment for the above diseases;
Smoker's bronchitis. With the help of coughing, the body tries to clear the airways from particles of tar and smoke entering the lungs;
Allergy. Cough is the main manifestation of an allergic reaction. May be accompanied by watery eyes and runny nose.

According to the duration of the course, dry cough can be divided into three types: