Cough inhalation during pregnancy is one of the most convenient ways to administer medications. With such procedures, the active substance enters directly into the mucous membrane of the throat and upper respiratory tract affected by inflammation. And the use of nebulizers further increases the “targeting” of drug delivery - up to 98% of its volume is deposited directly in the bronchi.
The accentuated use of nebulizer inhalation is extremely important during pregnancy. If systemic therapy is used to treat cough and the pathology that caused it, then pharmacological drugs will affect the entire mother's body, that is, affecting the fetus. Local treatment with inhalation significantly reduces the likelihood of child involvement, although it does not completely cancel it.
But even with the risk of exposure to medicinal compounds on the fetus, cough must be treated, because it is most often a manifestation of an infectious lesion of the respiratory system. Pregnant women need to try to get rid of such diseases as quickly as possible, since an infection (especially a viral one!) Is a threat to bearing a child and its normal intrauterine development.
In addition, coughing itself, as a separate symptom, is dangerous during pregnancy. The cough reflex causes reflex tension in the muscles of the human body, including the muscles of the uterus, which increases the risk of pregnancy failure. Inhalation of drugs allows you to reduce the intensity of cough, reduce the frequency of attacks and, accordingly, save the child.
Expectorants and mucolytics
These classes of drugs play a major role in the treatment of cough during pregnancy. If cough attacks are unproductive, that is, they are not associated with sputum production, then their intensity is especially high. The stronger, more painful and prolonged the mother's cough, the higher the risk of fetal circulatory disorders and muscle spasm in the uterus. Pharmaceuticals with mucolytic action stimulate the formation of sputum in the bronchial tree, thereby translating the cough into a "wet", productive form, significantly reducing the intensity and duration of attacks.
With a wet cough, mucolytics thin the mucus accumulated in the bronchi and simplify its excretion, which again reduces the severity of the cough symptom. In addition, sputum is a substrate for the reproduction of pathogenic bacteria. The sooner it is removed from the body, the less the risk of spreading the infection.
Inhalation with the help of nebulizers, pregnant women are injected with mucolytic drugs, the active ingredient in which is ambroxol: Lazolvan and Ambrobene. Although these compounds are not contraindicated during pregnancy, they should be used exclusively under medical supervision.
One of the most common mucolytics, called ACC, where acetylcysteine is the active ingredient, is contraindicated in pregnancy.
These drugs are usually inhaled twice a day. Before pouring the medicine into your personal nebulizer, dilute it with saline in a 1: 1 ratio.
Anti-infectious agents
As we said above, a cough is a consequence of another disease of the respiratory system, which is often an infectious lesion. Due to the danger of infections for the pregnant woman and the fetus, it is logical to rank antibiotics as the second most important drug used for coughing. Of course, antibiotics themselves do not cure cough, but they eliminate the immediate cause of its appearance.
Choosing an antibiotic for inhalation is not an easy task. It should be solved only by a doctor, having previously familiarized himself with the results of sputum culture for sensitivity. In addition, the patient's individual intolerance to certain drugs is taken into account, as well as the possibility of using a particular drug during pregnancy.
Antiseptic medications can be an alternative to antibiotics. These funds effectively fight infection, but do not have a pronounced specificity and, most importantly, have no contraindications for use during pregnancy. Nebulizer inhalation for coughing is carried out with:
- plant disinfectant chlorophyllipt;
- dioxidine solution;
- furacilin solution;
- solution of alcoholic tincture of calendula.
Bronchodilators
Inhalation with means for expanding the bronchi is carried out if the cough is associated with a spasm of the walls of the airways. Viscous and thick sputum sometimes completely blocks the lumen of the small diameter bronchi. In this case, the cough becomes unproductive, painful, "tearing". Therefore, before liquefying the accumulated mucus and stimulating its removal, it is necessary to relieve bronchospasm and increase the diameter of the airways.
In pregnant women, drugs such as Berodual, Berotek and Atrovent are inhaled through a nebulizer. These medicinal products have a pronounced effect, therefore they must be used under the supervision of a doctor. In addition, the use of such bronchodilators is not recommended in the first trimester of pregnancy. Most often, these medicines are sold in ready-made bottles with dispensers and nebulizers.
Moisturizing and emollient solutions
When you cough, the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract needs to be softened and moisturized. This relieves severe irritation, reduces the intensity of the cough and improves the general condition of the patient. The best way to provide the respiratory tract with adequate moisture is by inhalation with saline and / or mineral water. There are no restrictions on the use of such fluids during pregnancy.
Saline for inhalation is the easiest way to buy ready-made in a pharmacy. Of the mineral waters, it is preferable to use slightly alkaline brands: Essentuki, Narzan, etc. It is not recommended to use mineral waters containing carbon dioxide in nebulizers. One inhalation should consume a full charge of the device - this is 4-5 ml. It is not necessary to warm up the liquid or additionally dilute it with other solutions before filling the nebulizer.
Inhalation with soda solutions has a very beneficial effect on the treatment of cough, since soda effectively suppresses the cough reflex and softens the mucous membranes. During pregnancy, it is recommended to use a standard recipe for liquid for inhalation, which includes dissolved in half a liter of water:
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cooking (or seafood, but not
iodized) salt; - 4-5 drops of iodine.
iodized) salt;Essential oils are also effective as cough softeners. Inhalation of such drugs in pregnant women is not prohibited, but only if the woman is not allergic to a particular oil. For dry coughs, oil extracts of eucalyptus or lemon are used, and for wet coughs, mint or anise. The volume of the essential component in the solution is small - no more than 3 drops of oil are usually taken per 1 liter of water.
Medicinal herbs
Inhalation of phytopreparations for coughing is widely used in the general case, but during pregnancy it is necessary to carefully monitor which medicinal plants are included in the collection. Of course, with nebulizer inhalations, the percentage of the drug that penetrates into the woman's blood is much lower than when using infusions and decoctions of medicinal herbs inside. But, in spite of this, during the period of bearing a child, it is not recommended to inhale medicines containing chamomile, aloe, St. John's wort, tansy, string and some other herbs.Such drugs affect the synthesis of estrogen, and this increases the risk of termination of pregnancy.
Recipes that can be used during pregnancy:
- 1 tbsp calendula, sage, coltsfoot, yarrow or other herbal remedy, which the doctor recommends, is brewed in 200 ml of water;
- 1 tsp thermopsis and five times more primrose mix and pour 0.5 liters of boiling water;
- 2 tsp brew mixtures of elderberry and mullein flowers in 200 ml of boiling water;
- mix in equal parts wild rosemary, large plantain and coltsfoot, and then pour 10 tbsp. collecting 0.5 liters of boiling water;
- take equal amounts of sage, licorice, eucalyptus and calendula, and then brew 2 tsp. collecting boiling water in a glass.
When preparing the infusion for inhalation, leave the liquid to cool on its own. Then filter the solution through several gauze layers, getting rid of the solid components. Fill the nebulizer with 4-5 ml of infusion and start inhalation. Popular Twitch casino streams with draws and generous bonuses
Unlike pharmacological compounds, phytopreparations, even during pregnancy, are recommended to be inhaled as often as possible: 5-6 or more times a day.
The advantage of inhalations with medicinal herbs is that, with the correct prescription, their action is completely safe for the mother and fetus. And besides, when coughing, they have several positive effects at once:
- anti-inflammatory;
- moisturizing;
- softening and relieving irritation;
- disinfectant;
- thinning phlegm.
Glucocorticosteroids
This is a separate class of drugs that we want to pay special attention to. These funds are hormone derivatives and are used for nebulizer inhalation in case the cough is caused by an allergy or an autoimmune disease. During pregnancy, these pharmacological substances are prescribed with extreme caution and only according to strict medical indications. It is better to use them not through a personal nebulizer, but with the help of sealed vials, in which inhaler glucocorticoids are sold in pharmacies. Automatic dispensers and nebulizers of such containers will protect the patient from possible drug overdose.
Nebulizer selection
An important parameter of a nebulizer is dispersity, that is, the size of particles in the air suspension created by the device. The smaller these particles have, the deeper the drug will penetrate along the bronchial tree. Therefore, the choice of dispersion is based on which disease caused the cough. If this is an inflammatory process in the pharynx, then coarse models should be preferred - the particles they spray will settle in the upper respiratory tract. And, for example, when a cough is caused by inflammation of the bronchioles or pulmonary alveoli, it is necessary for the drug to reach the deep parts of the respiratory tract. In this case, you will need a finely dispersed nebulizer.
Modern nebulizers are equipped with a dispersion control function in accordance with the needs of the patient.
It should also be borne in mind that various models of nebulizers have certain limitations on the ability to produce an air suspension of certain types of drugs:
- Devices with a compressor mechanism of operation spray the drug by forcing air into the solution at high pressure. Any liquid is used in this type of nebulizer, but some compressor models are limited to the use of essential oils.
- Ultrasonic nebulizers "whip" the solution by the directed action of ultrasonic waves. Antibiotics and glucocorticoids cannot be used in these devices - they are destroyed at the elevated temperature that occurs when ultrasound waves act on a liquid. And the ultrasonic nebulizer does not have enough power to spray viscous oils.
In membrane nebulizers, the solution enters the vibrating membrane, passing through the micro-holes in which the liquid turns into an aerosol. In such models, you cannot use self-made soda-salt solutions, phytopreparations and essential oils - they will clog the holes.
