What is Chronic Bronchitis?
Chronic Bronchitis is a constant irritation or inflammation of your bronchial tubes. Unlike Acute Bronchitis that comes and goes with proper treatment, Chronic Bronchitis lasts for many weeks or months.
How do I get Chronic Bronchitis?
Acute Bronchitis can be caused from a cold or infection, but Chronic Bronchitis is most often caused by smoking.
What are the symptoms?
Acute and Chronic Bronchitis have some of the same symptoms; cough, producing mucus that can be clear, white, green, yellowish and sometimes slightly bloody, fatigue, shortness of breath, tightness in your chest and a low grade fever. These symptoms disappear after a few days or weeks. Chronic Bronchitis has a cough that lasts more than 3 weeks, interrupts your sleep, produces a fever that is higher than 100.4, creates shortness of breath and discolored mucus with occasional blood, lasting at least 3 months and returns over and over for a couple of years. See your Primary Care Physician if these symptoms describe your condition.
What is the treatment?
Your Doctor may prescribe antibiotics and other medications, such as cough syrup. He may also prescribe Pulmonary treatments.
Will I get better?
You should improve with proper treatment and some common sense things to do on your own such as, the use of a mask when outside in the cold or when you are in an environment where there are things than can irritate your lungs.
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