Pneumonia – Natural Remedies

Pneumonia can sneak up on you when you have a simple cold and the air sacs in one or both lungs get inflamed by an infection caused by bacteria or virus and sometimes fungi or other germs.

Symptoms can be mild like a cold or severe such as not being able to breath, fever, chest pain and severe fatigue. Some people can get very confused and that may be the first sign. Fever is not always a sure sign since a low temperature may occur with pneumonia as well. Once you have pneumonia and those lungs are inflamed, you can be more likely to get pneumonia again. This can happen with adults or children and you may have heard someone say everything goes to their chest.

If you think you or a loved one may be developing, has the signs or could have pneumonia, there is not a substitute to a good stethoscope listen to the chest by a trained ear and an x-ray.

Pneumonia will not just go away.  It will get worse and the patient needs to be watched, cared for and given appropriate treatment.  Now the most common treatment is antibiotics and is appropriate for bacterial infections.  A well trained physician can often tell the difference between viral and bacterial pneumonia by symptoms, however an x-ray, blood work and even a culture of the discharge can help with accuracy too. While antibiotics can help, they are often not enough alone and sometimes they just plain fail or don’t do enough.  They also do a number on our gut microbiome so we are always seeking to protect our gut lining if we absolutely must take antibiotics.  Saccromyces boulardii is the best way to do this.  Again, antibiotics have their place and can be effective, however the appropriate dose must be given, then you must take your full script even if you feel better to prevent mutations or superbugs and we must do our part for the immune system to adequately respond.

There are many things we can do to help support our immune system if we suspect our lungs are challenged or if we have pneumonia.

Being especially nice to the digestive system with soft cooked foods that are easy to digest such as a soup with ginger, yellow squash, green beans and zucchini. This will help with nutrients and getting fluids in to help with transport of immune cells to where they need to be and toxins getting out. High vitamin A foods are really helpful and that would include your orange and yellow vegetables. Cooked food is going to be easier than raw and certainly avoid sugar and dairy which will cause more mucus and inflammation. You can also supplement with Vitamin A as directed by your physician.

Fresh air is key, both outdoor air and a good air filter allowing the viral or bacterial particles to be diluted and not re-inhaled.  No stuffy rooms.

Keep the body warm so it can focus on immune function and detox instead of temperature regulation.

I have used some hydrotherapy with all pneumonia patients to help increase the flow of blood into the lungs and then to eliminate by larger organs. The key is not to get chilled. If a family member can help facilitate this for a pneumonia patient, we see them improve greatly since we are able to get medicine and nutrients into the lungs and the trash out!

Alternate hot and cold hydrotherapy has been used since the 17^th century and many versions were used during the tubercular era so we know how pertinent it can be to help cleanse the lungs.

Three rules of contract hot and cold therapy:

Use a small hand towel and soak it in a bowl of ice water. Rinse a second hand towel in hot water.  You may need heavy duty dish gloves to withstand the hot water and to get it hot enough. Wring out the towel well.  Have the family member with pneumonia lie on his stomach. Lay the hot towel on the person’s back. It will likely feel good.  This is encouraging blood flow to the surface and the skin may get red but avoid burning the person.

Cover with a wool blanket preferred but a heavy cotton blanket can work as well. Let it stay on for 6 minutes. Prep the ice cold towel by wringing it out. Pull the hot towel (now warm) off the person’s back and replace it with the cold towel. This will cause a big inhale and perhaps a yelp. Some treatment protocols have you slap the ice cold towel on. Do cover them and ensure the room is not drafty. Leave on for 3 minutes.

This allows the body to respond by sending blood to warm the skin and creates more blood flow in the area then normal.  After 3 minutes, repeat with the hot towel again and so forth for 3 cycles.  After the last ice cold towel, dry the person’s back and allow them to sleep if desire

There are many tools to deal with pneumonia or respiratory infections and natural tools are really gold when treating them.  We discussed some simple basic treatments today and we barely scratched the surface of what you can do at home.  The focus should be on gentle nutrition for the digestive system, supporting the immune system pertinent to the person’s immune stamina, high Vitamin A foods, antimicrobial or anti-viral treatment dependent on the form of pneumonia and stimulating good air and elimination pathways for the extra toxicity created by the infection.

Please note pneumonia is a serious condition and you must be under the direct care of your physician including a follow up chest x-ray to make sure your pneumonia has resolved without consequences.