Home Treatment
Most cases of
go away in 2 to 3 weeks. Home
treatment may help you feel better.
Home treatment may
include:
- Relieving your cough by drinking fluids, using cough
drops, and avoiding lung irritants. Over-the-counter may help you to stop coughing. And expectorants may
make coughing easier so you can bring up
. Cough and cold medicines may not be safe for young children or for people who have certain health problems. Before you use them, check the label. If you do use these medicines, always follow the directions about how much to use based on age and in some cases weight.
- Avoiding caffeine and alcohol, which cause you to lose extra
fluid from your body and may lead to
.
- Cutting back or stopping smoking, if you smoke.
- Getting enough rest so your body has the energy needed to fight
the infection. In general, you feel better sooner if you rest more than usual
while you have acute bronchitis.
- Using nonprescription medicine, such as acetaminophen,
ibuprofen, or aspirin, to relieve fever and body aches.
to anyone younger than age
20.
- Breathing moist air from a humidifier, hot shower, or sink filled
with hot water. The heat and moisture can help keep mucus in your airways moist
so it can be coughed out easily.
Contact your doctor if your acute bronchitis gets worse,
because this may mean you have
. Signs of acute bronchitis getting worse
include:
- A persistent cough and increasing amounts of mucus being coughed
up from the lungs (especially if the mucus is becoming thicker and has more
color).
- Shortness of breath.
- Pain in the chest wall.
- Ongoing fever or fever that gets worse.