Bronchitis Caused, Symptoms and Diagnosis Details

Bronchitis is an infection that is common in humans. It is known to cause some serious irritation and inflammation of the main airways of the lungs. There are different types of the infection that could be caused by the bacterial infections: acute and chronic bronchitis.

Acute bronchitis is a swelling and the inflammation of the lungs’ main passage. This causes the airways to narrow thus causing difficulties in breathing among other symptoms of the condition. This is a condition where the symptoms are usually experienced for a short time but in a severe level.

Chronic bronchitis is a long-term and serious type of the infection that comes with symptoms recurring from time to time. It is a disorder that calls for regular medical checkup to ensure it is controlled and avoid further complications.

Causes of bronchitis

After a cold or an infection that is flu-like, an acute bronchitis infection is experienced in most cases. The infection is often viral or bacterial. It begins by affecting the nose, throat and the sinuses. The infection later spreads to the lungs causing more problems. Worth noting is that the initial infections are often viral and the subsequent- secondary infections- are bacterial.

The long-term infection of the airways – chronic bronchitis-is usually diagnosed mostly after some cough that come with mucus in a number of days in a month. This could be recurrent for several months in a year.

Signs and symptoms

The signs and symptoms experienced vary from one person to another depending on the type of the infection one is having. It is important that you seek medical attention from your doctor once you start having any of the following acute bronchitis symptoms:

  • Unexplained body fatigue
  • Unknown cause for fever that is usually low-grade
  • Wheezing- especially for those people who are asthmatic
  • Discomforts in the chest
  • Shortness of breath that could even get worse when in an activity
  • If you have a serious cough that has mucus which is yellow-green or clear

Chronic bronchitis symptoms include:

  • Chest tightness and soreness
  • Persistent coughs that produce white, yellow or green phlegm for a period of not less than 3 months a year
  • Breathlessness
  • Wheezing

Note: you might have nagging, dry coughs even after an acute bronchitis infection has cleared. This could take like 1 to 4 weeks.

Warning: it is important that you seek immediate medical attention during such symptoms- it could be difficult to tell whether the condition is just bronchitis or has pneumonia alongside. This could be a serious condition and thus the need for an effective treatment.

Examination and testing

The doctor will listen to the lungs using a stethoscope to establish any changes in the normal breathing sounds. Diagnosis entails analysis of the medical history and the understanding of the symptoms experienced.

Tests involved include:

  • Chest x-ray to check for any chances of pneumonia
  • Pulse oximetry to check on the oxygen levels in the blood

Medication

In most acute bronchitis cases, patient may not have to take antibiotics. The infection usually goes away in a week. However, when there is need to get relief, the following preventative measures would help:

  • Take enough fluids
  • Have sufficient rest
  • Use humidifiers in the bathroom
  • Use aspirin drugs
  • Use an inhaler in case you have asthma

You need the initial Rx from your healthcare giver so as to buy quality Keflex doses from Kiwi Drug online doctor- the outright treatment doses for bronchitis!



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