How You Take Care Of Your Lungs And Airways

Without our lungs, we would have no way of getting the oxygen we need.

Our lungs and airways also ensure that our body is supplied with vital oxygen. Often enough, however, we expose them to stresses and strains: dust, exhaust gases, fine dust and other types of air pollution, but also passive smoking, can harm them.

Today we will show you how to take care of your lungs and airways .

Our lungs and airways

Our respiratory tract, also known as the airway, consists of more than just the lungs! It is a complex system that has the sole task of supplying our body with oxygen and removing metabolic products such as carbon dioxide from the body.

The following organs and components belong to the airways:

• nose
• throat
• Larynx
• windpipe
• Tracheal main branches (trunk bronchus)
• Bronchi

• Bronchioles
• Alveoli

We don’t need to explain to you at this point how smoking damages your respiratory tract and what secondary diseases result from it.

This article deals with the possibilities that non-smokers have to keep the stress on their airways low in everyday life and to protect and care for the airways.

Ensure clean air

The best strategy is to avoid exposing your airways in the first place by making sure that the air you breathe remains clean.

Even in our own four walls – or at work – there are many sources that cause fine dust and that you can turn off or change yourself! The following examples are easy to implement.

Clean office air

Computer printers produce a lot of fine dust that puts a strain on our lungs. So don’t set up the printer right next to your workplace, but preferably in a separate room.

If the printer is in your study (or in another room that you spend a lot of time in), make sure that you ventilate well to remove the fine dust created (and created) by the printer from the air you breathe!

Green plants as air filters

Green plants clean the air and absorb pollutants that are gradually released into the room air from carpeting, wall paint or furniture.

They absorb carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide from the air, reduce dust pollution and produce new oxygen.

The following houseplants do best: dragon tree, green lily, single leaf, ivy, ivy and chrysanthemum. A good idea not only at home, but also in the office, your lungs will thank you for it!

Remove foreign matter

Our airways have a very effective filter system to filter foreign substances such as dust from the air before they get into our lungs.

After you have spent a long time in a very dusty room or in dusty nature, for example in the wind, you surely know the traces of it that you find in the handkerchief when you blow your nose.

You can rid your airways of these substances using the following methods:

Nasal douche

The use of nasal showers is also very effective.

You can get this in the drugstore or pharmacy. They are available made of inexpensive plastic or also made of durable ceramic. The latter have the advantage that they last longer and can be washed very hot, for example in the dishwasher.

You don’t need any special additives for the nasal douche, normal sea salt from your kitchen cupboard is enough! To do this, dissolve a teaspoon of salt in 500 ml of warm water.

The water should ideally be at body temperature. If you don’t have a nasal douche or don’t want to buy one, you can carefully pull the saline solution up from a cup into your nostril and then push it out again by snorting vigorously over a sink.

Repeat with each nostril and, regardless of whether it is a nasal douche or a mug, make sure that the water does not run down the throat!

Inhale

The healing principle of inhalation consists in inhaling hot water vapor.

This cleanses the mucous membranes in the upper airways and increases their blood flow.

Inhalation is easy to do at home under your own direction.

To do this, place a large saucepan or a heat-resistant bowl (for example a small washing bowl or dough bowl) on a table, fill the bowl or saucepan with hot water to just below the rim and, depending on your taste and personal preferences, add inhalation additives.

That can just be salt, or chamomile tea, eucalyptus oil, peppermint leaves, lavender oil, … Then you sit down in front of the table, put a large towel over your head and bend over a pot or bowl.

Not too deep, but always with a “safety margin” of two hand widths so as not to get burned. The towel should be spread over the head and bowl so that no steam can escape.

Now inhale the rising vapors with deep breaths through your nose and mouth at the same time.

After 10 to 20 minutes, remove the towel from your head and wash your face with lukewarm water. A positive side effect: the steam also plumps up the skin, making the face look fresher and more youthful!