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Treatments include:

Your doctor will discuss the various treatment options with you.

Stop smoking


Although any damage done to your lungs and airways cannot be reversed, giving up smoking can help prevent further damage.

This may be all the treatment that's needed in the early stages of COPD, but it's never too late to stop – even people with more advanced COPD will benefit from quitting.


Find out more about stop smoking support or find a stop smoking service near you.


If COPD is affecting your breathing, you'll usually be given an inhaler. This is a device that delivers medicine directly into your lungs as you breathe in.

Your doctor or nurse will advise you on how to use an inhaler correctly and how often to use it.

There are several different types of inhaler for COPD. The main types include:

Short-acting bronchodilator inhalers



There are 2 types of short-acting bronchodilator inhaler:

Short-acting inhalers should be used when you feel breathless, up to a maximum of 4 times a day.

Long-acting bronchodilator inhalers


These work in a similar way to short-acting bronchodilators, but each dose lasts for at least 12 hours, so they only need to be used once or twice a day.

There are 2 types of long-acting bronchodilator inhaler:


Steroid inhalers

If you're still becoming breathless when using a long-acting inhaler, or you have frequent flare-ups (exacerbations), your GP may suggest including a steroid inhaler as part of your treatment.

Steroid inhalers contain corticosteroid medicines, which can help to reduce the inflammation in your airways.

Steroid inhalers are normally prescribed as part of a combination inhaler that also includes a long-acting medicine.


If your symptoms are not controlled with inhalers, your doctor may recommend taking tablets or capsules as well.

Theophylline tablets

Theophylline is a type of bronchodilator. It's unclear exactly how theophylline works, but it seems to reduce swelling (inflammation) in the airways and relax the muscles lining them.

Theophylline comes as tablets or capsules and is usually taken twice a day.

You may need to have regular blood tests during treatment to check the level of medicine in your blood.


Possible side effects include:

Sometimes a similar medication called aminophylline is also used.


If you have a persistent chesty cough with lots of thick phlegm, your doctor may recommend taking a mucolytic medicine called carbocisteine.

Mucolytic medicines make the phlegm in your throat thinner and easier to cough up.

Carbocisteine comes as tablets or capsules and is usually taken 3 or 4 times a day.

If carbocisteine does not help your symptoms, or you cannot take it for medical reasons, another mucolytic medicine called acetylcysteine is available.

This comes as a powder which you mix with water. Acetylcysteine powder has an unpleasant smell, like rotten eggs, but this smell should go away once you mix it with the water.

Steroid tablets



Your doctor may give you a supply of steroid tablets to keep at home to take as soon as you experience a bad flare-up.





Pulmonary rehabilitation



Pulmonary rehabilitation programmes usually involve 2 or more group sessions a week for at least 6 weeks.

A typical programme includes:


The British Lung Foundation has more information about pulmonary rehabilitation.

Other treatments


Nebulised medicine

Nebulised medicine may be used in severe cases of COPD if inhalers have not worked.

This is where a machine is used to turn liquid medicine into a fine mist that you breathe in through a mouthpiece or a face mask. It enables a large dose of medicine to be taken in one go.



Roflumilast is a new medicine that can be used to treat flare-ups.

It is recommended for people whose symptoms have suddenly become worse at least 2 times over the past 12 months, and who are already using inhalers.

Roflumilast comes as tablets and the medicine helps reduce inflammation inside the lungs and airways.

Side effects of roflumilast include:

Long-term oxygen therapy






Find out more about home oxygen therapy.

Ambulatory oxygen therapy

Some people with COPD will benefit from ambulatory oxygen, which is oxygen you use when you walk or are active in other ways.


Non-invasive ventilation (NIV)


This is where a portable machine connected to a mask that covers your nose or face is used to support your lungs and make breathing easier.


Surgery is usually only suitable for a small number of people with severe COPD whose symptoms are not controlled with medicine.

There are 3 main operations that can be done:

These are major operations done under general anaesthetic, where you're asleep, and involve significant risks.
