Chest wrap

Sabine Schrör is a freelance writer for the medical team. She studied business administration and public relations in Cologne. As a freelance editor, she has been at home in a wide variety of industries for more than 15 years. Health is one of her favorite subjects.

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A warm or cold chest wrap has been one of the tried and tested home remedies for coughs and bronchitis for centuries. In both children and adults, the compress can relieve the urge to cough and loosen tough, stuck bronchial mucus. Read everything you need to know about breast wraps - how they are made and used, how they work and when you should avoid this home remedy.

What is a chest wrap?

A chest wrap is an envelope around the chest that extends from the armpit to the costal arch. The home remedy has been used for centuries to relieve typical symptoms of respiratory diseases. Breast wraps help with bronchitis and coughs. In the case of mild symptoms, they can replace classic conventional medical measures. In the case of more serious illnesses, they can be used in addition to treatment with antibiotics, for example, to alleviate the symptoms and thus increase general well-being.

One differentiates:

• hot chest wraps
• cold chest compresses

Very often breast wraps are made with hot or cold water (moist breast wraps). Various additives such as herbal tea (e.g. thyme tea) or lemon juice can increase the effect of the wrap. Potatoes, for example, can be used for a dry breast wrap. Quark and certain essential oils are also popular additives for breast wraps.

How does a breast wrap work?

Hot and cold breast wraps have different effects. The choice of the right wrap depends on the symptoms and the individual sensation of warmth or cold.

Cold chest compress

A cold chest compress increases blood flow. This helps the body to dilute tough, stuck bronchial secretions so that it can be coughed up more easily. In addition, a cold chest compress has anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving and fever-lowering effects. If you have a fever, you generally apply a cold chest compress - if the patient finds it pleasant.

Hot chest wrap

For persistent, convulsive coughs, a hot chest compress is recommended, provided that the person concerned is free of fever. The warm wrap has an antispasmodic effect on the bronchial muscles. It also loosens the mucus in the airways and promotes expectoration.

Do not use hot chest compresses if you have a fever, as they can increase the already high body temperature even further.

How is a breast wrap made?

Whether hot or cold - a breast wrap consists of three layers of fabric: The first is placed directly on the skin of the breast. The fabric is - if it is to be a moist breast wrap - soaked in hot or cool water beforehand (possibly with the addition of lemon juice or essential oils such as eucalyptus, peppermint or thyme). The wet inner towel is then wrung out and wrapped tightly around the chest. Make sure that there are no wrinkles. A clean, dry intermediate cloth is placed on top as the second layer. The finish is a warming outer cloth, which is spread over the intermediate and inner cloth and tightened.

A chest wrap should fit tightly, but it must not be restrictive. Be careful not to wrap it too tightly, especially with children.

Fabrics made from natural fibers should be used for each layer, as synthetic fibers allow too little air and moisture to pass through. Linen, for example, is recommended for the inner cloth. You can use cotton towels or kitchen towels for the intermediate towel, for example. Wool is recommended for the warming outer cloth.

It is essential to ensure that the chest wrap is at an appropriate temperature. A hot chest wrap shouldn't be so hot as to burn the skin (check the temperature of the inner towel on the inside of the forearm first). A cold chest compress should never be ice cold, as this would put too much strain on the cardiovascular system.

Breast wrap with lemon, quark or potatoes

The beneficial effect of a breast wrap can be increased with certain additives. Lemon juice, quark and potatoes have proven particularly useful for this:

• Breast wrap with lemon: The anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic properties of lemon are used here. For the lemon wrap, add the juice of one fruit to 250 ml of warm water and soak the inner cloth in the lemon water.
• Chest wrap with quark: A quark wrap has an antispasmodic and expectorant effect. To do this, use a knife to spread 250 to 500 grams of fresh low-fat quark, warmed to body temperature, about half a centimeter thick on the inner cloth.

• Breast wrap with potatoes: For this you use boiled, still warm, mashed potatoes, which are placed in the inner cloth. The potatoes store the heat and thus strengthen the effect of the wrap. But be careful - let the potatoes cool down a little after cooking before using them for the breast wrap. Otherwise there is a risk of painfully burning the chest.

Breast wrap with essential oils

A cool chest wrap with lavender can gently lower a fever. In addition, the medicinal plant has anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, disinfecting and calming effects. For the wrap, add three to five drops of lavender oil to one liter of water. Its temperature should be two degrees less than the patient's current body temperature. You use this oil-water mixture to make the moist breast wrap (as described above). Ideally, the lavender breast wrap is applied in the evening before going to bed and left overnight.

Other essential oils are also suitable for making breast wraps. Often oil wraps are made: For this, suitable essential oils (such as eucalyptus, thyme, myrtle, ravintsara) are added to a fatty carrier oil (such as olive or almond oil). Then the inner cloth is soaked with this mixture, placed on the chest and covered with an intermediate cloth and an outer cloth and fixed. Get advice from an experienced doctor, alternative practitioner or aromatherapist.

How is a breast wrap used?

With a chest wrap treatment, the patient should lie relaxed on their back.

Hot chest compresses should remain on the chest as long as the person concerned feels them to be warm and comfortable.

Cold chest compresses work by stimulating the body to warm up the affected part of the body. If this effect does not occur after ten minutes, you should remove the compress. Otherwise, leave it on until you get an intense feeling of warmth. This generally happens after 45 to 75 minutes.

After removing the wrap, the person concerned should rest a little - at least 15 minutes of rest in bed or on the sofa are recommended. In general, a chest wrap should not be applied more than two or three times per day, sometimes less. Breast wraps with essential oils are usually only recommended once a day.

What complaints does a chest wrap help with?

Chest wraps help with bronchitis and coughs. In pneumonia and asthma, they can, in addition to drug treatment, have an analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect.

Cold chest compresses also have two other areas of application: On the one hand, they can help with functional heart diseases (heart neuroses). These are heart problems that have no organic cause. On the other hand, cold chest compresses can help treat high blood pressure (arterial hypertension). Discuss the use of breast wraps in such cases with a doctor first!

When is it not advisable to use chest wraps?

If you have cold symptoms that persist for a long time, you should always consult a doctor - especially if children are affected and / or the symptoms are accompanied by a fever. However, mild respiratory problems can usually be relieved well with chest wraps. However, if the symptoms worsen, a visit to a doctor is strongly recommended.

Breast wraps should not be used in the following cases:

• Heart or circulatory problems associated with intolerance to strong heat treatments (hot chest compresses)
• Circulatory disorders
• Hypersensitivity to cold or heat
• if there is no feeling of warmth with a cold chest compress
• open skin lesions or skin irritations in the chest area
• impaired perception of cold or heat stimuli (e.g. in diabetes mellitus)

If you are hypersensitive to certain essential oils, you should not use them. In children, you should generally first discuss the use of essential oils with a professional, such as an experienced doctor or an aromatherapist. Some oils can cause shortness of breath, especially in babies and toddlers. If you have certain underlying diseases such as epilepsy and asthma, you should also speak to your doctor first before using essential oils for breast wraps or other healing applications.

Home remedies have their limits. If the symptoms persist over a longer period of time and do not get better or even worse despite treatment, you should always consult a doctor.

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