Hot drinks
Drinking something warm may provide a double benefit—helping from both inside and out! Inhaling the steam from the cup or bowl can help thin mucus for easier removal, plus once ingested, fluids will help keep you hydrated to keep secretions thin as you fight the infection.
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.
The main types of chest infection are bronchitis and pneumonia. Most bronchitis cases are caused by viruses. Most pneumonia cases are due to bacteria. These infections are usually spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
These symptoms can be unpleasant, but they usually get better on their own in about 7 to 10 days. The cough and mucus can last up to 3 weeks.
Fruit and vegetables have vitamins and minerals that support your immune system to help you fight off chest infections. Starchy carbohydrates give your body energy for breathing and everyday tasks. Choose high fibre or wholegrain versions, such as brown pasta and rice or wholemeal bread.
The symptoms of viral and bacterial chest infections are similar but the colour of any mucus coughed up may indicate the cause; white or clear mucus usually indicates a viral infection whereas green or yellow mucus suggests that the infection is bacterial.
Water and other liquids can loosen your congestion by helping your mucus move. Try sipping liquids, like juice, clear broths, and soup. Other good liquid choices include decaffeinated tea, warm fruit juice, and lemon water. Your drinks shouldn't be the only thing that's warm.
What dissolves mucus in the lungs? Expectorants such as guaifenesin (Mucinex, Robitussin) can loosen mucus so that it comes out of the throat and chest.
You may be able to treat acute bronchitis on your own without medical treatment. In many causes, acute bronchitis is caused by a viral or bacterial infection symptoms improve within a few weeks.
Contrary to the name, most 'chest infections' are in fact VIRAL BRONCHITIS - so will not respond to antibiotics. (Antibiotics are active against bacterial infections). These are part of the normal course of the illness, not a sign that it has 'gone to your chest'.
Vicks products cannot cure the cold or flu, but they can help relieve chest congestion symptoms so you can feel better while your body heals from the cold or flu virus. When you have chest congestion symptoms, the mucus build-up in your lungs can become very thick and dense.
Salt water gargle- Gargling with warm salt water helps remove mucus from the respiratory tract. Inhaling steam- Pour hot water into a bowl, then bend over the bowl with a towel over vyour head. Inhaling the steam and vapors from the bowl will help in loosening phlegm.
Green Tea: Green tea has numerous health benefits and it is even beneficial to cleanse your lungs. It is packed with antioxidants that may help to reduce inflammation in the lungs. Have a cup of green tea every-day with a dash ginger, lemon or honey.
Tomatoes are the richest source of lycopene, which is linked to lung health. Eating tomatoes and tomato products like tomato juice can improve airway inflammation if you have asthma and may lower your chance of death if you have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
However, if you have other respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis or pneumonia with COVID-19, you may have a wet cough that contains mucus. 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.
your symptoms are not improving. you feel confused, disorientated or drowsy. you have chest pain or difficulty breathing. you cough up blood or blood-stained phlegm.
feeling generally unwell. sweating and shivering. loss of appetite. chest pain – which gets worse when breathing or coughing.
Amoxycillin, or alternatively erythromycin, will usually be suitable. In any patient, of any age, with a lower respiratory infection, the presence of new focal chest signs should be treated as pneumonia and antibiotic therapy should not be delayed.