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Pleurisy

Pleuritis · Zánět pohrudnice (pleuritida)

What it is

The two pleural sheets inflame and grate with every breath.

Symptoms & signs

  • Sharp chest pain on breathing in
  • shallow breathing
  • cough
  • rub heard on the stethoscope

🚩 Get help if…

  • call 112 / 911 now Sudden sharp chest pain with breathlessness or coughing blood
  • call 112 / 911 now Chest pain with fainting, a fast pulse or blue lips
  • see a doctor soon Fever with pain on breathing and a cough with coloured phlegm
  • see a doctor soon Chest pain on breathing that lasts more than a few days

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • Treat the cause (infection, embolism, autoimmune)
  • NSAIDs
  • analgesia that allows deep breathing

Natural & lifestyle

  • Warm compresses
  • positioning
  • breathing exercises to prevent collapse of lung bases

Emerging & experimental

  • Colchicine for recurrent inflammatory pleurisy

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Turmeric — small studies of inflammation early / small studies
  • Onion and mustard poultices — folk remedies; untested anecdotal / traditional

ICD codes