Discharge Instructions for Chronic Bronchitis

You have been diagnosed with chronic bronchitis. With this condition, you cough up mucus and feel short of breath for 3 months or more each year for at least 2 years in a row.

Home Care

• Break the smoking habit.

  • Enroll in a stop-smoking program to increase your chances of success.

  • Ask your health care provider about medications or other methods to help you quit.

  • Ask family members to quit smoking as well.

  • Don’t allow smoking in your home or around you.

• Protect yourself from infection.

  • Wash your hands often. Do your best to keep your hands away from your face. Most germs are spread from your hands to your mouth.

  • Ask your health care provider about a flu shot or pneumonia vaccination.

  • Avoid crowds. It's especially important to do this in the winter when more people have colds and flu.

  • Get enough sleep, exercise regularly, and eat a balanced diet.

• Take your medications exactly as directed. Don’t skip doses.

• Talk to your health care provider about ways to keep your mucus thin.

• Learn postural drainage and percussion, techniques that can help you cough up extra mucus. This extra mucus can trap germs in your lungs.

• Learn pursed-lip and patterned breathing to help decrease shortness of breath.

Follow-Up

Make a follow-up appointment as directed by our staff.