Pneumonia is a serious inflammation of various structures of the lung tissue, which manifests itself either as an independent disease, or as a complication after another infectious pathology. In case of illness, due to oxygen starvation, the patient often has a desire to take a walk in the fresh air. However, one of the factors that affects successful recovery is strict adherence to the daily regimen and the implementation of all the recommendations of the attending physician.

Features of the course of pneumonia

In pneumonia, the inflammatory process involves the lower respiratory tract, including the bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli. With pneumonia, people have symptoms such as severe shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, and weakness.

During pneumonia, the lungs are not able to fully perform their functions. Inflammation interferes with normal gas exchange, and as a result, much less than the normal volume of oxygen begins to enter the body, and carbon dioxide, on the contrary, is less excreted. In this state of affairs, the lung tissue suffers first of all, in which purulent inflammation can begin. Often this leads to even greater damage to the lungs and oxygen starvation of the whole body.

Puffiness and other inflammatory processes negatively affect the heart, which works in an enhanced mode, which is sometimes an unbearable load for a weakened organism. In this state, in addition to the medication course of treatment, the body vitally needs clean and fresh air.

What are the benefits of fresh air for patients with pneumonia

In the first few days, when the acute period of the disease develops, doctors recommend staying in bed, doing wet cleaning twice a day and regularly airing the room. In summer, when the air temperature outside is more than 20 degrees, the window can be left open, but a draft must not be allowed. At lower temperatures outside, the room should be ventilated at least 4 times a day.

The benefits of fresh air for the patient are as follows:

• clean air helps to strengthen the immune system, which is of no small importance at the time of the development of the disease, when all the defenses are thrown into the fight against inflammatory processes;
• oxygen makes the lungs more actively cleansed of pus and disease-causing sputum.

Fresh air also stimulates blood circulation in the lung tissues and in the body as a whole.

When you can’t walk

No matter how much you want to go out to breathe on the street, you should not rush to walks. Experts strongly advise against going outside in case of pneumonia until the body temperature indicators have declined and are not close to normal, as well as while the person feels weak and fatigued. It is also best to stay at home if the weather conditions are less than ideal. Children and adults diagnosed with pneumonia should not walk if:

• it is too cold or too hot outside the window;
• gusts of wind intensify;
• if the patient continues to have a non-productive (dry) cough, he should not go for a walk. Dry air has a negative effect on lung tissue. But walking after the rain or with the falling snow will bring undoubted benefits. Air humidity contributes to the liquefaction of stagnation in the respiratory organs and the further evacuation of pathogenic mucus during coughing.

Also, doctors recommend staying at home for those patients who have a tendency to allergic reactions to poplar fluff, flowering plants and their pollen.

Possible consequences

Pneumonia is a rather dangerous disease. Delay in therapy or failure to follow the recommendations of the attending physician often leads to serious consequences and complications. Many of them leave an imprint not only on the activity of the respiratory system, but also on the work of nearby organs.

As a result of walking during the acute period of the disease, the symptoms of pneumonia often intensify and progress, patients begin to have various complications, and the inflammation takes on an even more severe form.

When to start walking with pneumonia

It is best to start walking at the time of recovery, when the likelihood of getting a complication is minimized. Going outside improves the patient’s mood, well-being and accelerates the elimination of the remaining symptoms of the disease. You can start walking on the balcony, having previously dressed and put on your shoes. The duration of home walks should not exceed 7-10 minutes. Then after 2-3 days, depending on how you feel, you can go outside.

Duration of outdoor walks

It is better to do the first walks allowed by the doctor for a short time – in the region of 10-15 minutes. If a small promenade helps the patient breathe easier and improves well-being, its duration is gradually increased. As the patient’s condition further improves, doctors allow going out in the morning and evening. At the time of rehabilitation, walks should start from 400 m, gradually increasing the distance. Walk slowly and stop to rest. The main thing is that the patient feels after a walk not fatigue, but a charge of vivacity.

Regular access to fresh air should be continued for several months after recovery.

Recommended places for walking

It should be borne in mind that even during rehabilitation, the body of a patient with pneumonia remains very weak. Therefore, in order to prevent re-infection from others, it is necessary to walk in places where there are no people or their number is minimal. If possible, it is better to choose parks, groves or less busy streets for walking.

Features of the walking schedule for young patients

Make sure that your child does not sweat while walking.

The time when a sick child can be taken for a walk outside directly depends on the type of pneumonia and his health. With a severe nature of the development of pneumonia, babies are often at home for at least 3 weeks, they cannot walk. Unlike the severe course of pneumonia with simple focal pneumonia, which has already subsided, the child is allowed to walk. So it saturates the body with oxygen and strengthens its immunity.

Parents should make sure that their child does not sweat outside. For this, babies should not run and jump. The supply of oxygen activates blood circulation in the respiratory tract and moisturizes thickened phlegm. Therefore, the child may have a slightly increased productive sputum production. This is not a reason to urgently take your baby into the house. A moist cough is a good sign.

Long trips should not be made with sick children. They get tired quickly and, as a result, they may have a fever again at night, and other symptoms of the disease can easily recur. Adults with children should prefer quiet games or slow walks. If the baby walks with pneumonia with pleasure, and after returning from a walk, eats with appetite and sleeps soundly, you should not deprive him of the opportunity to walk a little.

Walking in the fresh air with babies is possible only with the permission of the pediatrician. The only thing that parents should take into account on their own is the outdoor temperature and the time spent on the street. If the parents are still afraid to take the baby out into the street, but feel that the child needs oxygen, then it is better to go to the balcony with him for 10 minutes.

Compliance with the doctor’s recommendations during the treatment of pneumonia is a component of a speedy recovery without complications and undesirable consequences. If the doctor does not advise the patient to go outside, you just need to regularly ventilate the room and humidify the air in it.