Treatment of pleurisy

Xiali's weight has been decreasing day by day recently. Although it is a good thing for a girl to be thin, it is still heartbreaking if it is always like this. In recent days, she has started to have continuous fever, accompanied by cough and chest pain. Seeing her in pain, I felt indescribable pain. I took her to see a doctor yesterday and he diagnosed her with pleurisy. It was also through this experience of accompanying Xia Li to see the doctor that I gained a deeper understanding of this demon called pleurisy. Let us now learn about the diagnosis and treatment of pleurisy.

Western medicine treatment

1. Antibiotics

A. Anti-tuberculosis drug treatment: suitable for the treatment of tuberculous dry or exudative pleurisy. Isoniazid 300 mg daily, or rifampicin 100 mg daily, or ethambutol 0.75-1 g daily, taken all at once for 3 consecutive months. Streptomycin 0.75-1 gram per day, intramuscular injection, for 1-2 months, alternating with oral medication, total treatment course 6-9 months.

B. Non-tuberculous pleurisy: Appropriate drug treatment should be selected according to the primary disease (such as infection, tumor, etc.).

C. Patients with purulent pleurisy or tuberculous empyema accompanied by infection: 1.6 to 3.2 million units of penicillin C per day, divided into 4 intramuscular injections, and another 807 units can be injected into the chest cavity.

2. Relieve pain

Take aspirin, indomethacin, or codeine by mouth.

3. Thoracentesis

It is suitable for patients with exudative pleurisy with large amounts of pleural effusion, obvious breathing difficulties or effusion that is not absorbed after long-term treatment. The amount of fluid drawn each time should not exceed 1000 ml, 2 to 3 times a week.

4. Hormone therapy

Used in combination with anti-tuberculosis drugs, it has a positive therapeutic effect on eliminating systemic toxic symptoms, promoting absorption of effusion, and preventing pleural thickening and adhesion. Prednisone can be taken orally. When systemic symptoms improve and the effusion is significantly absorbed, the dosage can be gradually reduced and the medication should be used for 4 to 6 weeks.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment

1. Evils attack the chest and lungs: chills and fever, cough with little sputum, stabbing pain in the chest and ribs, bitter taste in the mouth and dry throat, red tongue with thin coating, and stringy and rapid pulse.

Treatment method: Reconcile and clear away heat, regulate Qi and unclog the meridians.

Prescription: 30 grams each of Trichosanthes kirilowii and cattail grass, 15 grams each of Bupleurum chinense and red and white paeonia lactiflora, 10 grams each of Scutellaria baicalensis, Pinellia ternata, Citrus aurantium, Platycodon grandiflorum, and Morus alba bark, and 6 grams of liquorice.

2. Fluid stagnation in the chest and flanks: pain caused by coughing and spitting, difficulty breathing, coughing, wheezing, inability to lie down, white and greasy tongue coating, and deep and stringy pulse.

Treatment method: expel water and eliminate fluid.

Prescription: 30 grams of Stemona bulbus, 15 grams each of Trichosanthes kirilowii and Poria cocos, 11 grams of Lepidium officinale, 10 grams each of Morus alba bark, Perilla frutescens, Tangerine peel, Pinellia ternata, Zanthoxylum bungeanum, Allium macrostemon, and Citrus aurantium, and 6 grams of Licorice root.

3. Phlegm and blood stasis: chest pain, tightness, difficulty breathing, prolonged duration, dark purple tongue, white tongue coating, and stringy pulse.

Treatment method: Resolving phlegm, activating blood circulation, regulating Qi and harmonizing collaterals.

Prescription: 30 grams of coix seed, 15 grams each of trichosanthes, red peony root, and poria, 10 grams each of inula flower, perilla, apricot kernel, pinellia, cyperus, tangerine peel, fructus aurantii, and rhizoma smilacis Glabrae, and 6 grams each of processed milk vetch (wrapped and decocted).

4. Yin deficiency and internal heat: choking cough with little sputum, dry mouth and throat, hot flashes and night sweats, fever in the five parts of the body, red cheeks, emaciation, red tongue with little coating, and thin and rapid pulse.

Treatment method: Nourish yin and clear heat.

Prescription: 15 grams each of Adenophora Root, Ophiopogon japonicus, Polygonatum odoratum, Pollen, Stemona Root, 13 grams of Pseudostellaria baicalensis, 10 grams each of Morus alba bark, Rehmannia glutinosa, Chinese magnolia vine, Bupleurum chinense, Curcuma aromatica, Apricot kernel, and 6 grams of Fritillaria cirrhosa powder (to be taken with water).

For the prescriptions introduced above, please be sure to consult a local regular Chinese medicine hospital and make a choice based on your own physiological characteristics and different pathological changes.

By trying different treatments, Xiali finally recovered from his illness. Looking at the smile on her face, I feel that the whole world is so beautiful. People who eat grains and cereals will get sick sometimes. As long as they cooperate with the doctor's treatment, they will get better soon. Life is the same. There will always be times when things don't go well, just like diseases in the body. As long as you fight against it bravely, the bad things will always pass and your body will get better.