Bronchitis is the step further that coughs and colds may well descend to if they have not been properly treated in the first place. The symptoms are an aching throat, tight chest, cough, headache and probably a temperature. Although it is an unpleasant ailment it should clear up within a few days but if it does not take professional advice. Most people suffering from bronchitis prefer to stay in bed, although in modern centrally heated houses this is no longer essential unless the illness is severe. Nevertheless it is sensible to ensure that the patient stays put in one heated room and does not wander into a cold kitchen or corridor. Make sure that children keep their chests well covered and their warm slippers on. Keeping a small pan of herbal water simmering in the room will act as a humidifier, keeping the air sweet and healthy. It is also important that the room is fresh and aired.
Fortunately most people will not suffer from bronchitis more than once in several years, if at all, and in most cases it is not a prolonged illness. Although it is rare today for bronchitis to linger over the years, in earlier times it was the rule rather than the exception and our forefathers took preventative steps at the beginning of each winter to ensure their continued good health. A piece of fat bacon – a substantial portion of pig rather than a slice of supermarket streaky – would be strapped to the chest beneath a permanent vest.
Alternatively that vest might have been a garment of brown paper well impregnated with goose grease. In either case it would have been a barrier against catching a chest cold and have been considered wearable until unbearable! Goose grease, presumable because of its availability (a good fat goose killed in the late autumn would have provided plenty of grease for several months) and the ease with which it is absorbed into the skin, was useful in medicinal rubs for the chest and the soles of the feet to protect them against rising damp. If one did succumb to illness a rigorous regime of hot mustard or kaolin poultices applied to the chest ensued or in extreme cases the wax from burning tallow candles was dripped on to brown paper and pressed on whilst still warm. The sight of all those candles burning must have given the victim cause for anxious thought.
Mustard foot baths were also used to comfort the sufferer. These had a double benefit of not only warming the body right through but also creating a warmly moist atmosphere in which to be cosseted. The ideal, of course, would be to have taken the foot bath whilst sitting before a roaring fire, a warm blanket around the shoulders, fortifying toddy close at hand and, to ward of further infection, a string of onions garlanding one’s head.
Children, when suffer from wheezy colds, rub the chests with a proprietary brand of camphorated liniment and although it brought considerable relief it had its drawbacks because the film of wax left upon the skin quickly became cold. To prevent this occurring we were kept in bed clutching well – covered hot-water bottles to chests and fortified with hot lemon and honey or in extreme cases an aspirin.
- Athena’s oil To ¼ cup of olive or sunflower oil add one drop each of the following warming and antiseptic essential oils: eucalyptus, pine, cinnamon, clove. Mix together and bottle. Use to relieve congestion by massaging it into the afflicted area of nose, sinus (taking care to avoid the eyes), throat and chest. A few drops of oil on pillow or handkerchief will help children breathe more easily and if sprinkled on a handkerchief and taken to school or work will create an effective barrier against other people’s infections. The same oil can also be used as an inhalant in the quantities of 1 coffee spoon to 1 litre (1.75 pints0 of boiling water. One of the good home remedies for Bronchitis.
- Garlic It would be very hard to find any ailment that garlic does not come to find any ailment that garlic does not come to the aid of. Chop 6 cloves of garlic very finely and place them in a bowl over a pan of simmering water with the contents of one small jar of white petroleum jelly (Vaseline). Cover and leave to simmer gently for several hours. Repot and use warm to rub into the back and chest. To be doubly effective the old wives might well have advocated that burdock leaves should be placed, furry sides down, between the shoulder blades at the same time.
- Carrot juice Drunk hot this will ease bronchitis and improve upon the general state of health.
- Lemon in wine Take the grated zest of ½ a well-washed lemon and macerate in a glass of hot wine with a spoonful of honey. Taken three times a day this not surprisingly promotes sweating and is quite relaxing!
- Slippery elm Mix the powdered bark to a palatable drinking consistency with warm water and honey and season with a good pinch of cayenne. Take morning and night. This is preferable to the ancient remedy of blackthorn bark peeled from the bush and boiled in water and sugar. One of the useful home remedies for bronchitis.
- Essential oil of juniper A few drops may be used in hot water as an inhalant. Do not use undiluted on the skin or on a handkerchief where it will be transferred to the nose.
Eat plenty of fresh, juicy fruit and fresh green vegetables. Pineapples and grapes were considered particularly beneficial to the health of invalids but as in times past the average family would have found them very difficult to obtain this may well have brought them into the realms of emotional blackmail. Take plenty of fluids but avoid milk if catarrh is present. Both onions and garlic, chewed raw, were thought to speed recovery but I suspect that this was one way to ensure that everybody gave the patient a wide berth thus reducing the risk of spreading the infection.
