Does advil help bronchitis?

Ah, bronchitis. That delightful ailment that makes you sound like a chainsmoker even if you’ve never touched a cigarette in your life. You know the symptoms: coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath… it’s a veritable smorgasbord of respiratory distress.

Naturally, when something like this strikes, our first inclination is to reach for some sort of relief. And what better way to do so than with everyone’s favorite over-the-counter pain reliever: Advil?

But wait! Don’t pop those pills just yet — we need to examine whether or not they’ll actually do anything to help your bronchial woes.

What Is Bronchitis Anyway?

Before we can determine the efficacy of Advil as a potential cure-all for bronchitis (spoiler alert: it’s not), let’s take a step back and discuss exactly what this particular affliction entails.

Bronchitis occurs when the tubes carrying air into your lungs become inflamed and irritated. This leads to all sorts of unpleasantness in the form of coughs and general discomfort.

There are two types of bronchitis: acute and chronic. Acute bronchitis typically lasts for around 1-3 weeks and is usually brought on by viral infections such as the common cold or flu. On the other hand, chronic bronchitis is much more long-lasting (think months or years) and often affects smokers or people who have prolonged exposure to lung irritants such as pollution or dust.

Now that we’re up-to-speed on what exactly we’re dealing with here, let’s dive deeper into Advil specifically

What Is Advil?

Chances are pretty high that you’ve heard about — if not personally used — Advil at some point in your life. It’s an over-the-counter pain reliever that’s used to treat all sorts of maladies, from headaches to menstrual cramps.

The active ingredient in Advil is ibuprofen, which works by blocking the production of certain chemicals in the body that cause inflammation and pain.

But here’s the thing: bronchitis isn’t necessarily caused by these same inflammatory pathways.

How Does Bronchitis Work?

When we’re talking about acute bronchitis (which, remember, is most often viral), your immune system will kick into gear upon detection of an intruder. This leads to some degree of lung inflammation — which can be at least partially responsible for those pesky symptoms — but not always enough to warrant something like ibuprofen intervention.

Chronic bronchitis is a different story entirely. In this case, there really is chronic damage being done to your delicate lung tissues via exposure to various irritants over time.

In either scenario… does ibuprofen even help?

Will Ibuprofen Help My Bronchitis Symptoms?

Unfortunately, in most cases, taking Advil or any other type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) won’t have much effect on your discomfort when it comes to bronchial inflammation specifically. While they may be great for combatting fever or headache associated with colds and flu-like illnesses that sometimes give us acute bronchitis as a side-effect (ie: one big hot mess o’ respiratory distress), the underlying mechanism behind bronchial inflammation just isn’t adequately targeted by these medications.

So what can you do if you’ve got some gnarly bronchi business happening? Here are a few things:

Get Plenty Of Rest

- Finding yourself glued to Netflix? Don't worry about it; sleep relaxes muscles and reduces inflammation.
- Similarly to sleeping,: avoiding exhaustion will reduce cortisol surges that can cause the body to lose immunity.

Drink Plenty Of Fluids

There are a few reasons for this! For one thing, it helps keep mucous from becoming too thick to bring out of your lungs. Additionally, staying hydrated keeps inflammation at bay (water is quite useful in plenty of scenarios!).

So don’t be afraid to guzzle water and other drinks until you feel like you crawled out of the desert an hour ago —your lungs will thank you.

Use A Humidifier or Vaporizer

Dry air can really irritate your lung tissue by causing mucus production - which makes coughing worse. Adding moisture back into the air through humidifiers or vaporizers can make things easier on your system.

Pro tip: If possible, look for cool-mist units instead of warm mist ones: they have a lower chance that heated water inside them is releasing bacteria/germs resulting in harmful exposure.

Try Over-The-Counter Cough Medications

While NSAIDs may not do much good against bronchitis symptoms specifically…there’s still hope! Cough suppressants, such as dextromethorphan, help reduce the uncomfortable urge to cough so often‌ —and that’ll let some tissues relax and heal.

It’s worth noting if prolonged enough over-the-counter pain relief medications drawbacks could outweigh available benefits. Want in-depth information about what happens when we take too many pills? Check out our next piece titled “Death by OTC drugs”. Just kidding ..but really.. now back to advil helping bronchitis specifically!

What About Other Anti-Inflammatory Meds?

If ibuprofen isn’t going to cut it when it comes getting relief during bronchitis periods…what about something else with better anti-inflammatory bona fides?

Unfortunately, there’s not much in terms an OTC-area medication / remedy as of yet there to treat ongoing and/or chronic bronchitis outside gentle of strategies like hydration and cough suppression. However, some prescription-based anti-inflammatory respiratory drugs may be helpful in managing exacerbated conditions.

Conclusion: So…Can Advil Help or Not?

To sum it all up succinctly (finally!): Advil is essentially a no-go when it comes to directly targeting the inflammation that accompanies bronchitis.

As much as we love instant easy fixes – this situation requires addressing the core issues underlying its development over time. When you have acute bronchitis symptoms popped up by colds / infections — an OTC medication for fever reduction or headache relief such as Advil could still be quite useful–but doctors generally inform encouraging guidance for natural remedies such as humidifiers/vaporizer usage or increased rest/fluid intake over any specific chemical intervention.

Keep hacking at things will ease within one-two weeks with good care‌ anyways!

Lastly, If your condition persists further than described without visible improvement we highly recommend seeking actual medical advice instead of turning into some Reddit researcher breaking down co-factors acting in bacterial patterns aiding against brochial tissue degradation. The doctor might suggest air filters being another beneficial addition where needed‚ more involved treatment plans including balms/ointments offered alongside other specialist referral services if deemed necessary.

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