Many chest infections aren't serious and get better within a few days or weeks. You won't usually need to see your GP, unless your symptoms suggest you have a more serious infection. While you recover at home, there are things you can do to improve your symptoms.
If you have a bacterial chest infection, you should start to feel better 24 to 48 hours after starting on antibiotics. You may have a cough for days or weeks. For other types of chest infections, the recovery is more gradual. You may feel weak for some time and need a longer period of bed rest.
you feel confused, disorientated or drowsy. you have chest pain or difficulty breathing. you cough up blood or blood-stained phlegm. your skin or lips develop a blue tinge (cyanosis)
Often viral cases of pneumonia begin as congestion and cough with or without fever in the first few days. When a doctor listens to the lungs and finds breathing sounds are not clear on either side of the chest, a viral cause over bacterial is even more highly suspected.
If your pneumonia isn't treated, the pleura can get swollen, creating a sharp pain when you breathe in. If you don't treat the swelling, the area between the pleura may fill with fluid, which is called a pleural effusion. If the fluid gets infected, it leads to a problem called empyema.
Bronchitis and pneumonia are two lung infections with similar symptoms. In some cases, bronchitis can turn into pneumonia. This occurs when an infection spreads from the airways to the air sacs in the lungs. It is also possible for a person with bronchitis to develop a separate pneumonia infection.
One reason is that the detritus from an infection of the lung is hard to clear. Antibiotics kill the bacteria, but all the weaponry your body produced to fight the bacteria — mucus, essentially, or sputum, as it's called once you cough it up — is left behind.
These symptoms can be unpleasant, but they usually get better on their own in around 7 to 10 days. The cough and mucus can last for up to 3 weeks.
An antibiotic such as amoxicillin is prescribed when pneumonia is suspected. Once pneumonia is diagnosed, it's best to start treatment within four hours. Infection with a germ (bacterial infection) is a common cause and antibiotics kill bacteria. Amoxicillin is usually effective against the most common causes.
Although most chest infections are mild and improve on their own, some cases can be very serious, even life-threatening. A bout of infection of the large airways (bronchi) in the lungs (acute bronchitis) usually gets better on its own within 7-10 days without any medicines.
Lemon and honey- Mix a tablespoon of lemon juice, a tablespoon of honey and a glass of hot water and drink this as a tea. This will help in reducing coughs and loosening the thickness of the mucus. Lemons are an excellent source of vitamin C and are essential in getting rid of mucus-forming bacteria.
A chest infection is an infection of the lungs or airways. The main types of chest infection are bronchitis and pneumonia. Most bronchitis cases are caused by viruses, whereas most pneumonia cases are due to bacteria. These infections are usually spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Shortness of breath or fast, shallow breathing. Bluish tint to lips and/or fingertips. High fever, sweating, shaking chills. Sharp or stabbing chest pain that gets worse when you inhale deeply or cough.
A classic sign of bacterial pneumonia is a cough that produces thick, blood-tinged or yellowish-greenish sputum with pus. Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs.
While symptoms for either bronchitis or pneumonia can range from mild to serious enough to require hospitalization, symptoms such as fever, breathing problems, and chest pain tend to be more severe with pneumonia.
Your doctor will listen to your lungs with a stethoscope. If you have pneumonia, your lungs may make crackling, bubbling, and rumbling sounds when you inhale.
Does coughing up mucus mean you're getting better? In most cases, coughing up mucus means your body is working to fight off an infection, and it is in the healing stages. Drink plenty of fluids to help thin the mucus.
Pneumonia caused by a virus cannot be treated with antibiotics. Viral pneumonia usually goes away on its own.
Yes, while fever is common in pneumonia, it's possible to have pneumonia with a low fever or no fever. This is more likely if you: Are older than 65 or younger than 2 (especially newborns and infants).
HOW LONG DOES A CHESTY COUGH LAST? Like most other coughs, a chesty cough will usually clear up on its own within a couple of weeks. If you've had a cold, it's usually the last symptom to go away. If your cough persists for longer than this or gets worse, please speak to a medical professional.
Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics if the symptoms are severe and include high fever along with nasal drainage and a productive cough. Antibiotics may also be necessary if you feel better after a few days and then your symptoms return or if the infection lasts more than a week.