Getting over bronchitis naturally

If you regularly experience bronchitis — an inflammation of the mucus membranes of the bronchial tubes, bronchi, or trachea — it’s important to look at what may be lowering your resistance and increasing your susceptibility. When I see a patient with recurrent bronchitis, I evaluate the entire body for any weakness in the organs, glands, etc. I determine whether the immune system is busy dealing with any of the dazzling assortment of allergens, parasites, bacteria, viruses, and yeasts that we swim through every day. Individualized, targeted supplementation will shore up these responses and support the body’s ability to tackle the pathogen that’s causing the bronchitis in the first place. For lots of my patients, avoiding gluten and dairy diminishes symptoms in a short time. And use of a neti pot is a natural, effective way to reduce the toxic load on the upper respiratory system, by gently washing out the nasal passages.

If the bronchitis persists, the next important step is to determine whether you’re dealing with a bacterial infection, a viral infection, or an allergen. Then, a combination of homeopathic, herbal, nutritional, and dietary supplements — and perhaps allergy desensitization — can be targeted at your specific situation. They’ll help alleviate the chronic symptoms and shorten the extended recovery period we often see with bronchitis.

In summary: treatment is directed at increasing immunity, decreasing exposure to allergens and other pathogens, decreasing inflammation, increasing lymphatic drainage, and detoxifying. All designed to let the body do what it does so well when it’s unhampered — heal itself.