Natural Remedies For Bronchitis
Bronchitis refers to the inflammation of bronchial tubes that serve as primary air passages to the lungs. There are two main forms of bronchitis, acute and chronic.
Some of the causes of bronchitis are excessive smoking, working in a stuffy environment, drug use for controlling earlier diseases and also due to hereditary factors. Sometimes, certain weather changes also create conditions which give birth to the disease.
The bronchitis symptoms range from fever and breathing difficulty to coughing, and bringing out huge quantities of phlegm. These symptoms may also be accompanied with hoarseness of voice, chest pain, and fatigue along with appetite loss.
Generally, taking sufficient rest along with intake of a lot of fluids is advised which help to clear up cases of acute bronchitis in a few days. If your condition accompanies cough that continues for over three weeks and also persistent fever, you can ask for medical attention. Research has been on for using alternative medicine in the treatment of bronchitis, but no significant breakthrough has been achieved in this field. Certain natural remedies however, do sometimes help to soothe symptoms and may also bring about effective cure.
- Slippery Elm: This herb has mucilage which is known to calm inflamed tissue and sipping tea containing this herb provides relief to sore throat.
- Pelargonium Sidoides: Herbal preparations with Pelargonium sidoides roots, like umckaloabo help alleviate chest pain, decrease mucus production and also lessen cough.
- Ginger: Bronchitis patients can consume a mixture containing half teaspoon each of ginger, pepper as well as cloves three times a day along with tea or honey. This mixture is helpful in decreasing fever and also boosts up metabolism of a patient.
- Horseradish: You can pour boiling water in a cup containing cut or ground horseradish root and drink the mixture after five minutes. This can be consumed thrice daily.
- Almond: You should make a powder of almonds (about seven kernels) and mix those with lemon or orange juice and take it once in the night.
- Spinach: A pinch of ammonium chloride along with a little honey should be mixed with 50 grams of spinach leaves in 250 ml water. This infusion works wonderfully as an expectorant.
- Aromatherapy: You can blend these oils: 30 drops of Eucalyptus, 15 drops of Lavender, 12 drops of Pine, 6 drops of Marjoram and 3 drops of Thyme. Keep this mixture in a glass bottle and put about six to eight drops in steaming hot water kept in a bowl. The steam has to be inhaled for five or ten minutes.
- Bronchitis bath: You may blend 6 drops of Eucalyptus oil, 2 drops of Hyssop oil and 2 drops of sandalwood oil to ¼ cup of Epsom salts. This mixture is to be added to bath water and soaked in for minimum 15 to 20 minutes.
It is always wise to adopt preventive measures to strengthen the immune system in order to safeguard from viral and bacterial attacks. One of the ways you can do this is by consuming honey and cinnamon powder daily for this purpose. Natural remedies for bronchitis management should be effectively administered before resorting to antibiotic therapy.