How Do Expectorants Work?
Other People Are Reading
-
-
Cough medicines containing expectorants work with the body to loosen mucus and phlegm. The person coughs up the mucus and expels it from his body. An expectorant eventually relieves the cough by getting the mucus out of the body, but initially it will cause more coughing.
Facts
-
Some sicknesses produce thick mucus and phlegm. Coughing is the body's way of trying to get rid of these substances. Expectorants aid the body by thinning the mucus so it is easier to cough up. Expectorants also relax the throat and lungs, thus making it easier and less painful for the person to continue a productive cough.
-
Stimulating Expectorants
-
Expectorants work by either stimulating another part of the body--for example, the digestive tract--or by working directly within the respiratory system. Expectorants that work in the digestive tract, called stimulating reflex expectorants, may make a person vomit thus ejecting the mucus and phlegm. Examples of this type of expectorant are Lobelia and Ipecac.
Another type of expectorant, called relaxing reflex, thins the mucus making it easier for the body to cough it up. This type of expectorant relaxes the throat and lungs to make coughing less painful.
Direct Expectorants
-
People inhale direct expectorants as steam or in a rub on the chest or under the nose. The person breathes in the vapors, which loosen and thin the congestion. The person can breathe easier since he dislodges the congestion by turning it into water, which the body expels by running out the nose. The person may also cough up some mucus.
Results
-
No matter what kind of expectorant, the result is expelling mucus and phlegm from the respiratory system. One should never swallow the mucus, but instead spit it out. As the mucus decreases, the cough eases and eventually stops.
-
