“Coughing non-stop throughout the winter, feeling pain throughout the chest, seriously affecting life and work.” Since the beginning of winter, Mr. Henry, 42, has been plagued by coughing disease and had to take time off work to seek medical treatment. The low temperature and dry air in winter, especially with winter heating in the north, and the large difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures, can easily cause a decrease in respiratory resistance and trigger respiratory diseases. If not treated in time, upper respiratory tract diseases may also extend to the lower respiratory tract, leading to bronchitis or pneumonia.
The cold, dry air of winter has to pass through the “lungs” as a gas exchange station into the body. If you don’t protect them at this time, not only will they trigger some respiratory diseases such as coughing, but they can also easily take root and cause a relapse in the coming year.
We have summarized five points to help you protect your respiratory tract and keep your lungs well.
Prevent cold and keep warm to avoid catching a cold
When the body is cold and cold, the respiratory tract vasoconstriction, blood supply decreases, local resistance decreases, and viruses easily invade. Many bronchitis and pneumonia are caused by untimely or incomplete treatment of colds, so preventing cold and keeping warm and avoiding colds is the key to preventing respiratory diseases in winter. According to the weather changes, you should add and subtract clothes in time, pay attention to the thickness of bedding, to prevent cold and flu; to ensure sufficient sleep, especially after the cold should pay more attention to rest, cough and fever to seek medical attention in a timely manner; windy, hazy days and other air turbid conditions, as little as possible to go out, even if you go out to wear a good mask, to do a good job of protective measures.
Adequate nutrition to enhance physical fitness
Adequate and reasonable dietary intake of nutrition can enhance physical fitness, physical strength, natural resistance to disease will be enhanced. The diet should be based on light and easily digestible food, avoid spicy and irritating food. A small number of meals and a combination of meat and vegetables can improve the absorption rate of nutrients. You can eat more foods that nourish Yin and moisten the lungs, such as silver fungus, lily, lotus seeds, pears, honey, etc. Eat more foods rich in vitamin A and carotenoids to prevent recurrent respiratory infections, such as eggs, liver, fish, carrots, green leafy vegetables, etc.
Pay attention to hygiene to avoid infection
The main route of transmission of respiratory tract infections is droplet transmission, but there are also secretion infections such as sputum or contact infections, so it is especially important to pay attention to hygiene to avoid infections. Wash your hands frequently because respiratory secretions from patients with respiratory infections may be transmitted by contact, and cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing to prevent contamination of the air. Try to go to crowded public places as little as possible, and quit smoking and limit alcohol. Cigarette smoke can damage the bronchial epithelium and shed cilia, leading to a decrease in the defense function of the lungs, aggravating respiratory infections and triggering acute attacks. Frequent alcohol consumption can also stimulate the respiratory tract, produce moisture and accumulate phlegm, making the condition worse.
Cold exercise to enhance immunity
Strengthen the body’s cold exercise to adapt to changes in the external climate and increase their own immunity, such as walking, jogging, doing radio exercises, playing tai chi, cycling, etc. are good ways. But no matter which way and means are used, should be “different from person to person, step by step, according to the ability to do, persistent”. At the same time, proper rest to avoid overexertion, regular life, ensure sufficient sleep, reduce psychological stress, can also improve the body’s ability to resist disease.
Compress and massage for lung protection
Chinese medicine believes that the cold climate, the human skin couples are not solid, the external function is not complete, so it is easy to suffer from respiratory diseases. And people and nature is a unified whole, prevention and control of disease in line with the weather and seasonal changes, will play a half-hearted effect. According to the theory of Chinese medicine, “Heaven and man correspond to each other”, in winter, Chinese herbs such as white mustard seed, Yanhuo, Gansui, Hessian and cinnamon are finely ground and mixed into a paste, which can be applied to specific acupuncture points such as Tiantu, Tanzhong and Lung acupuncture points to remove cold and help the righteousness, and improve the body’s ability to adapt to climate change, thus achieving the purpose of disease prevention and treatment. In addition, massaging the Da Loom, Fengmen and Lung acupuncture points can also prevent respiratory system diseases. The Da Loom point, Fengmen point, and Lung Yu point are located at the first thoracic vertebra, second thoracic vertebra, and third thoracic vertebra on either side of the spine, respectively, 1.5 inches apart, one on each side of the left and right. Since these three pairs of acupoints are on the back, they need to be operated with the help of others, and the person being pressed can sit or lie down once a day for 15-20 minutes. When pressed, the strength is moderately large, to the degree of local soreness and redness.
When you or others around you have one or more respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, dyspnea, shortness of breath, etc., you should go to the hospital promptly, do not take it seriously, and do not take drugs indiscriminately, so as not to delay the diagnosis and treatment. In addition, people with chronic underlying diseases should pay more attention to the impact of external climate change on themselves, and should go to a regular hospital quickly once their bodies become unwell.