Bronchitis is the inflammation of the air passages between the nose and the lungs. It may also include the trachea and the windpipe and also the larger air tubes of the lungs that bring in air from the trachea. The interior linings of the bronchial tubes swell thereby reducing their effective diameter. Due to this the amount of air passing through the trachea into the lungs is reduced and so does the amount of waste gas coming from the lungs. This triggers the production of thicker mucous which further blocks the air passages. Bronchitis can be acute or chronic. Acute bronchitis is of short duration and is cured within two weeks while chronic bronchitis persists for much longer duration.
When chronic bronchitis proceeds breathing may become more difficult and you may feel tightness in your chest. Due to breathing difficulties less oxygen is inhaled into your body. This may cause your lips and body to turn blue and cause overall tiredness. In the advanced stages you will get chest pains and your feet and ankles may become swollen. Many tend to lose weight and have trouble sleeping. The damaged lungs may force the heart to work harder leading to its failure.
Many causes have been suggested for bronchitis like influenza virus A and B, bacteria like the Mycoplasma pneumoniae, lung irritants like fumes, dusts, chemical solvents, smoking. When a cough brings up large quantities of yellow, green or discolored mucus for more than three months of a year, then a case of bronchitis can be suspected. The main symptoms accompanying an upper respiratory tract infection may include: sore throat, chest congestion, soreness or burning sensation in the chest, fullness of the sinus, wheezing, breathlessness, slight fever, frequent cold or flu.
Ayurveda has two modes of treatment one is Shamana Chikitsa in which herbal medications are use to cure ailments arising due to vitiated doshas. But sometimes the doshas are vitiated beyond a limit giving rise to many kinds of endotoxins which gets accumulated in the body. To remove such toxins from the body Sodhana Chikitsa has to be adopted. Through five step of treatment it reaches to the root cause of the problem and uproots it. It is not only beneficial in treating any disease but also correcting the balance of tridosha in the body. Sodhana Chikista mainly consists of five different kinds of therapies and is more commonly known as Panchakarma.
Panchakarma meaning five actions has been given much importance in Charaka Samhita, an ancient authoritative ayurvedic text written by Acharya Charak. Panchakarma has been widely quoted in the text for treating various ailments. There are three main steps in Panchakarma. The initial step of Poorva Karma or preperatory methods includes paachan (digestion), snehan (internal and external oleation) and swedan (induced sweating). The main methods or Pradhan Karma include vamanam (induced vomiting), virechanam (induced purgation), basti (medicated enema), nasya (nasal elimination of toxins) and rakta moksha (detoxification of blood). Paschat karma or post therapeutic measures include sansarjan karma (specific diet pattern) and dhooma pana (inhalation of smoke containing medicinal herbs). Panchkarma is used to detoxify body and cleanse it of all poisons. Bronchitis can be managed through Vamana which involves eliminating the excess kapha or mucus present inside the body. Emetic substances include neem leaf, salty water, emetic nut, madhuka-yastimadhu-licorice, bimbi, clematis, triloba-devdaru-deodar, Cedrus deodara etc. Once the mucus has been cleared the patient will feel relieved.
