How is bronchitis diagnosed? Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and perform a physical examination. They will listen to your chest with a stethoscope to check your breathing sounds. Your doctor may recommend tests, such as a nose and throat swab to find out the cause of your infection.
Your doctor can diagnose bronchitis by assessing your symptoms as well as listening to your chest with a stethoscope for the rattling sound in your lungs which accompanies bronchitis.
Your provider might prescribe a bronchodilator (a drug that helps open your airways) if you're having trouble breathing. Anti-inflammatory medications. Your doctor might prescribe corticosteroids and other medications to reduce inflammation. Cough suppressants.
Other symptoms of bronchitis include chest pain, wheezing, shortness of breath, and fatigue. To find out if you have bronchitis, your doctor will listen for crackly sounds in your chest when you breathe. You may also need a chest x-ray or other tests to see how well your lungs are working.
Early on, it is only possible to hear wheezing with a stethoscope and at the end of expiration. However, as obstruction of the lower airways becomes more severe, wheezing can be audible without a stethoscope and throughout expiration.
Rhonchi. These low-pitched wheezing sounds sound like snoring and usually happen when you breathe out. They can be a sign that your bronchial tubes (the tubes that connect your trachea to your lungs) are thickening because of mucus. Rhonchi sounds can be a sign of bronchitis or COPD.
Noisy breathing (wheezing or rattling sound in lungs)
Acute bronchitis is usually caused by viruses, typically the same viruses that cause colds and flu (influenza). Antibiotics don't kill viruses, so this type of medication isn't useful in most cases of bronchitis. The most common cause of chronic bronchitis is cigarette smoking.
In addition to lab tests, sputum or mucus from a cough can be visually examined to determine whether bronchitis is viral, bacterial, or both. Clear or white mucus often indicates a viral infection, while yellow or green mucus may suggest a bacterial infection.
Don't smoke and avoid secondhand smoke, chemicals, dust, or air pollution. Always cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing. Keep your distance from others when you are sick, if possible. Antibiotics will not treat acute bronchitis.
If you have symptoms of bronchitis, stay home to avoid spreading your viral infection to others. To properly treat your acute bronchitis, get plenty of rest, drink lots of liquids, and take over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen (Advil) and acetaminophen (Tylenol) to treat your symptoms.
Using a stethoscope, the health care provider may hear normal breathing sounds, decreased or absent breath sounds, and abnormal breath sounds. Absent or decreased sounds can mean: Air or fluid in or around the lungs (such as pneumonia, heart failure, and pleural effusion) Increased thickness of the chest wall.
To diagnose bronchitis, your healthcare provider will do a physical exam and ask about your medical history and symptoms. Your provider may also order a blood test to look for signs of infection, or a chest X-ray to check whether your lungs and bronchial tubes look normal.
Smoking. This the main risk factor. Up to 75% of people who have chronic bronchitis smoke or used to smoke. Long-term exposure to other lung irritants, such as secondhand smoke, air pollution, and chemical fumes and dusts from the environment or workplace.
Acute bronchitis usually lasts 3 to 10 days, although the cough may linger for a few weeks. Chronic bronchitis lasts for months, and symptoms reoccur. Treatment for bronchitis also varies depending on whether it is acute or chronic. Most people recover from acute bronchitis without complications.
Cold air is often dry air, and can irritate the airways if you have asthma, COPD or bronchitis. This can cause wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath. Dress warmly and keep yourself dry.
Bronchitis is when the airways in your lungs, your bronchi, become inflamed. This irritation can cause severe coughing spells that bring up mucus, wheezing, chest pain and shortness of breath.
While a number of symptoms can be signs of acute bronchitis, the most common is a cough (first dry but later with a lot of mucus) lasting 10 to 20 days. It's sometimes accompanied by wheezing and shortness of breath.
Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and milk products. Try home remedies like spicy foods, mullein tea, vitamin C, zinc, garlic, and over-the-counter saline nasal spray.
The most common symptoms of bronchitis are: Runny, stuffy nose. Low-grade fever. Chest congestion.
Dr. Supakul says acute bronchitis symptoms usually get better in about a week, although the cough can last for many weeks afterward. While uncomfortable, the coughing is actually a good response. It helps clear much mucus from the air tubes.
Treatment. Acute bronchitis usually gets better on its own—without antibiotics. Antibiotics won't help you get better if you have acute bronchitis. When antibiotics aren't needed, they won't help you, and their side effects could still cause harm.