It is difficult enough to predict what will happen next if shortness of breath and pain in the lungs area appear. Perhaps these are problems with the heart or stomach, or perhaps this is adhesive pleurisy? By the way, this disease can become a provocateur of many other, more serious pathologies that can even lead to death.
What is this disease?
Adhesive pleurisy is an inflammatory process with localization in the pleura, which leads to adhesion of tissues. As a result, they are immobilized. Against the background of the inflammatory process, the volume of the lungs decreases and fluid accumulates in them. As a rule, pathology develops after fibrous or dry pleurisy. However, the disease can occur against the background of tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases.
Development reasons
The disease can occur due to the penetration of pneumococci and staphylococci, tubercle bacillus, fungi, chlamydia and viruses into the body.
There are a number of somatic pathologies provoking the development of the disease:
- injuries in the chest area with an accumulation of blood in it;
- oncological diseases in the upper torso: lung or breast cancer;
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- acute poisoning and physical inactivity.
Also, a number of drugs, in particular antibacterial drugs, immunosuppressants, which are taken in a long course, can provoke an adhesion process in the pleura.
At risk are people with lung diseases, diabetes mellitus, HIV infection and those who have undergone a transplant of internal organs.
How does the disease progress?
Symptoms of adhesive pleurisy are not much different from other forms of pleurisy. The patient is disturbed by a dry periodic cough. There is a slight increase in body temperature, not more than 1.5 degrees, headache. A person feels constant fatigue, quickly gets tired, there is increased sweating, especially at night.
Concerned about the pain in the lateral and lower parts of the chest. Pain can be given to the ribs, neck and abdomen. Adhesive pleurisy on the left is much less common than right-sided. The patient is concerned about shortness of breath, pain in the chest, which intensifies when inhaling and exhaling.
There may be rapid breathing, and when examined with a stethoscope, friction of the pleura sheets is heard. Noise in the lungs can be heard even if you put your ear in, it looks like a creak of snow.
Disease classification
According to the course of the disease, three types are distinguished: acute, subacute and chronic.
Depending on the location of the lesion, pleurisy is divided into:
- diffuse or common;
- limited: basal, parietal, apical, paramediasthenal and interlobar.
Diagnostics
First of all, the doctor collects an anamnesis and complaints, makes a general clinical examination of the patient. Carries out the procedure of percussion and palpation. To clarify the diagnosis, instrumental tests are mandatory:
- radiography;
- spirography;
- pleural puncture;
- CT
- ECG;
- MRI
Laboratory blood tests for biochemistry, OAC and OAM are also performed. The presence of the disease may indicate an increased ESR, or an increased amount of fibrin and sialic acids.
Therapeutic measures
To eliminate the symptoms, treatment of adhesive pleurisy of the lungs should be carried out in compliance with the patient bed rest. The following drugs are the basis of conservative therapy:
- Antibiotics, with the active substance of penicillin, cephalosporin. For example, “Cepefim” and others. Be sure to be prescribed if pleurisy occurs after pneumonia.
- Sulfonamides.
- Desensitizing drugs, provided the allergic origin of the disease.
- Anti-inflammatory drugs.
- Immunostimulants.
- Mucolytic and expectorant drugs - Bromhexine, ACC.
- Glucocorticoids, non-steroidal drugs, if pleurisy occurs against a background of rheumatism or lupus erythematosus (Paracetamol, Dexamethasone and others).
- Tuberculostics, if the pathology appeared due to the presence of tuberculosis (Isoniazid).
- Vitamins
- Local treatment (mustard plasters, a grid of iodine and so on).
If it is not possible to eliminate the symptoms of adhesive pleurisy, then the treatment will be carried out by surgery. In particular, surgery will be required if respiratory failure does not go away, in which case it will be necessary to quickly remove pleural adhesions. Although surgical treatment is not a guarantee that new adhesions will not appear in the future.
Rehabilitation and recovery
After the inflammatory process subsides and there are no contraindications to local therapy, compresses are prescribed, a grid is made with iodine or mustard plasters are applied.
With adhesive pleurisy of the lungs, good treatment results can be achieved with the help of exercise therapy and breathing exercises, which helps prevent the formation of pleural adhesions. Oxygen therapy and diameters, UHF can be prescribed. It is recommended to undergo spa treatment as a restorative therapy.
With timely treatment and compliance with all the doctor's recommendations, the disease can be cured in up to three weeks. However, this rule does not apply to adhesive pleurisy, which arose against the background of tuberculosis. In this case, there is a very big risk that there will often be relapses, and treatment may take months.
As a supportive therapy, treatment with folk remedies is allowed.
Exercise therapy
To maintain the ability to work and the functions of the respiratory apparatus, patients with pleurisy are recommended therapeutic exercises. Exercises can enhance blood circulation in the pleura, the exudate will be absorbed faster, therefore, commissures will not form. If there are already weak adhesions, then under the influence of physical exertion they will dissolve.
Exercise therapy is indicated for the initial period of recovery. Even if pain is still preserved, this is not a contraindication to conducting gymnastics.
The simplest exercise that you can perform at home is to stand up, legs shoulder-width apart, and take inspirations to the left and right. On exhalation, return to the starting position. You can do classic squats with hands in front of you.
The doctor may recommend a course of therapeutic massage. It should also be remembered that daily walks should be made during the rehabilitation process.
What does alternative therapy offer?
Naturally, before using recipes for alternative medicine, it is better to consult a doctor.
Most often, a mixture of the following herbs is used:
- sage leaves;
- pine buds;
- liquorice root.
All components are folded in the same proportion, 1 tablespoon of the mixture is designed for a glass of boiling water, placed in a thermos and insisted for five hours. After that, take one tablespoon every three hours.
Another recipe that allows you to quickly eliminate the symptoms of adhesive pleurisy: fennel (2 tablespoons) is filled with hot water (200-250 ml) and placed in a water bath. Boil over low heat for 20 minutes. Use a healing infusion should be two tablespoons, before each meal.
You can prepare a composition of horseradish root (75 grams) and 3 medium-sized lemons. Horseradish is crushed, and juice is squeezed out of lemons. The components are mixed. Take the medicine once a day, be sure to eat half a teaspoon before meals.
It is very important that onion and garlic are present in the diet during treatment, which will quickly get rid of harmful microorganisms.
Compresses
Good results can be achieved if, in parallel with the complex treatment, warm compresses are made. In particular, you can mix mustard powder (2 teaspoons) with honey (1 teaspoon) and dilute them in 2.5 cups of water, mix thoroughly. Soak a towel in the resulting composition and put on the chest, wrap the patient and let him lie down with a compress for 20 minutes. The procedure is best done before bedtime, or not let him get out of bed for one hour.
You can rub olive oil or pine essential oil into the chest area. You can also mix lavender and camphor oil in a ratio of 1: 2. After that, moisten gauze in a mixture of oils and apply to the chest, wrap with a tight bandage.
It is best to do procedures with compresses before bedtime.
Preventative measures
In order to prevent the development of adhesive pleurisy on the right or on the left, it is necessary to treat respiratory diseases in a timely manner. It is these diseases that most often provoke inflammatory processes in the pleura. If there is even the slightest suspicion or pain in the chest, an urgent need to undergo a fluorographic examination.
If too often respiratory diseases appear, it is necessary to undergo an examination of the body, change the climate or go to a spa treatment in order to increase the defenses. For problems with the respiratory tract, it is better to quit smoking.
If, nevertheless, the disease appears, a course of treatment for adhesive pleurisy has been completed, then after 4-6 months it is necessary to undergo a lung examination, then an X-ray examination is recommended for two years.