Bronchitis Treatment Specialist in Boca Raton, FL

There are many cases of people catching a common cold or the flu every year. Typically, a cold or flu can last a person a couple of weeks, all you have to let it do is run its course. After that, the majority of people are back to normal. However, some people may also get bronchitis as well. Bronchitis is when your bronchial tubes, which are the tubes that carry air to your lungs, get infected and swollen. You end up with a nagging cough and an excess amount of mucus. You can catch bronchitis in other ways as well. There are actually two types of bronchitis:

• Acute bronchitis: This is the more common of the two types of bronchitis. Symptoms last for a few weeks but don’t usually cause any problems after that.

• Chronic bronchitis: This is the more serious of the two, in that the symptoms keep returning or won’t go away at all. It does happen to be one of the conditions that make up chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

In both cases, it is important to see a doctor so that conditions do not worsen.

More times than not, doctors see that the cause of bronchitis is due to the same virus (es) that give you the common cold or the flu. However, sometimes bacteria is to blame. In both of these cases, as your body is fighting off the germs, your bronchial tubes will swell up and begin to make more mucus. This means that you will have a much smaller opening for air to flow, and this can make it hard for you to breathe. If any of these circumstances describe your situation, then you will have a larger chance of catching bronchitis:

• You have a weaker immune system, this is highly common in older adults, babies, and young children
• You smoke or happen to live with a smoker
• You work around substances that can bother or irritate your lungs, such as chemical fumes or dust
• You live or have traveled to a place with poor air quality or that is heavily polluted

Sometimes it’s hard for a person to distinguish between bronchitis and any other condition that can affect the lungs and breathing. It will often start out with symptoms of the common cold: runny nose, sore throat, and achy or body soreness.

One of the telltale signs of bronchitis is a hacking cough that lasts for 5 days or more. Some other symptoms may include:

• Clear, white, yellow, or green phlegm
• Slight fever, although sometimes this is not the case
• Tenderness or soreness in the chest when coughing
• Feeling of tiredness
• Whistling or wheezing when breathing
• Rattling feeling in the chest
• Body chills

If you or someone you know happens to have symptoms that last longer than 3 months, you may have a chronic case. Some signs may include:

• Consistent cough with clear, yellow, white, or green phlegm (lasting for at least 3 months of the year, or for more than 2 years in a row)
• Wheezing while breathing
• Discomfort in the chest

Come talk to the doctors and medical professionals at Boca Medical Care in Boca Raton, FL today. For more information on our bronchitis treatment, Contact us or schedule an appointment, or visit our clinic conveniently located at 9250 Glades Rd #100 Boca Raton, FL. We look forward to serving you! We serve patients from Boca Raton FL, Kings Point FL, Delray Beach FL, Deerfield Beach FL, Pompano Beach FL, Highland Beach FL and surrounding areas.