How To Beat Pneumonia At Home

Natural Ways To Cure Pneumonia With Diet Herbs And Aromatherapy

Naturopathy is a form of alternative medicine that adopts a drug-free approach to disease prevention and treatment through exercise, diet control, massage, and more. When we put less emphasis on a miracle cure and take care of our overall health and potential for healing rather than the disease, we may successfully rid ourselves of much man-made suffering.

For a disease to manifest, there must first be an underlying factor allowing it to exist or take over. If we look beyond the diagnosis, we may be able to unmask the disease for what it is and how it expresses within the body.

Ginger Or Turmeric Tea

A persistent cough can result in chest pain. Drinking warm tea made with fresh ginger or turmeric root may help reduce this pain.

The roots of both of these plants can have a natural anti-inflammatory effect in the body.

Chop up a thumb sized piece of either root and boil it in a pint or so of water. If a person prefers strong tea, they can boil it for longer or add more of the root. If the flavor is too sharp, they can try adding a spoonful of honey.

Other Treatments For Mild Or Moderate Covid

In uncommon circumstances, physicians may treat patients who have mild or moderate COVID-19 with the following:

Corticosteroids There is evidence to suggest that some people who require supplemental oxygen from a mask or an oxygen cannula may benefit from receiving a steroid such as dexamethasone to treat mild or moderate COVID-19.

Examples of conditions that may require supplemental oxygen include COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, and sleep apnea, according to the American Lung Association.

Dexamethasone is a very powerful immune modulator it reduces inflammation in the body by suppressing the immune response, Pottinger says. That sounds like the wrong thing to do, because we need our immune system to kill the virus, but what weve found in large and well-done clinical trials is that this subset of people can have an overly robust immune response.

This response can be reduced by a short course of a relatively low dose of corticosteroids and help those patients recover faster and to have a better outcome, he explains.

Home Oxygen In pre-COVID-19 times, it would be very uncommon for physicians to start a patient on oxygen from a doctors office or ER and then send them home, says Pottinger.

People with COVID-19 who have been prescribed home oxygen should stay in regular contact with their provider, Pottinger advises, adding, Your doctor might send you home with a pulse oximeter if you dont have one.

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My Covid Story: I Had Mild Symptoms But Suffered From Covid Pneumonia

PintrestCommander MK Singh , working with the Indian Navy was helping his countrymen during the lockdown when the virus got to him. Sharing his COVID experience, he recounts the unusual symptoms and side-effects he suffered because of his age and emphasizes the importance of having a pre-COVID plan.

Treating Pneumonia At Home In Babies And Young Children Naturally

If you ever read anything I write and think it is wise, or you think I noticed or realized something you didnt, believe me, its not me. Its in my genes.

My mom is probably the most insightful person I know.

Back in the early 80s when her kids were little, she pondered the workings of Dimetapp. Her thinking, my paraphrase: If this thickens mucus so my kids can sleep without coughing, wouldnt it also thicken mucus throughout the system, like the ears? And dont we want the noses to run to get the virus out? Im hesitant to use it often

We had Dimetapp, which I was a real champ about taking , only if we absolutely could not sleep.

I was very proud of my mom when it came out decades later that people really shouldnt use medicine in the category of Dimetapp very often, and especially on children younger than six. I never had an ear infection as a kid, but my mom watched a number of friends kids who were frequent Dimetapp users have terrible ear problems as they grew.

So when my mom told me in February that she had a hunch about how to help John relieve his chest congestion, I was all ears.

She had read about how kids with cystic fibrosis have awful mucus in the lungs, and parents do a special sort of steam treatment and back clapping to help them loosen it up and cough it out.

She also admitted that she had wondered if this would work when John had his first bout of pneumonia in the fall, but since she hadnt confirmed it, she didnt tell me.

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When To Contact A Medical Professional

• Cough that brings up bloody or rust-colored mucus
• Breathing symptoms that get worse
• Chest pain that gets worse when you cough or breathe in
• Fast or painful breathing
• Night sweats or unexplained weight loss
• Shortness of breath, shaking chills, or persistent fevers
• Signs of pneumonia and a weak immune system
• Worsening of symptoms after initial improvement

Box : Hospital Referral And Admission During The Covid

It is important that pharmacists understand the reasons why a patient may or may not be admitted to hospital. This is important because concerned patients and family members or carers may be confused by the decisions made regarding their care. The decision to refer a patient to secondary care during the pandemic will depend on the following factors:

• The severity of symptoms and presence of any red flag symptoms
• The benefits and disadvantages of admission
• The care required
• The patients wishes

• Peripheral capillary oxygen saturation of 93% on room air.

Patients and their carers should be advised that if they are struggling to breathe, or appear distressed on breathing while at rest, they should immediately call an ambulance. Paramedics will be able to accurately assess the patient and determine whether they should be admitted to hospital. If the patient is struggling to breathe, or symptoms worsen, but they are not in a severe state of distress, they should contact NHS 111 or their GP for further directions. This may still result in an ambulance being called.

Although it may be necessary and prudent to refer patients to hospital, if the decision is that the patient is not referred or admitted, then there is a need to manage them at home.

Even if the patient assessment indicates that they can be effectively managed in the community, it would be important to advise patients when they would need to seek additional advice .

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Remedies To Relieve Symptoms

There are also some simple steps you can take to relieve your symptoms while you recover. The following steps might not treat the root causes of your illness, but they can make you feel a lot better while you wait for your prescription medication to work. If your symptoms get worse at any point, then contact your doctor for further treatment options.

Apply A Lukewarm Compress Or Take A Lukewarm Bath

Submerging your body in a lukewarm bath might help you bring down your body temperature.

You can also use a lukewarm compress to help cool your body from the outside inward if a bath is not convenient. Although it may be tempting to use a cold compress, the sudden temperature shift can cause chills. A lukewarm compress provides a more gradual, comfortable temperature change.

Chills may come on before or during a fever. They typically subside after your fever breaks. This may last up to a week, depending on when you begin treatment for pneumonia.

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Constipation Is A Common Symptom For Young Children With Pneumonia

That February, after we kicked pneumonia in November without resorting to antibiotics, John got another cold from big sister.

We kept a really close eye on his coughing and pulled out all the stops as far as natural means of fighting infection that we had at our disposal.

Each time hed wake up coughing at night, I cringed, waiting for the mucus to come flying out. It never did, so I thought we were in the clear. He was starting to get better, we thought, when he awoke one night all out of sorts.

My husband couldnt calm him down back to sleep and brought him to me for the magic nursies.

When he wouldnt nurse, we looked at each other in shock. If you have a baby whos addicted to nursing like all four of mine have been, youll know what we were thinking.

We knew something weird was going on.

Over the next 30 minutes, we tried everything we could think of to calm him down, all the while worrying and watching him cry, lay down, get up, not allow people to hold him, fight nursing, and writhe in pain.

He would lay his head down on the floor like he was so tired he couldnt stand up anymore, but his lower half was still ooching and scooching his body across the floor like a vacuum cleaner.

Every time we picked him up, his whole body struggled to get down.

It looked like he was in severe abdominal distress, and as the minutes ticked by, the worry mounted like a knotted hose.

We started wondering if he had eaten something that was lodged in his intestines.

How Can I Take Care Of My Child

Antibiotics Children with bacterial pneumonia need an antibiotic. Your child’s antibiotic is_____________________________. Give ______________ every ______ hours. Continue the antibiotic for ______ days. Give the medicine even if your child is feeling better.

Only bacterial pneumonia is helped by antibiotics. Antibiotics will not kill viruses. However, your child’s provider may start him on antibiotics because it is often not possible to know if pneumonia is caused by bacteria or a virus.

Medicines for fever Use acetaminophen or ibuprofen for fever . This can be repeated every 4 to 6 hours. These medicines can also help chest pain.

Warm fluids for coughing spasms Coughing spasms are often caused by sticky secretions in the back of the throat. Warm liquids usually relax the airway and loosen the secretions. Offer your child warm lemonade, apple juice, or herbal tea. Children over 1 year old can sip warm chicken broth. Encourage your child to drink a lot of fluids.

In addition, breathing warm moist air helps to loosen up sticky mucus that may be choking your child. You can provide warm mist by placing a warm wet washcloth loosely over your child’s nose and mouth. Or you can fill a humidifier with warm water and have your child breathe in the warm mist it produces. Avoid steam vaporizers because they can cause burns.

Humidity Dry air tends to make coughs worse. Use a humidifier in your child’s bedroom.

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Use Oils With Antibacterial & Antiviral Properties

• germ fighting oil blends are great
• with a carrier on the feet
• diffused into the air, either with a diffuser, vaporizer, or even simply a few drops in some water in a pot, simmering on the stove. Make sure to keep an eye on the pot so it doesnt go dry.

What Are The Symptoms Of Pneumonia

Cough is a common symptom. You may also feel generally unwell and have a high temperature . Other symptoms you may notice include:

• Loss of appetite

All these symptoms are also seen in flu so it is sometimes difficult to diagnose pneumonia in the early stages. See the separate leaflet called Influenza and Flu-like Illness for further details.

Coughing up a lot of phlegm is more likely to happen in pneumonia than in flu. The phlegm may become yellow-coloured or green-coloured. It may be streaked with blood or you may cough up more significant amounts of blood.

You may become short of breath, start breathing faster than normal and develop a tight chest. A sharp pain in the side of the chest may develop if the infection involves the pleura. The pleura is the membrane between the lung and the chest wall. A doctor may hear crackles when listening to your chest with a stethoscope.

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So Hows That Different Than Regular Pneumonia

Pneumonia is generally a more serious lung infection. It can also be caused by bacteria or viruses .

No matter the cause, the infection causes your immune system to fill the air sacs in the lungs with mucus, pus, and other fluids. This makes it difficult for oxygen to reach your blood.

Though the symptoms of bacterial pneumonia and viral pneumonia arent exactly the same, Dr. Chaisson says both tend to cause shortness of breath, difficulty breathing and feeling more tired than usual.

Based On How It Was Acquired

• Aspiration Pneumonia: If you happen to develop pneumonia by inhaling bacteria from foods, drinks or saliva, it is called aspiration pneumonia. This type usually occurs when the infected individual has difficulty in swallowing.

• Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: Individuals using a ventilator can also develop pneumonia.

Now that you are familiar with the types of pneumonia, understanding its causes is a lot easier.

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At Home Remedies: Safety Notes

Its important to know enough about essential oils to be safe with them! I learned a TON at this very helpful post and you should read it, too, especially about eucalyptus, cinnamon, and peppermint for children.

Ive also recently learned not to use homeopathics and EOs at the same time, for example, which is something desperate parents need to know when presented with a huge list of remedies like this post. Just be sure not to use a remedy and forget to treat them like medicine just because theyre natural and you read about them on some blog somewhere.

Read my own post on the potential dangers of essential oils. They can be great if used correctly, but you need to know enough to know what you dont yet know

Management Of Bacterial Pneumonia

The mainstay of drug therapy for bacterial pneumonia is antibiotic treatment. First-line antimicrobials for S pneumoniae, the most prevalent cause of bacterial pneumonia, are, for the penicillin-susceptible form of the bacterium, penicillin G and amoxicillin. For the penicillin-resistant form of S pneumoniae, first-line agents are chosen on the basis of sensitivity.

Supportive measures include the following:

• Analgesia and antipyretics

• Intravenous fluids , if indicated

• Pulse oximetry with or without cardiac monitoring, as indicated

• Oxygen supplementation

• Positioning of the patient to minimize aspiration risk

• Respiratory therapy, including treatment with bronchodilators and N-acetylcysteine

• Suctioning and bronchial hygiene

• Ventilation with low tidal volumes in patients requiring mechanical ventilation secondary to bilateral pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome

• Systemic support: May include proper hydration, nutrition, and mobilization

See Treatment and Medication for more detail.

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What Is The Outlook For Pneumonia

If you are well enough to be looked after at home, your outlook is very good. Less than 1 person in 100 will die as a result of pneumonia. Those who die tend to be people who are older, or those who also have other health problems.

If you need to be looked after in hospital, the outlook is not quite so good. 5-10 people in 100 admitted with pneumonia to an ordinary ward rather than an intensive care unit may die. Again, these will usually be people who were unwell before they had pneumonia, or the elderly. For people who need to have a tube put into their windpipe to help them breathe, the death rate rises to 1 in 4.

If the pneumonia is very severe, or caused by an aggressive type of germ , such as legionella, you may need to be moved to an intensive care unit in the hospital. In these cases the outlook is much worse. Unfortunately, as many as half of these people may die.

If you are normally well but then develop repeated bouts of pneumonia, it may be the first sign of a problem of your lung or immune system. Some tests of your immune system may be advised if pneumonia happens again for no apparent reason.

What Are The Causes Of Pneumonia

Pneumonia is commonly caused by an infection with a germ. The germ is usually a bacterium or a virus. There are three or four different bacteria that are the most common causes of pneumonia. There is also a well-known group of bacteria that causes pneumonia in about 3 out of 10 cases. They are called atypicals. Other germs such as fungi, yeasts, or protozoa can sometimes also cause pneumonia.

Rarely, non-infective pneumonia is caused by inhaling poisons or chemicals. Many different substances can cause this. They can be in the form of liquids, gases, small particles, dust or fumes.

You may breathe in some bacteria, viruses, or other germs. If you are normally healthy, a small number of germs usually doesn’t matter. They will be trapped in your phlegm and killed by your immune system. Sometimes the germs multiply and cause lung infections. This is more likely to happen if you are already in poor health – for example:

• If you are frail or elderly.
• If you have a chest disease.
• If you have a low immunity to infection. Low immunity can be caused by such things as alcohol dependence, AIDS, or another serious illness.

However, even healthy people sometimes develop pneumonia.

Pneumonia can sometimes develop after an operation, particularly in the region of your head or neck. Having an anaesthetic can increase the risk.

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