How do you stop a cold becoming a chest infection?

[SpringIsSprung25]

I don’t even know if it is possible but teen dc has long Covid and keeps getting coughs, colds and chest infections. Last time she ended up in hospital with pleurisy and she could hardly breathe.

She has woken up today with a sore throat and runny nose. Is there anything we can do to prevent it getting to her chest and then getting ill/antibiotics/missing school etc? Thanks.

I'm not sure you can, can you? Interested to know. I thought that sometimes a cold becomes a chest infection, more so in those prone to chest infection, and sometimes it doesnt. Colds are caused by a virus, chest infections are usually bacterial, so the cold would just serve as an entry point for the bacterial infection, I think, rather than it being the same infection but worse?

Of course I may be completely wrong...

Not really sure there's much you can do...

I'd say drink as much liquids as she humanly can. This'll help keep the mucus thin and easy to blow out/cough up regularly. Rather than it getting thick and heavy and sinking to her chest.
Those nasal rinse bottles can be good for when you're really blocked up.

There's also those nasal sprays that will help dry up/thin out nasal mucus, which will help prevent it settling in her chest.

Look up Dr Myhill vitamin c and iodine protocol.
My DD had chronic fatigue after glandular fever in 2014 and needed to rely on that treatment plan until her immune system reset.

Steam and blow nose and try to get the mucus out before it settles on the chest. Cough up in hot steamy shower as much as you can.

I used to get a lot of chest infections (thanks to smoking) but imo getting the mucus out is the only thing that helps

Avoid exertion - no deep breaths.

https://www.bmj.com/content/380/bmj.p278

Dr Myhill was suspended for this!

Oh ok so try to tackle the mucus.

Son and I are long time sufferers of asthma and repeating chest infections. Can’t tell you how many times we ended up in hospital.

we now both take high strength vitamin D every day without fail and it’s insane what a difference that has made! We also clean out our noses with NeilMed saline solution and a bottle twice a day. Gargling with warm salt water also helps.

Both of my children are very prone to colds going to their chests. Several times they have both ended up hospitalised with very bad chest infections. Even though neither has an asthma diagnosis as they show no symptoms when they are well, they both use blue inhalers when they have colds, and brown ones daily as a preventative measure and this has helped so much. The older one was like this from when he was tiny, but the younger one only developed this tendency after he got Covid for the first time aged 5.

I second the neilmed sinus rinse and gargle with TCP for the sore throat. Plenty of hot drinks - orange, lemon, honey and grated root ginger. Vitamin D, C and zinc to fight the infection. Sleep with an extra pillow so that mucus dosn't settle in the lungs. Good luck, I was really ill with flu recently and it was horrible.

Thanks for the tips. We will definitely try some of those.

My youngest takes prophylactic antibiotics throughout winter for exactly this reason.

Definitely worth ensuring vitamin d levels are high enough.