Description

The word chronic means to have reoccurring problems possibly at the same time every year. This may be due to increased pollen levels or increased time spent inside the house. Depending on the pattern found, appropriate treatments for chronic bronchitis could be prescribed. Symptoms include nagging cough, expulsion of mucus from the mouth, frequent respiratory infections, difficulty breathing, swelling of the feet, and even heart failure. Certain lifestyle choices can lead to increased risk for developing this disease including cigarette smoke, bacterial or viral infection, and environmental pollution.

How Chiropractic Care Relates to Chronic Bronchitis

Patients with manifestations of upper respiratory infection, especially those in the pediatric age group, frequently present to chiropractic clinics. Case reports frequently describe rapid improvement in upper respiratory symptoms following adjustment of minor vertebral subluxations, especially in the cervical spine. Upper respiratory infection is a general description of a group of conditions which includes common cold, bronchitis, etc.

Vertebral subluxations, particularly in the cervical spine, which produce associated muscle spasm, could therefore be the cause of stasis or restriction of the lymphatic drainage from the head and neck. As a consequence, the body would be unable to clear bacteria and viral pathogens to which it is constantly exposed through the mouth and respiratory passages. As a result, the patient with either transitory or chronic cervical subluxations would be more likely to suffer from on-going upper respiratory infection rather than being able to clear the infection through the normal processes of phagocytosis and lymph drainage.