Have you ever tried home remedies for pneumonia? Pneumonia is a serious medical condition that may exist from week to month or longer, you need to visit your doctor to evaluate your condition and prescribe the proper treatment as many people need hospitalization although home remedies for pneumonia are very effective to ease the symptoms and speeds up your recovery, home remedies will never treat or cure pneumonia but they are a complementary therapy.
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung's air sacs (alveoli), that may be in one lung or both.
It is caused by a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection.
In pneumonia lung's air sacs are filled with fluid, pus, mucus that causing uncomfortable and hard symptoms.
Home remedies for pneumonia help in decreasing the uncomfortable sensation of mucus, expelling mucus out also protects you from dehydration.
Common symptoms of pneumonia:
-Cough.
-Shortness of breath.
-Fever.
-Chest pain.
-Chills.
-Fatigue and muscle pain.
-Headache.
In this article, you will learn about home remedies for pneumonia and their effect to manage your symptoms besides your doctor's plan of treatment.
Effective home remedies for pneumonia symptoms:
-Cough:
Cough is the main and hard symptom of pneumonia.
A cough is your body's reflection to get rid of mucus and fluids in your lungs so your doctor may prescribe a cough suppressant before sleep but you shouldn't rely on it.
Natural methods are OK to reduce your cough severity.
1-Peppermint tea:
Peppermint has mucus expectorant effect.
It soothes the throat in patients with upper respiratory tract infections, decreases inflammation, and acts as a Pain killer so it minimizes the severity and pain of coughing.
Vapor from hot peppermint tea is very useful in clearing nasal pathways.
2-Fenugreek tea:
Tea made from fenugreek seeds decreases the severity of the cough.
Also, fenugreek seeds tea helps in increasing sweat that helps in decreasing temperature and managing fever.
3-Eucalyptus tea:
Oils of eucalyptus and tea tree are useful in treating cough but they must be used under control as some cases get worse after using them.
4-Gargling saltwater or water only:
Gargling saltwater or hot water helps in decreasing irritation of your throat and eliminates some mucus and germs giving you some comfort.
5-Honey:
New research proves that honey has an antimicrobial effect so sweating your tea with honey is a good idea to speed up your recovery especially if you use honey with previous types of tea mentioned above you will get dual-action.
Shortness of breath:
Shortness of breath needs medical treatment as your doctor describes medication and inhalers to help you breathe well but in mild cases, home remedies for pneumonia are very good and effective.
6-Drinking cup of coffee:
Coffee contains caffeine that is a bronchodilator like theophylline.
It helps you breathe well by dilating your airways.
Also black or green tea has similar action but less than coffee.
The caffeine action lasts for 4 hours.
7-Inhale warm, damp vapor:
Inhaling the vapor of a warm drink or even the steam from a shower or using a humidifier can help you keep your nose and throat lubricated which helps to breathe well.
8-Using a fan:
Exposure to the cold air from the fan into your mouth and nose for 5 minutes enhances your breathing.
Fever:
Having a fever is very common in pneumonia that ranges from mild to severe.
Home remedies for pneumonia can help in cases of mild fever but severe or persistent needs medical treatment.
9-Using a lukewarm water compress:
You can cool your body from outside by having a lukewarm water bath or applying a lukewarm compress to your forehead and changing it when it becomes hot and repeating until your temperature goes down.
10-Drinking cold beverages:
Keep your body hydrated by drinking cold beverages or eating homemade ice cream to cool your body as fever makes the body lose its fluids and electrolytes causing dehydration.
Chills:
Chills are a secondary symptom of fever so managing fever helps in preventing chills.
11-Warm water:
A cup of warm water can keep you hydrated and warm internally to prevent chills.
Also, warm teas can have the same effect.
Sodas and other unhealthy drinks are very harmful to you.
12-Bowl of soup:
Besides its high nutritional value.
It warms your body from the inside, which helps prevent chills.
Chest pain:
Patients with pneumonia suffer from chest pain.
Chest pain can last for weeks until patients recover so home remedies for pneumonia have great benefit in reducing pain.
13-Turmeric tea:
Turmeric has been used for centuries in South Asia to reduce pain associated with pneumonia.
Turmeric has an anti-inflammatory effect, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.
You can use turmeric in your food or drink tea is very useful to decrease your chest pain.
14-Ginger tea:
Ginger has anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.
Drinking a cup of ginger tea with honey relieves your pain.
15-Healthy food:
Food plays an important role in maintaining the respiratory system healthy, increasing your immunity, and spending up your recovery.
Your food must include the following to prevent the prognosis of infection.
-Whole grains:
Whole grains such as quinoa, oats, and brown rice contain B vitamins that provide your body with energy and keep your body temperature in the normal range.
Also, they contain selenium which increases your immunity.
-Food containing protein:
Nuts, beans, seeds, white meat, salmon, and sardines are food rich in protein.
They have an anti-inflammatory effect, ability to build damaging tissue so they are very important in managing pneumonia symptoms and decreasing its severe symptoms.
-Citrus fruits:
They have vitamin C and antioxidant effects that enhance your immune system to fight against your infection.
Citrus fruits like orange, kiwi, lemon, guava, and berries.
-Green vegetables:
Green vegetables like spinach and lettuce are very useful for human health as they have an antioxidant effect.
-Yogurt:
Yogurt can inhibit pneumonia-causing pathogens through its probiotics.
Tips and natural methods of home remedies for pneumonia:
1-Rest:
Taking a rest is necessary for pneumonia to help your body repair the damage caused by pneumonia and give a chance to your immune system to fight against this infection.
You should have rest until full recovery to avoid relapse of disease.
2-Water:
Plenty of water up to 8 cups per day or liquids is very useful to thin mucus and hydrate your body.
3-Avoid smoking:
Smoking or smoker people can worsen your case.
4-Avoid stress.
Stress weakens your immune system so keep calm as possible.
5-Eating healthy food:
As mentioned above, food has a great role in fighting pneumonia and enhancing your general health.
6-Good hygiene:
Maintaining good hygiene by washing hands regularly and keeping a distance between you and others can decrease your infection rate.
7-Following your doctor:
You should follow your doctor's instructions and prescribed medication even if you feel better.
Home remedies for pneumonia and covid -19:
Covid-19 is a viral infection.
Its main complication is pneumonia.
If you are covid-19 positive you have To be isolated in the hospital or your home.
Home remedies for pneumonia are very important in fighting the covid-19 virus to enhance your immune system response besides your medication.
Summary
Pneumonia is a serious condition that needs medical treatment, further investigation like chest X-ray and some cases need to stay in hospital.
Home remedies for pneumonia aren't magical methods to eliminate pneumonia.
They can’t cure or treat pneumonia. They help in managing symptoms and giving you a comfortable sensation.
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Read about: Home Remedies
Read about: Home Remedies
Read about: Home Remedies
Read about: Home Remedies
Written By: Dr.Walaa Hassan Ebrahim
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