Pneumonia (inflammation of the lung tissue) is a dangerous lung disease. Therefore, the treatment of this ailment should be taken in all seriousness. When it comes to residual effects after pneumonia, then this term means a violation of various functions of the human body after a disease. If this is not given proper attention, then such residual effects can lead to undesirable consequences.
Causes of Residual Phenomena
During pneumonia, a certain secret accumulates in the alveoli of the lung. Due to the resulting adhesions, the following occurs:
- narrowing of the lumen of the alveoli;
- gas exchange blocking;
- respiratory failure.
The lungs are the organ that should enrich the blood circulating through the vessels with oxygen. The place where this process takes place is the alveoli. Outwardly, they look like balls, in which a huge number of small blood vessels are located. Pneumonia affects the lung tissue, this also applies to the alveoli. The disease violates the respiratory function of the organ.
The transferred disease reduces immunity, the body's defenses are weakened, and this often becomes the reason for the attachment of secondary infections. Therefore, most often, the causes of residual phenomena after pneumonia are:
- strong effects on the body of viruses;
- the presence of a chronic inflammatory process;
- disturbances in the immune system, low immunity.
After suffering pneumonia, immunodeficiency often leads to the development of various diseases of the throat, nose, and bronchi. A person may have a sore throat, cough, the cause of which may be bronchitis or laryngitis, runny nose. If a patient who has recently had pneumonia gets the flu, then the disease, as a rule, is more severe.
It’s very difficult for an organism weakened by pneumonia to fight the foreign viruses that attack it. Quite often, the causative agent of the lungs and bronchi becomes the pathogen, which is called pneumococcus. This virus is transmitted through the air, and to protect yourself from it is very difficult. According to statistics, the most common ailment after suffering pneumonia is bronchitis. Cough with such bronchitis is lingering and difficult to treat.
Symptoms of pathology
How to determine that pneumonia is defeated if the patient continues to cough? To do this, you need to take an X-ray of the lungs. Sometimes the residual effects after pneumonia on an X-ray are observed as slight dimming on the lungs. They can be clearly seen on the film.
After a person has suffered inflammation of the respiratory organ, the following can appear on his tissues:
- adhesions of different sizes;
- scarring;
- pleurisy;
- endocarditis;
- pleurisy.
Microbes that are in the bloodstream prevent blood from circulating normally in the lungs. To get rid of residual changes after a recent illness, the patient is prescribed additional treatment, and rehabilitation in a special sanatorium is also recommended.
The consequences after pneumonia
Since the lungs and heart work in close contact with each other, quite often lung disease leads to malfunctioning of the heart. Infection, moving along the bloodstream, enters the heart organ and causes an inflammatory process in it, thereby disrupting its function. This leads to the appearance of endocarditis. With this disease, the heart membrane is affected and blood circulation is disturbed.
Respiratory tract
When a person develops pneumonia, other organs associated with the respiratory system are sometimes also involved in the inflammatory process. It can be the bronchi and pleural membrane. How they will be affected depends on how difficult the inflammatory process in the lungs is and where the focus of inflammation is located. The most difficult doctors consider lobar pneumonia, which captures all the lungs, pleura and most of the bronchi.
To eliminate the inflammatory process in the lungs, antibiotic therapy is prescribed. The treatment process is easy to control with x-rays. But bronchitis as a residual phenomenon of pneumonia in the picture can not be noticed. This happens when the doctor does not have the proper experience or poor quality x-ray equipment .
Sometimes inflammation of the pleura and different parts of the bronchi pass independently, and sometimes the disease is delayed for a long time. The reason for this may be the early termination of antibiotic therapy. Such a phenomenon can lead to the fact that the tissues of the bronchial tree or pleura are replaced by connective tissues. Such a pathology causes a decrease in respiratory function. Completely remove it is almost impossible.
The fact that the antibiotic therapy is completed, and the inflammatory process continues, is indicated by the following facts:
- persistent cough;
- body temperature does not normalize;
- the presence of pain in different places of the chest.
You can see the residual effects after pneumonia on x-rays. To prevent them, treatment with antibacterial drugs should last from 10 to 14 days and no less. In addition to anti-inflammatory drugs, the patient should also take expectorant drugs.
Asthenic syndrome
Under this term are symptoms that are popularly called a general breakdown. Asthenic syndrome is manifested in the following:
- it is difficult for a person to cope even with the smallest load;
- even mental work is given with great difficulty;
- in the daytime, rapid fatigue appears;
- even in the morning, immediately after sleep, a person feels tired.
To quickly get rid of asthenic syndrome, doctors recommend the following:
- after the end of antibiotic therapy, take vitamin complexes;
- the patient’s food should contain as many vegetables, fruits and protein foods as possible;
- Walking in the fresh air is very useful for a recovering person, only they should be moderate and not too tiring;
- it should be postponed to work, even if it does not require the use of physical effort, physical activity must be increased gradually and a gentle regimen must be observed for at least a week after the end of the acute period of the disease.
Dysbacteriosis
The residual effects after pneumonia in both children and adults can manifest themselves in violation of the normal intestinal microflora. Also, such a pathology can be caused by a side effect of strong antibiotics. Dysbacteriosis has the following symptoms:
- stools of liquid consistency, but there are no pathological impurities;
- discomfort in the intestines;
- swollen belly;
- frequent burping, nausea, and vomiting rarely.
To prevent dysbacteriosis, it is necessary, taking antibiotics, to simultaneously use drugs belonging to the group of prebiotics or probiotics. The composition of prebiotics includes various nutrients that stimulate the patient's own intestinal microflora. Probiotics are beneficial lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, which, getting into the human intestines, displace pathogenic microflora from it.
If prevention was not done in a timely manner and dysbiosis developed, then these drugs are used to treat it. You should know that it will not be possible to quickly cure the pathology, this is a rather time-consuming and lengthy process.
Immunodeficiency
A person with pneumonia often has the so-called secondary immunodeficiency. It is characterized by an increase in susceptibility to various infections. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended:
- Do not overload yourself physically;
- do not supercool;
- eat fully;
- take multivitamins.
How to treat
The residual effects after pneumonia will disappear quickly and easily, if the treatment of this disease was carried out correctly and during rehabilitation the patient paid due attention to his health.
As pneumonia itself, as well as drugs used to treat it, affect the body negatively. Exhausting cough, constant temperature, antibiotics and other medications deplete the patient’s immune system. Therefore, in order to fully recover from the disease, doctors recommend that you follow some rules.
It is necessary to dress according to the weather, avoiding even the slightest hypothermia. Due to the fact that the immune system after a previous illness is weakened, cold can cause a new disease. But this does not mean that you need to abandon walking in the fresh air. Such walks are very useful, as they improve lung function, prepare the heart for full stress after the final recovery. It should only be borne in mind that walks should not be tiring.
After the disease should eat right. No special diet is needed, but the food should be healthy, with lots of vitamins. In the daily diet, you need to include a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits, reduce the amount of fat, meat dishes are recommended to be steamed.
It should not be very overworked at work, as this can worsen the general state of health. It is also necessary to avoid various stressful situations.
Breathing exercises
This method of recovery from illness helps to establish gas exchange and reduces damage to the walls of the bronchi. Some recommended exercises:
- swings in different directions;
- Squats
- reading aloud, speaking tongue twisters.
Massage rehabilitation
The effect of this procedure on the body, weakened by the disease, is difficult to overestimate. Thanks to massage, the following occurs:
- blood and lymph circulation improves;
- commissures in the lungs decrease;
- chest mobility is restored;
- significantly improves overall health.
Folk methods
If a person is interested in how to treat the residual effects of pneumonia, then in addition to what has already been said, one can also advise using traditional medicine methods. After the patient has had pneumonia, a cough may follow him for another 1-2 months. The reason for this is sputum, which remained in the lungs after the disease.
In this case, grandmother's recipes may come in handy. They can be used as auxiliary methods. Tinctures and decoctions of medicinal herbs are used both inside and for inhalation and rubbing. Treatment with alternative methods helps to significantly reduce the time of rehabilitation.
But if the cough is strong and does not go away for a long time, then it is best to seek help from a doctor. The specialist will determine how dangerous the residual effects of pneumonia are on an X-ray.
Complications after an illness
It sometimes happens that complications can be more dangerous than pneumonia itself. Therefore, it is very important to detect a complication as early as possible.
There are two types of complications - those that are localized in the lungs, and those that are outside the lungs.
Pulmonary:
- lung abscess
- pleurisy;
- respiratory failure;
- Chronical bronchitis;
- the appearance of an asthmatic element.
Extrapulmonary:
- myocarditis;
- pericarditis;
- hepatitis;
- meningitis.
Hospitalization
Pneumonia is a fairly serious disease, and most often it is treated in a medical facility. Some patients ask the question: will they be prescribed for residual pneumonia? The length of stay in the hospital depends on the degree of the disease and how effective the chosen treatment is.
Often, 3-4 days are enough for the successful treatment of this ailment. But there are times when the patient is still left in the hospital to monitor his condition. In complicated forms, the length of hospital stay can be up to 10 days. If the disease passes in a mild form, then the patient is discharged home after several days, where he must continue treatment on his own. At elevated body temperature, the patient must observe bed rest. Also, while at home, the patient should follow all the recommendations of doctors.