Bronchitis

Bronchitis Treatment, Symptoms, Causes

Bronchitis Medications - Various Treatments

Bronchitis can either be acute or chronic. Though they bear the same names, they are very different in nature, especially owing to their difference in causative agents. Due to the presence of many agents, the medication also must be altered accordingly to treat the disease better.

Acute bronchitis

Hence, initially understand the cause of the bronchitis that has affected you. People diagnosed with acute bronchitis must follow a few steps
· Drink as much fluids like fruit juices and water as you can.
· Get enough rest.
· Quit smoking if you are a smoker.
· Relax yourself well as much as you can.
· Employ humidifiers in your house.

In case of mild fever along with body pain, the doctor prescribes acetaminophen. Aspirin can also help. However, aspirin must not be taken by pregnant women or children, since it can lead to heavy bleeding and Rye’s syndrome respectively.
Anti-cough medicine is taken for dry cough. In case of cough with phlegm, it is recommended not to use anti-cough syrup but allow the body to purify itself. In case of using anti-cough medicine and suppressing cough with phlegm, cough may subside but phlegm accumulates in the lungs and serves to develop more microbes. So an expectorant is advised to be taken in such cases, since this liquefies the phlegm in our body and helps the patient to cough the entire mucus out.

If there is a bacterial infection, antibiotic therapy is mostly recommended by a doctor. In case of not using antibiotics there are chances for the patient to suffer a relapse. Besides, the bacteria can develop a new variant immune to the current medication. The medicines include azithromycin, trimethoprim, clarithromycin, or sulfamethazole. Amoxicillin is prescribed for children below eight years of age instead of tetracyclin owing to its causage of teeth discoloration.

Chronic Bronchitis

These are different from the above prescribed ones owing to its complicatedness. Doctors must carefully examine these patients for other conditions before proposing a treatment plan for the disease. The plan may also include some lifestyle modifications like quitting smoking, moving to cleaner environments, etc. Regular exercise will help in an easier and quicker recovery from chronic bronchitis.


The anti-inflammatory drugs normally prescribed include ipratorium (decreases the mucus production), corticosteroids like prednisone (taken orally or intravenously), etc. Bronchodilators like metaproterenol, albuterol, etc help in relaxing the bronchial muscles and thus increase the air flow in the air passages in our body. This can either be taken orally or inhaled with the use of a nebulizer (device used in transporting the medicine to respiratory tract).

Advanced stages may need supplemental oxygen and hospitalization if the patient develops other complications. Herbal medicines like eucalyptus being inhaled or an herbal tea can also be used.

All these medicines must be prescribed by a doctor and not to be taken of your own.