What Are the Best Ways to Treat Pneumonia?
Pneumonia is a common type of lung infection that your senior might encounter.
Reducing exposure to pneumonia is easier when you and your elderly family member practice good hand-washing hygiene and avoid other people who are sick. You may also want to talk to your senior’s doctor about whether she should get the pneumonia vaccine. This vaccine, like the flu vaccine, can help her to avoid getting sick with pneumonia.
Home Care Services in Fairhope AL: Treating Pneumonia
Rest and Hydration
Your senior mostly needs rest when she’s recovering from pneumonia. Her body is working really hard already to try to kill off the infection, so rest is going to allow it to continue to do its work. Hydration is also important. It helps to thin the fluids and the mucus in her lungs, which may help her to cough some of those fluids up.
Antibiotics, if the Pneumonia Is Bacterial
Viral pneumonia doesn’t respond to antibiotics, but bacterial pneumonia can respond very quickly to these medications. Your senior’s doctor may perform a culture test on some of her mucus to determine whether antibiotics should be prescribed for her. Your senior’s doctor may prescribe a gentle antibiotic at first in hopes that’s enough to cure the infection.
Cough Medicines
Her doctor may also prescribe or suggest cough medication. The cough medicines that her doctor recommends may include ingredients called expectorants. That means that the cough medicine will help to make the coughing less severe but will help her body to make those coughs productive so that she can expel some of the fluid. If your elderly family member isn’t coughing a lot, she may not need any cough medicine at all. It’s actually not uncommon at all for people with pneumonia to not have a severe cough.
Over-the-counter Pain Medications
If your elderly family member has a lot of pain or a fever, her doctor may recommend that she takes an over-the-counter pain medication like acetaminophen or ibuprofen. These medications may not play well with other medications she takes, however, so that recommendation depends on what else she has been prescribed for other health issues.
It’s imperative that your elderly family member is able to rest and heal as she recovers from pneumonia. Elderly care providers can be a huge help with this goal because they can take over the cooking and other tasks. If your senior is having trouble with personal care tasks, like showering, they can help with that too until she’s recovered more fully.
If you or someone you know needs Home Care Services in Fairhope, AL, please contact the friendly caregivers at Hughes Home Care. We provide quality and affordable care for your elderly loved ones in our community. Call Us Today at 251-517-9901. Serving Mobile & Baldwin County.
He has three teenage children and are actively involved in their church and community – James coach’s youth football, basketball and baseball and serves at 3 Circle Church. He is a member of the Fairhope Youth Football Board and the Rock Creek POA Board.
It is his passion and commitment to providing quality and responsive service that has made their company the fastest growing home care agency in South Alabama.
He believes that being an independently owned and operated company gives him the flexibility to manage his business in a way that better serves their clients.
He understands that you have a choice of care providers and he will do his utmost to earn your trust.
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