Respiratory Treatments

💡TL;DR: Clearing COPD mucus works best when you combine gravity positions, huff cough, and steady hydration; ask your clinician about hypertonic saline (3% or 7%) by nebulizer if phlegm is very thick. Do short sessions 1–3 times a day rather than one long effort to avoid getting winded.

💡TL;DR: Dry coughs don’t produce mucus; wet coughs do. Treat dry coughs by soothing irritation and, if needed, using a short‑term suppressant; treat wet coughs by thinning and clearing mucus with fluids, steam, and an expectorant. Most simple coughs clear in about 3 weeks (NHS), while a

💡TL;DR: Do not nebulize distilled water. It is not guaranteed sterile and its very low salt content can irritate your airways. Use sterile 0.9% saline or prescribed medications in unit-dose vials; use 3% to 7% hypertonic saline only if your clinician prescribes it. For cleaning, you may rinse

💡TL;DR: Airway inflammation means your breathing tubes are swollen and narrowed, often making extra mucus that causes cough, wheeze, and chest tightness. Most acute cases follow viral bronchitis, while chronic inflammation shows up in asthma and COPD; in asthma, 50–70% of patients have Type 2 (allergic) inflammation. The

💡TL;DR: Asthmatic bronchitis is a short-term chest infection on top of asthma, so you get the cough and mucus of bronchitis plus the wheeze and tight chest of an asthma flare. Most cases are viral and antibiotics are usually not needed. Expect about 2–3 weeks of symptoms, with

💡TL;DR: 70% SpO₂ is a medical emergency. Normal is 95–100% at sea level; anything below 80% is severe and can injure organs fast. At 70% you usually have minutes to a few hours without urgent treatment—call 911. Chronic lung disease does not make 70% “normal”; long‑term

💡TL;DR: Empyema = around the lung; lung abscess = inside the lung. Empyema usually needs drainage plus antibiotics; a lung abscess usually responds to antibiotics alone. CT is the best way to tell them apart; a classic study found CT correctly distinguished them in every case. Empyema carries higher short-term risk

💡TL;DR: Empyema is an infected pleural effusion (pus in the pleural space) that usually needs urgent drainage plus IV antibiotics, while a typical pleural effusion is extra fluid that is often not infected and is treated by fixing the cause and draining only if needed. Doctors look for loculations

💡TL;DR: A nebulizer can help COVID-related wheeze or chest tightness, especially if you have asthma or COPD, but it does not treat the virus. If you already have a prescription, keep using it as directed; if you do not, talk to your doctor before starting any nebulized medicine. Use