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An inhaler, often erroneously referred to as a nebulizer, is a device designed to inject drugs into the body using an aerosol method. This means that the presented cough helper helps to spray healing compounds, which, due to steam, are deposited on the lung and bronchial tissue.
The classic steam tool, aimed at alleviating the patient’s condition, is rarely used as monotherapy. Pulmonologists recommend using it as part of complex therapy, which is especially effective for children, even newborns and infants.
Differences from a nebulizer
In fact, a nebulizer is practically synonymous with an inhaler. Today, the fine line of differences between them has practically disappeared, because both devices are positioned as effective tools for the delivery of medicinal substances by the aerosol method.
The difference is based only on the spectrum of influence. The standard nebulizer does an excellent job of delivering healing ingredients to the upper, middle, and lower airways at the same time. This is also confirmed by the numerous positive reviews of those who managed to evaluate its capabilities.
He will also please with the ability to break down the medicine into especially small particles. Due to this, the efficiency of the toolkit is significantly increased, as evidenced by the proportionally growing price of equipment.
A traditional inhaler cannot boast of such extended functionality, because its responsibilities include only converting the liquid poured into the atomizer immediately into a vapor cloud. For the same reason, it is not able to penetrate into the middle and lower respiratory tract, limiting itself exclusively to the upper ones.
But for many consumers, even such a spectrum of action is enough, so only the attending physician can accurately answer which option is better to choose. It is also worth considering that today many ordinary people, like pharmacists and medical personnel, have begun to call nebulizers inhalers themselves.
Therefore, before you wonder where to buy such a useful assistant in resisting respiratory ailments, you should decide in advance on its type and even look for a specific model.
A simple classification will help in this, which is based on the purpose of the device and its principle of operation. Today, in order to get rid of a runny nose, it is not necessary to go to the clinic, signing up for an inhalation procedure room for a course of treatment. Many manufacturers offer portable solutions for the home.
There it is enough to figure out once how to operate it, what the instructions for use will help with, and then use the unit for personal needs. You should not buy any model you like without first consulting a doctor. In a pharmacy, a pharmacist does not always take into account all the wishes of the client, as he does not know his medical indications and the characteristics of the course of the disease.
Therefore, it would be more efficient to ask the doctor which option would be optimal, how to use the innovation, as well as a list of medicines acceptable for attracting. Some medicines lose some of their strength when inhaled, so not all of them are allowed to be used for aerosol exposure.
There are four main categories of solutions:
- compressor;
- ultrasonic;
- MESH format equipment;
- steam.
All of them have their own advantages, as well as the rating of the most popular manufacturers of such specific medical equipment.
Ferry influence
The most inexpensive specimens work due to the effect of steam on the upper respiratory tract. The algorithm is based on heating the medicinal infusion at a temperature of about 45 ° C, which allows the healing liquid to be converted into steam.
When inhaled, the particles settle in the problem area, spreading the healing solution. For the convenience of the consumer, the supply is made through a special mask. The steam-moist principle often includes various herbal infusions from medicinal herbs with an expectorant or some other profile effect on the body.
The best aspect of such a device includes the ability to use it not only during the next exacerbation of a chronic disease or during seasonal colds. He does an excellent job in the preventive field, which increases his value by an order of magnitude.
The presented home doctor will do an excellent job of leveling the symptoms with:
- rhinitis;
- laryngitis;
- the pharynx.
The design of the presented medical equipment allows treatment not only on the basis of herbal tinctures, but also various oil solutions. Thrifty guardians of their own health will be pleased with the aspect of how much this option costs.
But only here you have to prepare for the fact that it will help to cope only with ailments, the localization of which covers:
- nasopharynx;
- larynx;
- bronchi;
- trachea
The steam cloud practically does not reach the lungs.
Compression force
Against the background of the above disadvantages of a steam inhaler, many people prefer to spend money on compression counterparts. Consumers especially like the children’s format of such a “doctor”, which has a pleasant design and at the same time productively helps to get rid of a number of respiratory pathologies.
The central draft force here is the compressor, the power of which determines the range of coverage of the organs of the respiratory system. Thanks to a powerful air jet, the inhaler manages to break down the substance into tiny particles.
Thanks for this is the piston base, which is responsible for driving air through a narrow hole. As soon as it passes through the hole, it allows you to reach the desired pressure mark, under the influence of which the nasal solution breaks down into elements from 1 to 10 microns.
A well-thought-out system allows you to expand the use up to a positive effect even on the lower respiratory tract. It remains only to figure out how and how much to breathe in order to achieve the desired result.
And if steam structures cannot be used for people suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, then compression alternatives, on the contrary, help such patients. Also, many users are interested in whether they can be used for asthmatic manifestations. Doctors give an affirmative answer to this question.
It is allowed to involve the presented assistants for treatment and prevention:
- bronchitis;
- ARVI;
- pneumonia.
But advanced functionality is not all the reasons why most people prefer this particular version. The instructions for this kind of installation indicate the possibility of inhalation with almost any healing fluids.
Of the relative shortcomings, only the noise coming from the compressor is distinguished here. But for adults, such a negative aspect is not a significant problem. And for kids, parents prefer to buy a compression train or an inhaler of any other cute shape. So the baby can distract himself from the noise, looking at the funny elements of the plastic case.
ultrasonic mechanism
If a pocket inhaler works on the principle of pressure drop, then in more bulky ultrasonic counterparts, the main principle is the splitting of useful liquids using high frequencies.
It is believed that ultrasonic novelties in terms of performance significantly outperform other types of narrow-profile medical equipment, at least several times. The problem here can only arise if it is necessary to carry out repairs. If there are still spare parts for the steam unit in the workshop of medical equipment, then in the event of a fall or other mechanical damage to ultrasonic instruments, there is a high probability of impossibility of recovery.
Sometimes its use has a limited range of activities, which is associated with the drugs involved. Some active substances lose their strength through exposure to ultrasonic radiation. Therefore, it is better to ask your doctor in advance if the device is suitable for alleviating the condition with some specific disease.
The main medical list of indications for its operation relies on respiratory ailments that are caused by the intervention of pathogenic infectious agents.
But their main positive difference from the nearest compressor competitor is the absence of annoying noise, which will appeal to parents of kindergarten children.
MESH category equipment
The newest generation of inhalation devices are MESH format systems. But not everyone fully understands how such innovative versions differ from the rest. Here, all work is based on the crushing of the active substance due to the vibrating membrane. With its help, it is possible to achieve an ideal separation into microscopic particles.
The mechanism is suitable for bronchial asthma, and has also proven itself in opposition to:
- chronic inflammatory lesions of any part of the respiratory tract;
- pneumonia;
- bronchitis;
- tracheitis.
The ideal assistant for asthmatics has only one significant drawback – this is the cost. But he has an order of magnitude more advantages, because a cheap unit will not be able to boast of high manufacturability for the execution of tasks and noiselessness. It even allows you to work with the equipment in a horizontal position, which will appeal to patients who, due to circumstances, are limited in physical activity.
It is allowed to add most of the specialized solutions to the supply container. But you will have to keep in mind the advice of doctors all the time, which says that natural herbal infusions are not always the safest way out of the situation. It is especially dangerous to give them to a child without a preliminary allergic test.
Also, some pharmacy herbal solutions can aggravate the situation with bronchitis. Their characteristics often contradict the rules of asthma treatment.
Feeding Method
In order not to miscalculate with the purchase, experts advise to be interested in advance not only in what to fill inhalers. You will have to decide on the type of drug delivery. There are three of them in total:
- continuous;
- auto;
- manual.
The first point provides for the format of the constant transport of the useful substance throughout the session. Despite the apparent advantage of this approach, it has a significant disadvantage, including the irrational use of the drug. Because of this, inexpensive treatment is unlikely to succeed.
Against this background, consumers are looking for an aerosol analogue that would include the option of a more gentle spray mode. Manual equipment will help in this, where the adjustment is made by the patient himself or by the medical staff.
Here it is enough to find out what is added to the container, clarify the appropriate dosage and learn how to supply a jet with the desired characteristics. The name of the best manual models can be found on thematic medical forums.
The principle of functioning here is based on the control of inhalation and exhalation. When air is taken in by the lungs, the system is activated, and when exhaled, it is turned off. The presented portable assistant really allows you to save time, but at the same time it requires attention from the victim, because the adjustment is completely dependent on him.
The equipment is strictly prohibited for use by children under the age of five.
Separately, it is worth warning all lovers of making medical devices at home. Understanding how a manual inhaler works does not mean that you should design it yourself. In the best case scenario, the “master” will receive burns of the respiratory tract, so the idea of uXNUMXbuXNUMXbhow to assemble the installation without outside help should be postponed. It will be more effective to simply find out from a pulmonologist how to make a good multi-component solution to suppress asthmatic attacks.
For kids and those who do not seek to control everything, an automatic format is suitable. Everything happens there without human intervention, since the system itself turns off and off the device when the user inhales / exhales.
Effective fillers
In order for the inhalation to work properly, the patient will have to find the correct filling solution. It is poured into an individual cup when it comes to multi-user inhalers that are installed in hospitals. A special tube connects the entire system into a single circuit. Such a dry “steam” has a beneficial effect even on the lungs, and it is not in vain that massive installations of this kind are used in anti-tuberculosis dispensaries.
An exact list of recommended drugs for inhalation exposure should be prescribed by an ENT, pulmonologist, or at least a therapist. Most often, experts stop at herbal or oil solutions, as most consumers prefer to use relatively cheap steam inhalers. The nozzle of a compressor or any other type of medical equipment will not be able to process such a heavy composition. If you ignore this warning, you will have to change equipment components almost every season.
But such tinctures, together with steam, do an excellent job with manifestations of rhinitis, SARS, colds. But even there he recommends additionally pouring saline.
In second place in popularity are alkaline formulations, the scope of which includes not only rhinitis, but also sinusitis. They are allowed to be poured into ultrasonic and compression machines.
And medicines with a mucalizing spectrum of action can only be added to MESH or compression units.
Following such simple instructions will save the health and life of people who often suffer from respiratory diseases and other respiratory diseases.
- Sources of
- Leshchenko IV The use of nebulizer inhalations // Pulmonology. – 2009. – N 5. – 94-100 p.