Medicinal herbs for bronchitis: acute and chronic obstructive

Bronchitis is usually called the inflammatory process in the lower respiratory tract with localization in the bronchial region. The main danger of the disease lies in the fact that in the absence of effective treatment it can easily go to bronchopneumonia (bronchial inflammation), pneumonia (pneumonia), pulmonary emphysema (an increase in the volume of the organ with respiratory and gas exchange disturbances), and in the bacterial character of the disease, inflammatory processes in the heart, kidneys, vessels, etc. You can treat the disease in many ways. But if all of us in the therapy of bronchitis used only synthetic pharmacy medicines, the incidence rates of the pathologies of the heart, the digestive tract, the kidneys, the liver and some other organs would grow at times. Herbs with bronchitis help to avoid such deplorable consequences caused by complications from taking "chemistry".

Perhaps, herbal treatment is not always justified. Heavy bacterial bronchitis is very problematic to treat without the use of antibiotics. In this case, the herbs will act as auxiliaries to accelerate recovery and enhance immunity, thereby reducing the likelihood of recurrence of the disease.

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]

A little bit about bronchitis itself

The fact that bronchitis is nothing more than an inflammation of the bronchi is known to almost all adults and even some babies. After all, many of us have already managed to survive this unpleasant disease, the hallmark of which is a painful cough, even in childhood. And you can get sick with bronchitis more than once in your life, immunity is not produced in this case.

The thing is that inflammation in the bronchi can be caused by various factors: bacteria and viruses, too cold or hot, very dry or cool moist air, inhaled chemicals and smoke (for example, bronchitis in smokers), fungi and allergens (fungal and allergic bronchitis). Any substances that irritate the bronchial mucosa may cause the development of an inflammatory process in them.

Bronchitis is a "communicable" pathology that does not like loneliness, so it often occurs against the background of other diseases of the respiratory system of viral or bacterial etiology. ARVI, flu, tonsillitis, sinusitis and other diseases can easily become complicated by bronchitis, which a person learns from an obsessive chest cough. Bronchitis can also become a complication of immunodeficient conditions (eg, HIV infection).

With fungal bronchitis is still more difficult. After all, the disease can develop not only against the background of reduced immunity and malfunctions in the immune system, like other pathologies, but also as a result of treatment of oncological pathologies, uncontrolled use of corticosteroids, and prolonged antibiotic therapy for infections.

The acute stage of the disease with pronounced symptoms typical of many colds, the main one of which is a cough, is characterized by the defeat of shallow layers of bronchi. But the course of the disease depends on the amount of sputum secreted and the diameter of the airways. In the beginning of the disease, there is only irritation of the bronchial mucosa, so the cough during this period is dry. With his help, the body tries to get rid of the source of irritation.

Later, when irritation passes into inflammation, inflammatory exudate and mucus, produced by the bronchial tubes for purification from stimuli, begin to be released. The cough becomes moist. Expecting sputum, a person feels relieved.

But this does not always happen. If the sputum is too viscous, its separation is difficult. Cough accompanied by acute pain in the bronchi, which exhausts the patient.

If nothing is done, the sputum will fill the bronchi, worsening the passage of air through them and causing respiratory failure. Cough, accompanied by pain, can cause a spasm of the airways, which will only exacerbate the situation. Now it will be a question of obstructive bronchitis associated with impaired bronchial patency.

It is clear that the narrower the clearance of the bronchi, the more likely they are to be blocked. Therefore, small children have obstructive bronchitis more often than adults. This pathology is peculiar to people with hereditary narrowness of the bronchial branches.

If acute bronchitis is not treated effectively and does not use measures to increase immunity, the disease can easily be transformed into a chronic form, which affects the deeper layers of the bronchial mucosa, structural changes in the organ, a decrease in its functionality, and impaired ventilation. But chronic pathology is always very difficult to treat. And that treatment only leads to remission of the disease, so even a slight decrease in immunity can lead to an exacerbation of the disease.

Since bacterial and allergic bronchitis is considered a more rare pathology than the virus, in most cases it is possible to alleviate the patient's condition with bronchitis using  herbs with expectorant, mucolytic and immunostimulating effect. In the case of viral etiology of the disease, the  treatment of herbs with bronchitis is  more than justified, because it can only be a strong immune system to defeat viruses, and what can be better for it than Echinacea, Eleutherococcus, ginseng, aloe, walnut leaves, St. John's Wort and some other herbs and plants, which are used even in the production of effective pharmacy immunostimulants.

[7], [8]

Indications for the use of herbs in bronchitis

The effectiveness of herbs in bronchitis can be doubted only by hardened skeptics. But in order for the result of treatment to be really good, you need to understand in which cases you can resort to herbal treatment as the main method of therapy, and when the herbs are used only as an auxiliary.

In addition, grass grass is different. For treatment, you need to choose plants that have certain properties that are useful for a particular disease. In the case of bronchitis, the herbs should facilitate easy sputum and increase immunity.

Since bronchitis is a disease of the inflammatory plan, it can not do without plants with anti-inflammatory and anti-edematous properties, because a strong edema narrows the bronchus lumen and makes it difficult for the sputum to escape and air pass, leading to obstruction. And at the end of the illness, in the recovery period it is good to use soothing cough remedies, because at this time a person can continue to torture an unproductive cough. To stimulate the allocation of phlegm in this case there is no sense, you just need to remove the unpleasant residual symptom.

Herbs with antipyretic effect can be used only if the body temperature with bronchitis exceeds 38 degrees, which is not always the case. Quite often, the temperature is kept within subfebrile values or ranges from 37 to 39 degrees, which indicates the body's attempts to fight the infection. Antipyretic herbs have the sense to apply with a steady increase in temperature, although in this case there are more effective alternative agents (for example, water, acetic, water-alcohol wipes).

But back to the use of herbs depending on the type of bronchitis. As we already know, in the case of viral etiology, grass diseases can be used even as the main component of treatment, especially if therapy is difficult due to existing pathologies of internal organs, in which chemical preparations can harm, or the lack of points of sale of medicines that are typical of small villages.

These same properties of herbs will help the body to fight with bacterial infection and fungi, if you use herbs in combination with antibiotics and antifungal agents. Herbs with antibacterial effect will help reduce the duration of antibiotic treatment, which will prevent such complications as fungal bronchitis. Antifungal properties are such herbs as calendula, thyme, celandine, medicinal veronica.

Treatment of obstructive bronchitis is  impossible without the use of bronchodilators, in this case, you can treat herbs with spasmolytic and soothing effect: chamomile, valerian, St. John's wort. Helps to expand the lumen of bronchial thyme, licorice, angelica, oregano, primrose and other medicinal herbs.

But we must understand that such complications of obstructive bronchitis as bronchospasm present a serious danger to the life of the patient, because they cause acute respiratory failure, and the herbs are not able to quickly cope with such a serious symptom. Therefore, medicinal plants antispasmodics for bronchial obstruction should be better used as a preventive agent to prevent spasms. Treatment is carried out with effective pharmacies and bronchodilators.

In obstructive bronchitis accompanied by accumulation of viscous sputum in large quantities in the bronchi, also herbs with expectorant and mucolytic action will be effective, which will help to quickly clear bronchi and restore normal breathing.

Doctors believe that treatment of obstructive bronchitis with herbs alone is unacceptable, since the disease is very dangerous, and procrastination can cost a person's life. Still, chemist's drugs are faster than phytotherapy and homeopathy. But as an auxiliary means of grass for obstructive bronchitis can be used and even necessary, but given that some of the plants can cause allergic reactions, only exacerbating the situation.

By the way, the last moment is very important and when choosing herbs for the treatment of allergic bronchitis or bronchial asthma.

Treatment with herbs for chronic bronchitis should also be carried out taking into account the etiology of the disease and its course. But after all, any of the types of bronchitis can pass into the chronic form, if shortcomings were committed in the treatment of the acute form.

But the herbs with chronic bronchitis, which are characterized by periods of remission and exacerbations, will have to be taken regularly. And not only with the appearance of acute symptoms, but also for preventive purposes, especially in early spring and late autumn - during the heyday of colds.

Chronic bronchitis, like any long-term pathology, unambiguously leads to a decrease in immunity, and where immunity is reduced it is likely that a bacterial infection is to be treated with antibiotics or innovative preparations of bacteriophages. Recurrent bronchitis in most cases is caused by a bacterial infection, and if it is not completely destroyed, the relapse will continue. The effect of the use of herbs in such bronchitis is often not enough, especially when it comes to the complex composition of bacterial microflora.

Names of herbs in bronchitis

The effectiveness of treating bronchitis with the use of herbs is not even challenged by doctors. Moreover, the therapist or pediatrician can even recommend drinking chamomile infusions to reduce the symptoms of inflammation, for example, syrup of psyllium or a decoction of the sprout, for improving immunity, tea or tincture with Echinacea. These herbs are considered a common medicine and on their basis a lot of herbal remedies for cough and cold have been created, which we meet on the shelves of pharmacies.

But there are other herbs from bronchitis and cough, which are no less effective in fighting the symptoms of the disease, although doctors hardly mention them. And not because they doubt their properties, but because they are experts in the field of medicines, and not alternative treatment.

Let's try to figure out which herbs will help to cope with such an excruciating disease as bronchitis, the symptoms of which can last for 3-4 weeks. Inflammation of the bronchi is one of the few pathologies that are characterized by a severe cough with frequently recurring, exhausting attacks. It is this symptom that influences the patient's well-being more than others, which means that it can not be ignored.

Herbs from bronchitis and a strong cough should have the following properties:

• to remove inflammation,
• dilute sputum,
• promote its rapid excretion (expectoration),
• to stop the painful bouts of unproductive cough at the end of the illness
• to remove heat at a strong temperature increase.

The more interesting herbs are in the treatment of diseases, this is because each of them in the majority has not one of the above properties, but a whole bouquet of beneficial effects. So it is not necessary to create a whole arsenal of all kinds of herbs and plants to treat them colds and bronchitis.

Let's start with plants that help to withdraw phlegm from the bronchi, because it is stagnant phenomena that provoke infection and all sorts of complications. There are herbs that are recommended to use only with a dry cough at the beginning of the disease, but there are also those that are effective when wet. But most plants have properties to help with different types of cough, in contrast to pharmacy drugs.

Dry the leaves and flowers of plants in the shade in a draft, trying to avoid getting moisture on them. From the finished raw materials, we remove all the aged or moldy parts. In the ovens and dryer, plant twigs are not desirable to dry, except at low temperatures for a short time, if the weather does not allow it to be done in a natural way.

Fruits of raspberries and currants are harvested when they are in the ripeness stage. The greatest amount of nutrients is stored in dried and fresh berries, ground with sugar (1: 1). Dry the fruit should not be in the sun, but in the shade with a good air blowing, or in the oven or dryer (though, here the temperature will destroy some of the vitamins).

Store dried twigs and plant flowers in canvas bags or cardboard boxes for not more than a year. Dried fruits and preserves should be stored in glass containers with lids also for one year.

What is very important when preparing any medicinal plants for future use is the quality and purity of the raw materials. If the roots dug from the ground can be washed smoothly with cold water, and this does not affect the effectiveness of their drying, then leaves and flowers can not be so. To wash them from dust and insects is possible only on a living plant. But you can only collect raw materials after complete drying.

To extract the roots from the earth better after the rain, but to collect the ground parts of plants you need only in dry weather. At the same time, during drying, you need to make sure that dew does not appear on the drying up raw materials. If parts of the plant dry out in the open air, then it is better to bring them into the room at night. The same goes for rainy days. If the rains are prolonged, it is better to dry the grass in the dryer.

An ideal place for drying plant raw materials is the attic. This is good ventilation, and protection from the sun or dew.

But even if you can not make a complete collection, and the grass has to be used individually, you should not forget about the complex approach that can be achieved by combining medicinal compounds from different herbs. For example, to the syrup from plantain we add infusion of a turn and tea from a linden and a raspberry. With this approach, bronchodilator, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and immunostimulating actions are provided, which means that the disease will pass quickly and without complications.

Herbs for inhalation with bronchitis

Sage  for inhalation is used in the form of a decoction, which will help reduce the symptoms of inflammation in the bronchi.

2 tablespoons Dry grass is boiled in 2 glasses of water for 5-7 minutes. The broth is cooled to a condition that the steam does not burn the face, but the composition remains hot enough. Covering himself with a towel over the pot with broth, inhale the therapeutic couples with an open mouth, trying to breathe as deeply as possible. The procedure lasts 5-10 minutes.

Angelica  for inhalation is recommended to use as an essential oil. In the prepared hot water, 2-3 drops of oil drip and breathe in pairs for several minutes. Such inhalations, together with rubbing, are excellent for a residual dry cough at the end of the disease.

Choosing herbs for bronchitis, do not forget about the benefits of the decoction of calendula, which can be used for inhalation for inhalation. If the inhalation is carried out by a nebulizer, it is better to use a pharmaceutical alcohol tincture, 15-20 drops of which will need to be diluted in ½ cup of water.

In the treatment of cough and bronchitis celandine, the most effective and safe procedure is inhalation. But the celandine in the composition for the procedure will be only one of the components. The mixture also contains licorice root and pine buds, the content of which with respect to celandine should be 2: 2: 1. Purity is highly toxic, so it is taken in smaller doses.

For inhalations use infusion of herbs. For 1-1,5 l of water take 1 tbsp. Herbal mixture, insist with the lid closed for about 5-10 minutes in the heat, after which you can open the saucepan and proceed with the procedure. You need to breathe medical steam for 10-15 minutes. If the water cools down, add boiling water.

For the treatment of dry cough and transfer it to the productive one, it is possible to perform inhalations with a decoction of the seeds of  common litter. In the water for inhalation you need to throw a handful of dry or fresh seeds and allow it to boil. When the water cools to 70-80 degrees, you can carry out the procedure.

Storage conditions

Most herbs save their properties for 1-2 years, others can be stored for 3 or more years. But you need to understand that these terms are relative and true only if the conditions of storage of plant raw materials are observed.

Store herbs recommended in a cool, dry, ventilated room, where direct sunlight does not reach. Plants with long stems can be bundled and stored in a suspended state. Seeds, flowers, fruits and leaves of plants are better preserved in linen bags. Seeds can also be stored in a glass container with a lid.

But in order to maximize the benefits from plants, you also need to know when and how to collect and dry plant raw materials. To begin with, we remind that any herbs and plants need to be harvested away from the industrial zone, highways, landfills. The best medicinal raw materials are herbs from ecologically clean areas (usually such plants are part of pharmacy fees ).

In order to harvest raw materials yourself, you need to understand well the herbs, because some plants have similarities among themselves. By the way, similarity with medicinal plants have some poisonous herbs, so you should always be as cautious as possible. If there is no certainty that before you it is the grass that is needed, it is better to bypass it by side, and buy the missing raw materials in the pharmacy.

Collect the plants carefully, carefully making sure that the collection does not include parts of other plants that may be poisonous or simply harmful to health in the presence of certain pathologies or conditions. Do not forget that every plant has its own time. Sometimes even different parts of the same grass have to be harvested at different time intervals.

Preparing the roots of plants you need to understand that they were in the ground, so they require particularly careful preparation. Roots and rhizomes must be shaken off from the ground and rinsed well with running water (ideally any part of the plant would be well washed first and then dried). Large roots and rhizomes must necessarily cut into thin (no more than 2-3 mm) strips, so that they easier to wax and dry, and not moldy. Dry roots should be in the sun, and then in the shade in a well-ventilated room or in a special dryer.

Leaves of plants are best dried in a draft in the shade. And the flowers can first be waxed in the sun, and later placed in the shade. Large inflorescences are better to disassemble into smaller or separate flowers, you can also dry them entirely in a suspended state.

Shelf life

For some reason, many are accustomed to think that the shelf life is only for food and medicines, and the herbs can be stored forever. This is fundamentally wrong, because after a while the plants lose their healing properties. It is possible that after the expiry of the storage period they will not cause poisoning, but they should not be expected to have any noticeable effect. In other words, for a long time, the herb stored medicine is no longer.

Effective treatment of bronchitis with herbs and plants

Mother Nature has created for us all the conditions for a healthy life of man and other inhabitants of our green planet. But for us civilization and progress are more important, substituting synthetic products for natural products and medicines. Such products are crushing our health, and the drugs designed to correct it, only exacerbate the situation due to a large number of side effects.

Fortunately in recent years, more and more people are turning their eyes to nature and its gifts, which are safer, more effective and often cheaper than man-made chemical medicines. The main thing is to properly dispose of them, depending on the existing pathology.

Bronchitis, like many other diseases, is not treated for one or two. In his treatment, you must use a number of drugs with different effects, change the composition of drugs in the absence of a positive effect, comply with bed rest, quarantine and other precautions. It is clear that even after drinking a couple of times a decoction of thyme or chamomile, effective for bronchitis, you can not expect to recover.

The complex approach and the belief in the effectiveness of the ongoing treatment are the basis for a quick recovery, so the herbs should be selected for bronchitis, taking into account their effects, remembering that herb collections usually have greater efficacy than one-component medications.

By the way, in the treatment of any acute and especially chronic diseases, one should never forget about the great benefits of natural immunostimulants, which make our immune system work at full strength and help drugs fight the disease. However, as immunostimulants, most recognize such herbs as echinacea, ginseng and eleutherococcus. But if the Echinacea is more or less simple, it can be grown on your own garden or in the front garden, but with the other two plants it will be more difficult. Ginseng and Eleutherococcus do not grow in our region, which means that problems may arise with their preparation. Only pharmacies can get help, where practically any vegetable raw material can be purchased for money.

For example, alcoholic tincture of Echinacea, Eleutherococcus and Ginseng is very popular. Tincture of Echinacea should take 20 drops three times a day, and ginseng - 15-25 drops three times a day for half an hour before meals. Eleutherococcus tincture is taken only once a day for 20-30 drops in the morning.

Alcohol tinctures are allowed to children only from the age of 12 and then in a lower dosage (5-10 drops). But what about the kids, because they suffer from bronchitis less often, and even more often than adults, while their immune system is still very weak to cope with the disease on their own.

No need to worry, because other plants also have the ability to increase immunity and speed up the recovery: leaves, flowers and raspberry fruits, rose hips, kidneys and young birch leaves, rhodiola rosea, zamaniha high, orchis spotted (wild orchid), elderberry flowers.

To replenish the internal forces of the body to combat bronchitis, you can drink such healthful drinks:

• on 1 tbsp. Boiling water we take 1 tbsp. Elderberry flowers, insist 40-50 minutes, filter and drink instead of tea
• on 1 tbsp. Boiling water we take 1 tbsp. Grass echinacea, we stand on a water bath for a quarter of an hour, filter and drink in 3-4 meals
• on 1 tbsp. Boiling water we take 1 tbsp. Crushed raspberry shoots boil for no more than a minute and insist for an hour, drink like tea during the day
• on 1 tbsp. We take 5 tablespoons of cool boiled water. Fresh young leaves of birch, we insist for 2 hours and drink a drink gradually to improve immunity
• the hips are soaked in water for several hours, put on fire, when it boils, we remove and fill it in a thermos for 4-6 hours, we drink in small portions throughout the day.

When treating bronchitis, you should always remember that coughing is not the only symptom of the disease, and getting rid of it does not mean a complete cure, especially if it's a bacterial form of pathology. Herbs in bronchitis help reduce fever, ease pain and cough, but they can not always defeat the cause of the disease. In such cases, nevertheless, one has to resort to the help of antibiotics and other preparations not of plant origin. And to avoid this, it is better to take the herbs not during illness, but for its prevention in especially dangerous periods.

But even if you can not make a complete collection, and the grass has to be used individually, you should not forget about the complex approach that can be achieved by combining medicinal compounds from different herbs. For example, to the syrup from plantain we add infusion of a turn and tea from a linden and a raspberry. With this approach, bronchodilator, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and immunostimulating actions are provided, which means that the disease will pass quickly and without complications.

[9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14]