Therapy with the elements of nature has long been used in all nations. Sand treatment and various inhalations can improve the condition after any inflammation, including after pneumonia - pneumonia.
Physiotherapy for pneumonia is suitable for both children and adults. Moreover, it is not necessary to go to expensive hospitals for rehabilitation therapy, it can also be carried out at home.
The Origins of Physiotherapy
This therapy originated a very long time ago, the exact date cannot even be established. It is customary to distinguish 3 periods during which there were discoveries in the field of physiotherapy.
- 1 period. From III millennium BC - I millennium AD. During this period of human history, people intuitively applied all the factors of physical reality to improve he alth. No special techniques were used.
- Somewhere from the 1st millennium AD to the end of the 17th century, there was a period of experimentation and medical research based on observation of patients. In this era, for the first time, reasonedtechniques and methods of treatment with the help of mineral waters and mud. There is evidence that Avicenna prescribed to his patients such a procedure as sand treatment. This procedure is again popular in our time. People were also treated with electric fish and hirudotherapy.
- The third period in the development of the science of the healing power of physical phenomena can be considered the middle of the 18th century. At this time, physics was actively developing. Experiments were carried out with direct current. Then, thanks to the development of technology and electrics, electrophoresis, EHF-therapy, magnetotherapy and many other methods of treatment appeared.
Which methods of physiotherapy for pneumonia are most effective and which of them are allowed to be used by children? We will try to analyze all the nuances of these issues.
Basic physiotherapy techniques
Physiotherapy for pneumonia is used as an additional treatment. Such treatment helps to reduce the burden on the liver and heart, since not all people easily tolerate antibiotics.
When can physical therapy be used? Immediately after removing the high temperature and eliminating suppuration, if any. Requires drug electrophoresis. UHF therapy is often carried out, and after discharge, radiation should be carried out on the area of the inflammation focus for some time.
Also used depending on the characteristics of the patient's condition:
- ozokeritotherapy;
- ionogalvanization - course 10-12 sessions;
- diathermy;
- paraffin applications,mustard plasters.
In cases where concomitant diseases are observed, such as tonsillitis, sinusitis or otitis media, especially for children, additional methods of physiotherapy are carried out. These include aromatherapy, oil inhalation, speleotherapy - treatment by exhaling specific cave air, and other methods.
Tasks of physiotherapy for inflammation
Physiotherapy for pneumonia is prescribed by the attending physician. It determines the number of procedures, duration. A patient without these methods will suffer longer from coughing fits, harder to recover.
What does the use of physiotherapy give to the patient?
- The body's immune defense is strengthened, this is especially important after a course of strong antibiotics.
- Improves circulation.
- Fastener sputum discharge with a cough that continues long after the acute period.
- Procedures provide anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.
The use of various methods of non-drug therapy reduces the risk of complications. Shown primarily to those who are prone to allergic reactions to drugs.
Physiotherapy for Acute Pneumonia
In an acute process, when the patient is suffocating, it is not allowed to carry out physiotherapeutic procedures. However, when the temperature has been brought down to 37 ° C in 3-4 days, the person feels a little better, and there are no special contraindications, the doctor may prescribe one of the following procedures:
- Inhalation of bronchodilators. It is carried out either with a nebulizer, orusing an ultrasonic inhaler. With the help of these funds, the necessary medicines get inside.
- UHF therapy directly on the focus of inflammation. First, a small power is given - 30-40 W, then it can be gradually increased. The duration of the procedure for the first time is about 5 minutes. In total, 3-5 procedures are enough to improve the general condition, relieve inflammation and pain. Indeed, in difficult cases, it is painful for the patient to breathe.
- Antibiotic interstitial electrophoresis. The procedure significantly improves the blood supply to the lungs and metabolism.
- UVR projection of the inflammatory focus. The course is only 5 days.
Physiotherapy for pneumonia in adults not only helps to improve well-being, make breathing easier, but is also the best treatment for those who have heart failure or kidney problems. In such cases, taking antibiotics can be dangerous.
When the acute period has passed, you can use other methods of physiotherapy for pneumonia: inductothermy, laser therapy, magnetic therapy.
Contraindications
Like every type of medical therapy, non-drug effects on the body has its own contraindications. Each patient needs a special approach.
Who is prohibited from physiotherapy for pneumonia? Contraindications:
- emphysema;
- new growths;
- pneumothorax;
- heart failure stage 1 or 2;
- temperature 38 °C and above;
- impaired hematopoietic function;
- severe stages of nervous disorders;
- purulentprocesses.
Extremely rare, but it happens that a patient has an individual intolerance to some physiotherapy method. Then it is necessary either to completely stop such therapy until the restoration of strength and he alth, or replace the prescribed procedure with a more gentle one.
Galvanization for pneumonia
What is galvanization and how is it used to treat pneumonia? During electrophoresis (or galvanization), a direct current of low strength acts on the focus of inflammation. The therapeutic effect is due to the improvement of metabolic processes in the tissues of the lung due to the redistribution of ions in the cells of the lung.
If procedures with a dominant cathode are used, the effects will be as follows: improved metabolism, stimulation of biologically active substances, relaxation. But if a positive charge dominates - the anode, the effects are different: reduction of inflammation, sedation, removal of excess fluid. It is the anode charge that is used to treat pneumonia.
An electrophoresis course can last up to 30 minutes. The number of procedures is from 5 with a mild course, up to 20. The current strength is initially small, but increases with each procedure. For each patient, the physiotherapist selects the desired current strength, since each has its own sensitivity. It happens that the patient absolutely does not tolerate the effects of current. Electrophoresis in such cases is immediately canceled.
Which treatments are suitable for children?
Physiotherapy for pneumonia in children is different. Some methods that are suitable for adults are prohibited for children, or have a lowerduration.
Children allowed:
- quartzing;
- do breathing exercises;
- conventional electrophoresis;
- chest massage;
- thermal treatments after the acute stage is over;
- exercise.
Children from the age of 12 are allowed to carry out inductophoresis. What is the procedure? This is the application of inductothermy to the area between the shoulder blades, which alternates with electrophoresis with drugs. Inductophoresis is allowed to be used by teenagers no longer than 6-8 minutes.
Treatment of very young children
What physiotherapy is prescribed for pneumonia in young children? Children under one year old cannot be prescribed any other procedure, except for therapeutic massage, it is possible with honey. And some thermal effects on the chest are also allowed.
For a child of this age, massage is very important. He needs more bronchial stimulation to get the phlegm out of his lungs.
How to do treatments at home?
At home, they are treated for about a month after being discharged from the hospital, if there was a bacterial, severe pneumonia with a heart complication. But when the inflammation is focal, the temperature is not too high and the person has no problems with immunity, they do not put him in a hospital, but prescribe antibiotics and physiotherapy at home. It’s great if the patient has an inhaler-nebulizer or an ultraviolet lamp at home. But if not, ordinary mustard plasters and cans will do. Yet, for nowthere is a temperature, and one more day after its decline, these methods cannot be applied.
Young, he althy, immune-strength people sometimes don't get any special treatment after suffering mild pneumonia. However, vitamins and general strengthening massage are a great way to support your immunity after a course of antibiotics.
Physiotherapy after pneumonia in children can last up to six months. In any case, it is advisable to carry out preventive aromatherapy from time to time for another 3 months. Essential oils, by the way, can kill bacteria in the air. The recovery period is very important. The body is weak after severe inflammation, and the child must also be protected from hypothermia and colds.
So, physiotherapy for pneumonia can be carried out outside the hospital walls. This is especially true for epileptics with frequent seizures who need personal care.
Recovery period
After a patient with pneumonia has practically recovered and the recovery period is already underway, he can be used massages that improve lung drainage, physiotherapy exercises and more. Be sure the doctor reminds you that you need to do breathing exercises for a long period of time, use aromatherapy at home using essential oils of eucalyptus or pine. It is useful to use honey for medicinal purposes, folk medicines with ginger or aloe.
Treatment will last longer without physical therapy. With pneumonia inchildren at home use such a tool as propolis - an important product of beekeeping. Propolis is a natural antibiotic and does not lead to allergies.
