Herbs for COPD
Herbs are very effective adjuncts for treating symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Incorporating herbal remedies as tools for coping with COPD offers you many benefits.
Herbs can help relieve coughing, thin mucus, reduce mucus production, and fight infections. Certain herbs provide nutrients that you may lack due to impaired nutrition. Herbs can also help to protect your heart from damage that sometimes occurs secondary to COPD. Most herbs are very safe to use regardless of whether or not you are using conventional medications.
Let’s take a look at some of the most valuable herbs which you may employ to make living with COPD easier.
1. Yarrow Relieves Coughing Spasms
If you have COPD, you probably awaken each morning and are affected many times each day by harsh coughing spasms. Yarrow is an excellent remedy for relaxing your chest muscles and relieving spasmodic coughs. It helps to dry up excess mucus from your lungs, too.
Yarrow is particularly beneficial if you cough up blood in your sputum, and has hemostatic properties, which means that it stops bleeding. The herb also helps to reduce allergies, which are often responsible for triggering increased COPD symptoms, and relieves swollen and inflamed air passages and fights infection.
It is a mild diuretic, which can help to relieve fluid buildup in your lungs and other tissues. It lowers blood pressure, energizes, and aids digestion while toning the tissues of the respiratory tract. If you develop a fever due to a respiratory infection, yarrow can be used to lower your temperature by increasing perspiration. If you have a poor appetite due to your disease, yarrow may help to improve it.
Essentially, yarrow helps your lung tissues to heal by giving them a rest. The entire plant may be used for healing. I recommend that yarrow be taken as a tea three times daily. Two to five mls of a tincture may be taken three times daily as an alternative to the bitter tea.
Knowing the signs of a COPD exacerbation and a few tips for preventing one can help decrease the number, length and severity of your flare-ups.
