Old people often have symptoms such as excessive phlegm and coughing, and severe cases may have difficulty breathing. So, what methods can help alleviate these symptoms in the elderly? Try the following methods.
Methods to help elderly people expel phlegm:
1. Drink plenty of water; have a light diet; avoid getting cold and prevent colds.
2. Change body positions frequently and pat the back regularly.
Particularly before and after coughing spells in the morning and evening, encourage the patient to take deep breaths to help cough up phlegm.
3. Steam inhalation: Pour boiling water into a tea cup or a tea pot with chrysanthemum, green fruit, or Semen Pruni in it.
Inhale the hot steam directly from the cup, for 15 to 30 minutes each time, 2 to 4 times a day.
4. Simple suction device: Connect a thicker sterilized urinary catheter to a 100 ml syringe, insert one end of the catheter into the patient's mouth deep down, and suck out the phlegm.
5. In case of sudden phlegm blockage, act immediately. Cover the index finger with a handkerchief or gauze, reach into the patient's throat, and remove the phlegm.
Alternatively, suction the phlegm out mouth-to-mouth.
What to eat to help elderly people relieve phlegm and cough:
1. Grapefruit
Grapefruit is fragrant, sweet and sour, and refreshing. It is rich in nutrients and has high medicinal value. It is one of the favorite fruits of people and is recognized by the medical community as the most effective fruit for diet therapy.
Grapefruit tea and grapefruit peel also have practical value and can be used in medicine.
Grapefruit has a sweet and sour taste and a cool nature. It has the effects of regulating qi, eliminating phlegm, moistening the lungs, clearing the intestines, nourishing blood, and invigorating the spleen.
2. Orange
Oranges can regulate qi, eliminate phlegm, and moisturize the lungs. Due to their cool nature, they are suitable for treating hot coughs.
For patients with cold coughs, it is more appropriate to eat oranges which have a neutral and slightly warm nature. It is recommended to eat the orange peel together.
3. Ginger and eggs
Ginger-fried eggs have the effects of warming, expelling phlegm, harmonizing qi and nourishing the body. They are particularly suitable for treating coughs caused by wind and cold.
4. Pear
Pear has a slightly sour taste and a cool nature. It enters the lung and stomach meridians.
It can generate body fluids, moisturize dryness, clear heat, and dissolve phlegm. It is also effective in relieving alcohol intoxication.
It is used for dry cough, thirst, and constipation caused by heat diseases or yin deficiency. It can also be used for thirst, cough with wheezing, and yellow phlegm caused by internal heat.
Dietary therapy:
Pear cough-relieving and phlegm-dissolving dietary therapy
1) Steamed Sichuan pepper and rock sugar pear
1 pear, 20 Sichuan peppers, 2 rock sugars.
Wash the pear, cut it horizontally near the stem, remove the core from the center, and put in Sichuan pepper and rock sugar. Reassemble the pear, place it in a bowl, and steam for about half an hour.
Steamed Sichuan pepper and rock sugar pear has a very obvious effect in treating wind-cold coughs.
2) Steamed pear with Fritillaria cirrhosa
1 pear, 10 Fritillaria cirrhosa (5-6 pills for children), 2-3 rock sugars.
Wash the pear, cut it horizontally near the stem, remove the core, and put in rock sugar and crushed Fritillaria cirrhosa. Reassemble the pear, or use a toothpick to secure it tightly, and place it in a bowl. Steam for about 30 minutes.
It has the effects of moisturizing the lungs, relieving cough, and dissolving phlegm.
