Will an unstoppable cough lead to pneumonia? Huaxi doctors: Beware of these obvious symptoms!

"Cough, cough ...

Coughing is really annoying! Especially since there are more and more "Yang Kang" around us (like me), the coughing sounds are increasing one after another, and they are so tight that it's uncomfortable to cough up the lungs...

Many people began to worry:

I have been coughing for a long time after taking “Yang Kang”. Will it turn into pneumonia?

What is the "white lung" mentioned online? Is it serious?

Is there any way to “maintain” lung function after the body turns negative?

Coughing and confusion

This time, let’s listen to Dr. Huaxi’s explanation!

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After being infected with the new coronavirus, the "Omicron variant" mainly damages the respiratory mucosa, mainly causing upper respiratory tract infections, and the body's immune cells will gather here to eliminate the virus;

When the immune cells complete their tasks, they will naturally metabolize and die, and together with the cells destroyed by the virus, they will become "garbage" in the body. These secretions from the throat, trachea and bronchi are then excreted from the body through coughing and expectoration.

Therefore, coughing is just a protective mechanism of the human body. Coughing after infection is a common phenomenon in many respiratory viral infections. Generally, there is no need to be too nervous.

It is like a process of cleaning the "battlefield" and repairing the airway. People who recover slowly don't need to worry too much. According to experience, they will generally recover within 14 days.

In case of persistent cough after “Yang Kang”, doctors still recommend that you drink more water, rest more, and avoid fatigue;

When resting at home, you can drink honey water, loquat paste, pear soup, steamed oranges and other dietary therapies. If conditions permit, you can use a humidifier to keep the respiratory tract moist, reduce coughing and promote sputum discharge. You can also take antitussive and expectorant drugs to relieve symptoms.

As for one of the most concerned issues

“Will constant coughing lead to pneumonia?”

The answer is: No!

Coughing itself does not cause pneumonia

Combined with the above analysis and explanation, you can distinguish that cough and pneumonia are completely different concepts;

Cough: It is only a symptom and manifestation of the disease. It may be inflammation of the trachea or bronchus, and there may be many reasons behind it (pneumonia is only one of the reasons);

Pneumonia: refers to the infectious inflammation of the alveoli, distal airways and lung interstitium, which can be caused by infection by bacteria, viruses and other pathogens, and cough is one of its most common clinical manifestations.

If you are still worried, you can also self-diagnose whether you have pneumonia and pay attention to whether the following symptoms appear:

Systemic symptoms: general discomfort, fatigue, headache, anorexia, or muscle and joint pain;

Local symptoms: whether common symptoms of pneumonia such as cough, sputum, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and dyspnea occur;

Other symptoms: Patients may have self-perception of shortness of breath, increased respiratory rate, etc. In addition, family members can observe whether elderly people, children and other family members behave differently from usual, such as mental fatigue, rapid breathing, and purple lips.

If you experience coughing up blood (blood in the sputum), your cough worsens at night (or when you change your body position), you cough up large amounts of yellow purulent sputum, or you develop a fever again, or your original symptoms such as shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and chest pain are significantly aggravated, or your cough lasts for more than 2 weeks, it is recommended that you go to the hospital for treatment.

White lung is a colloquial description of the imaging findings of the lungs.

Normally, the lungs are made up of alveoli, which are filled with air. When a CT or X-ray is performed, the alveoli appear as black areas .

However, if the alveoli become inflamed and infected and are filled with exudate, radiation cannot penetrate them and they will appear as white areas on imaging.

However, not all cases of lung inflammation are called white lung. Generally speaking, lung inflammation is severe, there is more exudate, and the white image area reaches 70%-80%, then it is clinically called white lung.

There are two main causes of white lung: infection of the lungs themselves, or infection in other parts of the body that triggers an inflammatory response in the body.

The people who are more likely to suffer from white lung are mainly the elderly, and patients with many underlying diseases (such as diabetes, hypertension, kidney transplantation, liver transplantation) or some autoimmune diseases.

White lung disease does not occur suddenly. Generally, there will be some warning signals two or three days before the disease occurs, so everyone must pay attention to it.

If you suffer from white lung, you can take medication under the doctor's advice, detect it as early as possible, and receive treatment as early as possible. In most cases, there will be no sequelae!

In addition to "white lung", there are also the following conditions

If you find that these symptoms get worse, you should also seek medical attention as soon as possible.

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Many people still have some symptoms after turning negative, and there are still varying degrees of inflammatory pathological changes in the respiratory tract. Some patients will have varying degrees of fatigue and respiratory dysfunction.

It may manifest as throat discomfort, cough, sputum, shortness of breath after activity, palpitations, respiratory muscle weakness and difficulty breathing.

Therefore, it is recommended that after recovering from the infection, you should pay attention to your living habits and regulate your body in your daily life. On the other hand, you can also improve your lung function through two simple breathing exercises, giving your lungs, which have been under great pressure during the "yang overdose", a SPA.

Daily life conditioning

① Add or remove clothes in time according to temperature changes, and take protective measures to prevent reinfection.

② Eat a balanced diet, eat a variety of foods, drink enough water, and eat a balanced amount of vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, milk, and soy products. Avoid smoking and drinking.

③ Ensure you get enough sleep.

Super simple breathing exercise

① Pursed lip breathing: Inhale slowly for 3 seconds to exert positive pressure on the lungs, then exhale slowly for 6 seconds to exercise the intercostal muscles and alveolar function

② Abdominal breathing method: inhale and let your abdomen bulge, then exhale and let your abdomen concave, which will help exercise the diaphragm function.

Closely monitor changes in symptoms in high-risk groups

Go to the hospital promptly if necessary

I hope everyone can stay healthy and welcome 2023

Image source: Internet

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