Inhalers are handy products that will be helpful for individuals who experience shortness of breath due to medical conditions. The main reason for using an inhaler is to clear the airways that surround your lungs. Apart from using it for asthma and bronchitis, you can also use this device even if you don’t have any of the aforesaid medical conditions. However, its effectiveness is dependent on knowing how to use an inhaler for bronchitis and understanding the basics of bronchitis.
What is Bronchitis: The Basics
When it comes to bronchitis, it is normally associated with the swelling of the bronchial airways around your lungs. It eventually reduces the supply of oxygen, both to and from the lungs, which affects the person in a number of different ways. The person will start experiencing shortness of breath, and he or she begins to cough on a rapid basis. If left untreated, bronchitis can develop into COPD or even severe pneumonia.
Bronchitis generally affects a person for a number of different reasons. If you’re a chain smoker, one who is smoking two to three cigarettes per day for several years, you’re at an increased risk of contracting bronchitis. Similarly, all those people who live in an industrial area where the air is highly polluted, they are more vulnerable to this medical condition as compared to other people who live in a rather clean environment.
In addition, bronchitis can also transfer from one person to the other especially if the infected human being is suffering from acute bronchitis.
Common Treatments for Bronchitis
Depending on the type of bronchitis which has infected you, your doctor can either prescribe you a series of medications or they can also ask you to get some bed rest and increase your consumption of liquid, especially warm water.
Basically, if you’re suffering from acute bronchitis, which is generally triggered by viral infections, antibiotics are useless in this scenario. The primary purpose of antibiotic medications is to act against different kinds of bacteria which aren’t the case in this medical condition. However, you don’t have to worry as even without any kind of medicines, acute bronchitis will readily go away from 14 to 21 days.
However, if the type of bronchitis, which has infected you, is chronic, you might end up consuming a handful of medicines per day. As evident from its name, this type of bronchitis is a serious medical condition which needs proper care.
Regardless of the type of bronchitis from which you’re suffering from, you can use an inhaler, but one thing which you’ve to keep in mind is that an inhaler can never be termed as a direct cure for bronchitis. That is because its primary purpose is to clear the bronchial tubes and it will do just that without acting as a permanent treatment. As a result, many doctors only prescribe it to their patients as nothing more than a cough reliever.
For example, if regular medications aren’t doing you any favor in terms of improving the supply of oxygen, you can start using an inhaler for your own convenience. In this way, you can enhance the air supply, to and from the lungs, which will eventually make it easy for you to breathe without regular coughing. Hence, knowing the steps on how to use an inhaler for bronchitis properly is imperative to make you feel better.
How to Use an Inhaler for Bronchitis: The Steps
An inhaler comes filled with different kinds of medications wherein their main purpose is to loosen the constricted bronchial tubes. The most common type that is recommended for bronchitis is the albuterol inhaler. Dosage-wise, such will depend on the severity of your disease. However, in most cases, the recommended dosage for this type of inhaler is a couple of puffs for every six hours. As per all those people who like to exercise, they should consume a couple of puffs of the albuterol inhaler 15 minutes before starting their exercise.
Step One: For using an inhaler, start by removing the cap from the inhaler. Remove any other object which might be present at the opening area before shaking the inhaler for two to five seconds.
Step Two: If you’re using this inhaler for the very first time, or even if you haven’t used it for the past couple of days, prime the inhaler by pressing the canister. Not only will it improve the efficiency of this medical device, but it will also ensure that you will receive a perfect dose of the medication.
Step Three: Sit in an upright manner, or you can also stand before using the inhaler. Release the air by breathing all the way out before inserting the inhaler, in a slightly titled manner, inside your mouth. At this point, it is vital that your lips should be sealed around the inhaler or otherwise, it might affect the working of this medical device.
Step Four: Once you’ve done that, take a deep breath before pressing the canister. Start taking a deep breath before depressing the canister as it will ensure that all the medications, which comes prefilled inside the inhaler, will reach your lungs uninterrupted.
Step Five: Afterward, continue to breathe in for five seconds. Then take out the inhaler from your month but hold your breath for as long as 10 seconds. Similarly, if you intend to take the second puff, wait for one minute before repeating the aforementioned procedure.
Step Six: Once you’re done using the inhaler, it’s time to rinse your mouth with clean water. Never consume the water as it is recommended to spit out the full amount of water which you’ve consumed at the first place.
Step Seven: Finally, close down the inhaler’s opening with the cap which you removed at the first step. In this way, you can effectively use an inhaler for improving the quality of your breath in bronchitis.
Conclusion
Just like any other respiratory problem, inhaler works as an excellent cough reliever if you’re suffering from bronchitis. It will reduce the irritation in the bronchial tubes before improving your breath quality in a very short span of time. However, you should always consider consulting your doctor before using it.
