Duration | Pleurisy

Duration

The duration of pleurisy (inflammation of the costal pleura) depends strongly on the trigger of the disease. If the cause is bacterial, the disease can heal within a few days if the course of the disease is favorable. If the course of the disease is less favorable, the disease can last for several weeks.

However, if the cause is not an infectious event, the disease can also extend over a longer period of time. If the cause is for example rheumatic genesis, first the basic illness must be treated, so that it can come to an improvement of the pleurisy. Since in pleurisy, fluid can collect between the lungs and diaphragm, a so-called pleural effusion, it can help symptomatically to drain it and thus relieve the surrounding tissue.

This can be particularly helpful for patients who suffer from shortness of breath due to the inflammation. A particularly lengthy form of treatment for pleurisy is chosen when the pathogen is tuberculosis bacteria. Depending on whether it is an open form of tuberculosis, i.e. an infectious form of tuberculosis, or not, the patients are then treated in hospital for a while.

A dry pleurisy usually heals faster than a wet one. Since the basic disease is often an acute event, such as a flu-like infection or a lung disease. Under appropriate therapy, the inflammation disappears with treatment of the underlying disease.

In otherwise healthy persons, dry pleurisy heals after a few weeks, usually without consequences. In the case of a wet pleurisy, the underlying disease is often more difficult or impossible to treat, e.g. autoimmune diseases, lung cancer, heart failure. Even with appropriate therapy, new pleural effusions can form again and again.

Therapy

The treatment of pleurisy is mainly symptomatic. The symptoms can be alleviated with painkillers and cough suppressing juices. If a bacterial inflammation is the cause, antibiotics are administered.

In the case of fungal infestation, mycotics can be given. However, this is rarely the case. If there are cancer cells in the pleural effusion, the pleura can be treated with a chemotherapeutic agent.

In this case, however, the basic therapy is the treatment of the primary tumor. In some cases, it may be necessary to puncture the effusion for therapeutic reasons.This is always useful if the effusion is so large that it displaces the lung on the affected side and breathing no longer functions properly. By draining the effusion, the lung has space in the chest cavity again and can spread.

However, most pleural effusions are relatively small and resorb themselves over time, so there is no need for puncture. Nevertheless, the actual cause must be treated with medication, otherwise the effusion will quickly reoccur. If the pleural effusion is purulent, it may also be advisable to temporarily place a drainage into the pleural space.

In this way the purulent effusion is continuously drained and the inflammation can subside. Such a therapeutic measure is only useful in combination with systemic antibiotics. In any case, patients should take it easy and not engage in strenuous activities or sports until the pleurisy has completely healed.

During sleep, it is recommended that the patient be placed on the healthy side so that the sick side is better ventilated. However, since patients often experience pain and difficulty in breathing, many patients prefer to lie on the sick side in order to get better air. In cases of respiratory distress, oxygen can also be administered via a nasal probe.

The duration of treatment depends on the underlying disease. A flu-like infection with accompanying pleurisy usually only needs to be treated for a few weeks. A malignant disease such as lung cancer requires a lengthy radio-, chemotherapy and possibly surgical measures.

In this case, the development of a recurrence (resurgence of the inflammation) is frequent. Home remedies can be helpful in a mild form of pleurisy inflammation, as they can alleviate the symptoms. One possibility here is to make warm chest compresses.

Another possibility is hay flower therapy. The compresses with the warm, moist hay flowers are applied to the affected area for almost three quarters of an hour. It is important that the hay flowers come from a pharmacy to ensure that there are no impurities or harmful substances on the plants.

The home remedies have a purely symptomatic effect, but not the cause, so if the symptoms do not improve despite the home remedies, you should necessarily consult a doctor to prevent the disease from spreading. Since many patients take a gentle breathing because of the pain, it is important that they start a breathing training at home and breathe deeply despite the pain, so that the less well ventilated lung sections are ventilated and so that pneumonia cannot develop additionally. You can find more information here: Chest wrap