How to Treat Pneumonia

Pneumonia is a broad term used to describe any extensive inflammation of the lung. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, or inhalation of poisons or other foreign particles. In the United States, about 2 million people develop pneumonia each year.

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Analgesics
• Expectorants
• Oral Antibiotics

1. See your doctor. Go to your local emergency room if your doctor is unavailable, if you have a high fever accompanied by a cough that brings up colored sputum, or if you have difficulty breathing.

2. Receive anti-pneumonia medication, either oral or intravenous.

3. Drink plenty of fluids. This aids the immune system and helps loosen lung congestion.

4. Take analgesics for pain. Your chest muscles may become sore from coughing and the added effort of breathing, and your body will feel achy from fighting infection. Ask your doctor what analgesic is right for you. For severe pneumonia, your doctor may prescribe codeine, but take it as sparingly as possible. Codeine suppresses coughing, and coughing is beneficial to the lungs.

5. Rest. If you have pneumonia, get at least eight hours of sleep each night, and take a midday catnap.

6. Cough and breathe deeply. Expand your lungs and help them heal by taking deep breaths through your mouth, holding the air in for 5 to 10 seconds and exhaling forcefully.

7. Take an expectorant, like guaifenesin, to bring up sputum. However, studies offer no conclusive proof that expectorants speed up recovery from pneumonia.

Tips & Warnings

• Bacterial pneumonia drugs are usually antibiotics such as penicillin, cephalosporins and clarithromycin. Viral pneumonia associated with AIDS is treated with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole.
• Pneumonia is a serious illness. Each year, 40,000 to 70,000 Americans die from the disease. See your doctor for prolonged cough, soreness when breathing, rust-colored, brown, green or yellow sputum, or prolonged fever.
• If you have any questions or concerns about your health, contact a physician or other health care professional. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.

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on 10/25/2009 Treat a persistent cough accompanied by yellowish sputum by soaking yourself for an extra hour
in plain warm water. Pneumonia's secret, that makes it so deadly, is that it makes a toxin which numbs the area and effectively hides its location. The soaking treatment brings an immediate change in the effectivness of the cough, and a productive result and a complete effect is enjoyed. This treatment needs wider publication, and I have found it effective myself. Thank you.

on 8/8/2006 If you have all of of the symptoms outlined here, then be left in no doubt you have pneumonia. You need to go straight to your nearest emergency department and present your symptoms to the medical staff. They can see pneumonia on an X-Ray, so they will be quick to confirm the illness. I am in Ireland and doctors here commonly put it down to a bad chest infection. Be warned!

on 2/21/2006 Have someone pound on your back, right between the shoulders, to loosen the mucus and then cough. Continue doing this till your lungs are clear.