Chronic bronchitis of a smoker, treatment with folk remedies

Often, at the first stages of the disease, a smoker simply does not pay any attention to the morning cough, or brushes it off, considering it a normal and absolutely harmless side effect of smoking cigarettes. However, if you do not make an appointment with a pulmonologist in time, very soon a barely noticeable cough will develop into a global problem that threatens your health.

Chronic bronchitis of a smoker is a disease that the overwhelming majority of heavy smokers face. Cough is caused by cigarette smoke, which contains combustion products and tar.

This disease manifests itself differently in each smoker. It depends on many factors: health, smoking experience, the number of cigarettes smoked per day. The individual susceptibility of the smoker to all components of tobacco smoke entering the lungs also plays an important role.

If you or your loved ones have noticed symptoms of smoker's bronchitis (for example, a daily morning cough), you cannot ignore them. A consultation with a pulmonologist or therapist will help get rid of this painful problem.

The doctor will conduct a thorough examination to exclude the likelihood of any severe lung pathologies. Additionally, a study of lung function will be prescribed to exclude chronic obstructive disease of this organ. If you have shortness of breath, be sure to notify the doctor about it.

The first step necessary to treat smoker's bronchitis is to get rid of the pernicious addiction to cigarettes. For many, this will be very difficult, especially if the smoking experience is more than a dozen years. Unfortunately, most smokers mistakenly believe that there is no point in quitting smoking, since it will not affect their recovery. However, this judgment is incorrect.

Quitting cigarettes is very relevant at any stage of the disease and during its treatment, regardless of the length of smoking.

Of course, when quitting smoking, a person should know the general features of the body's reaction to the absence of the previous dose of nicotine.

From the first days of quitting cigarettes, as a rule, the smoker's morning cough intensifies, sputum is separated very poorly, breathing becomes more difficult, and the person's general well-being worsens.

Such manifestations of exacerbation of smoker's bronchitis reach their peak approximately on the seventh day after quitting cigarettes. This phenomenon in medicine is called "nicotine withdrawal syndrome." It is this phenomenon that becomes the main justification for many smokers to resume smoking. However, you should pull yourself together and remember that the unpleasant symptoms will disappear very soon.

In many cases, a person quitting smoking needs the support of family, friends, and sometimes doctors.

A doctor can prescribe nicotine-containing drugs that make it easier to quit smoking, as well as medications aimed at clearing the lungs of phlegm, dilating blood vessels, and improving mood. In no case should you independently decide on treatment with this or that drug, since you can further harm your health.

Folk recipes for smoker's bronchitis

If you have been diagnosed with smoker's bronchitis, treatment with folk remedies can be combined with the main medication. However, their use should also be discussed with your doctor in advance.

Infusion of medicinal herbs

To prepare, you need to take one tablespoon of dried St. John's wort and wild rosemary. The herbal infusion should be poured into an enamel bowl, add one glass of water and boil over low heat for half an hour. Drink the resulting decoction like regular tea.

The patient should drink at least three cups of this medicinal tea during the day. Already on the second day, the person's cough will significantly increase. This is a common phenomenon that should not be frightened. Continue drinking tea, and after about another day, phlegm will begin to actively leave. And somewhere on the seventh day, the cough should go away completely. This remedy is effective for treating smoker's bronchitis, but it is not able to eliminate other types of cough.

Herbal tea with chamomile and rose hips

A good effect in treating smoker's bronchitis is given by herbal tea, the components of which are dry inflorescences of pharmacy chamomile and rose hips. It is made in an elementary way: you should place two teaspoons of crushed rose hips and chamomile flowers in a teapot. Pour two glasses of boiling water over the mixture and leave for an hour. You need to drink this decoction instead of regular tea. It is recommended to drink at least two cups of the decoction per day. This tea contains quite a lot of useful substances and vitamin C.

Dandelion and thyme infusion

Unfortunately, even after the acute stage of smoker's bronchitis has passed, a so-called "residual" cough may not leave him for a very long time. Herbal infusion of dandelion and thyme will help to cope with this problem. To prepare it, you need to take fresh dandelion rhizome and a tablespoon of dried thyme herb.

Half a glass of water should be brought to a boil, then add thyme herb to the container with water. After turning off the heat, the dish should be tightly covered with a lid. Steam the thyme for half an hour. While the herb is infusing, using a piece of gauze, squeeze five teaspoons of juice from the chopped dandelion roots. If the medicine is prepared in the cold season, fresh dandelion root can be replaced with a ready-made aqueous solution, which can be found in a pharmacy.

When the thyme infusion has cooled, it is combined with dandelion juice. The resulting mixture should be drunk three times a day at least 10 minutes before meals. The full course of treatment should last from two weeks to one month. Please note that it is unacceptable to prepare the mixture for future use, steam it immediately before use.

The effectiveness of treating smoker's bronchitis with this decoction lies solely in its beneficial properties, which have a positive effect on the smoker's body. For example, the rhizome of medicinal dandelion very effectively removes all toxins from the lungs of a person that have accumulated over the period of smoking. And thyme, in turn, produces a strong antispasmodic effect.

Be that as it may, the key to the success of such a conscious and quite serious step as quitting smoking is only the desire of the smoker himself, who seeks to give up a habit harmful to health. Otherwise, all measures to treat smoker's bronchitis will not bring the expected result, and the time spent on this will be wasted.