Feel Better Sooner Without Antibiotics
Instead of taking antibiotics for sinusitis, Consumer Reports chief medical adviser, Marvin M. Lipman, M.D., recommends that you get plenty of rest, rinse your nose with a saltwater sinus rinse or spray, drink warm fluids, and inhale steam from a hot bath, shower, or kettle. For pain, he says, try an over-the-counter pain reliever such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen .
If needed, your doctor can prescribe a prescription corticosteroid spray, such as fluticasone or triamcinolone.A systematic review published in JAMAin 2015 found that after saline irrigation, the second-best treatment for chronic sinusitis was a topical corticosteroid spray for a few days.
Has This Hub Been Helpful
Michele on July 24, 2018:
Thank you. I will discuss these remedies with my doctor. I have a bad UTI right now, and while antibiotics usually do the trick, Iâd like to see how these food/supplement suggestions might work. Just as a side note, there should be a disclaimer included that if the symptoms donât resolve or get worse, a physician should be consultedâas you mentioned, a UTI can quickly turn into a much bigger problem. Still, I appreciate the tips, a couple of which Iâd never heard of before.
Irene Tasker on June 06, 2017:
Will try some of the remedies you advise, as I have A UTI nearly all the time even with antibiotics. I will try the cranberries first then the parsley.its a nightmare for me as I play golf and it can be very embarrassing. Thankyou
Haniya on March 23, 2017:
amazing article
Devika PrimiÄ from Dubrovnik, Croatia on February 19, 2013:
I enjoy fresh garlic daily just finely chopped on my food the best flavour comes from this old herb
JCielo from England on February 11, 2013:
Thanks Rajan. Your comments are always respected and appreciated.
Rajan Singh Jolly from From Mumbai, presently in Jalandhar, INDIA. on February 09, 2013:
Very informative and useful as always John. You always present facts so well. Thanks.
voted up and useful.
JCielo from England on January 17, 2013:
Thanks catgypsy. Hope this helps your friend.
catgypsy from the South on January 16, 2013:
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How Can You Improve Your Kidney Health
Lifestyle habits that benefit your overall health, like staying hydrated and exercising regularly, can be vastly beneficial to your kidney health.
Similarly, you shouldnt smoke, and you should go see your doctor for regular checkups to monitor your blood pressure. If youre at risk for kidney infections, you should have your kidneys tested and monitored.
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Antibiotic Use Misuse And Abuse
Half of all antibiotic consumption may be unnecessary and greatly contributes to increasing bacterial resistance . In Europe , the overall human consumption of antimicrobials was 3350 tons in 2007 . Outpatient consumption varies widely from 11 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants in The Netherlands to 34 DDD per 1000 inhabitants in Cyprus . In the USA, 3300 tons of antibiotics were sold .
What Are The Causes Of This Frightening Evolution
The most important cause is that there has been a massive overuse of antibiotics worldwide across all ecosystems over the past decades, including humans, animals, aquaculture, and agriculture .
When selected silently by antibiotics, a hidden cross-transmission of resistant bacteria occurs daily, both in hospitals and communities. Compliance with hand hygiene practices is far from optimal in many healthcare settings, including hospitals and long-term care facilities , thus resulting in a continuous succession of small-size transmission events difficult to detect, as well as large outbreaks. Exchange of resistant bacteria via travel activities and patient transfers has led to a rapidly growing resistance globalization as recently exemplified by the spread of NDM-1 . As a consequence, some countries recommend the preemptive isolation of patients admitted from outside their borders based on a suspicion of MDRO carriage in the same philosophy as the Search and Destroy programme in The Netherlands . Cross-transmission occurs also in community settings . Finally, hospital and community wastewater systems are an additional source for the dissemination of resistant bacteria.
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Accidentally Taking An Extra Dose
There’s an increased risk of side effects if you take 2 doses closer together than recommended.
Accidentally taking 1 extra dose of your antibiotic is unlikely to cause you any serious harm.
But it will increase your chances of getting side effects, such as pain in your stomach, diarrhoea, and feeling or being sick.
If you accidentally take more than 1 extra dose of your antibiotic, are worried or you get severe side effects, speak to your GP or call NHS 111 as soon as possible.
Do You Need To See A Doctor To Get Antibiotics For A Uti
You need to speak with your doctor or a licensed medical professional to be prescribed antibiotics for a UTI. This can usually be done in person, at the doctor, or over the phone.
If this is your first UTI or your symptoms are severe, it may be helpful to get treated in person. You may also want to consider an in-person visit with your healthcare professional to rule out sexually transmitted infections if you are sexually active or have multiple sexual partners.
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Questions To Ask Your Doctor
- How can I keep my child comfortable at night with the pain of an ear infection?
- Is there drainage with an ear infection?
- What is the difference between an ear infection and swimmers ear?
- Is my child a candidate for ear tubes?
- What are the risks and benefits of surgically inserting tubes inside my childs middle ear?
- Should my child get regular hearing tests if they have frequent ear infections?
Lemon For Bacterial Infection
Lemon is another home remedy that treats many infections caused by bacteria, especially respiratory infection. Lemon can help to remove the mucus accumulated in the respiratory tract. Moreover, drinking lemon juice also gets rid of the bacteria trapped in the mucous. Therefore, lemon is indispensable on the list of tips on how to treat bacterial infection.
Besides, let us remind you of another important health benefit of lemon, which is its ability to combat allergy and asthma thanks to the significant amount of vitamin C it contains. If you want to investigate deeper, you can follow this link.
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Home Remedies For Infections
If you have a sinus infection, your symptoms will generally resolve on their own within seven to 10 days, especially if you rest. Antibiotics usually will not help, but nasal irrigation with a neti pot and saline water has been shown to relieve sinus pressure and decrease congestion.
Bromelain, an enzyme found in pineapple, can reduce inflammation when taken as a supplement. Research has found that it helps relieve symptoms of bronchitis and sinusitis.
Essential oils, when diluted and used in aromatherapy or as sprays, can help you get healthy without antibiotics. Rosemary, eucalyptus, and mint essential oils can relieve symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections. Palmarosa, lavender, evening primrose, peppermint, tea tree, and thyme oil are antimicrobial and can help kill bacteria.
Hot drinks such as tea can relieve symptoms of runny nose, cough, sneezing, and sore throat that are caused by many upper respiratory infections.
Treatment For Acute Otitis Media
Most cases of AOM clear up on their own within a week and do not require antibiotic treatment. Doctors often recommend a watchful waiting period for the first 48 to 72 hours after symptoms appear, to see if ear pain and other symptoms resolve on their own.
For antibiotic treatment, the latest recommendations are:
- Children younger than 6 months of age should receive immediate antibiotic treatment.
- Children 6 months or older should be treated for pain within the first 24 hours with either acetaminophen or ibuprofen . Pain relievers not antibiotics are the main drugs used for AOM treatment.
- For children, aged 6 months to 2 years old, antibiotic treatment is recommended for either severe symptoms or for non-severe symptoms that have not improved within 48 to 72 hours. Severe AOM symptoms include moderate to severe pain and a fever of at least 102.2°F .
- For children older than 2 years, and those with mild symptoms or infection only in one ear, watchful waiting is recommended.
- Preventive antibiotics are not recommended for recurrent acute otitis media.
Ear tube insertion is an option for children who have had at least 3 occurrences of AOM in 6 months or 4 episodes in a year. However, newer guidelines strongly advise that tympanostomy tube surgery should be used only for children who have middle-ear effusion and not for children with frequent AOM infections.
Answer it48 to 72 hours
Subsequently, one may also ask, what is the best medicine for an ear infection?
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When To See A Doctor About An Earache
Dr. Nguyen-Huynh recommends seeing a doctor if:
- Yoursymptoms remain after twoor three days, even if youve tried over-the-counter or home remedies.
- Yourear is very painful, oryou have other symptoms that bother you.
Other common conditions, such as temporomandibular joint dysfunction , can masquerade as earache infections. TMJ causes ear pain because the ear canal and the jaw joint share a nerve. If you have ear pain along with trouble chewing, talking or yawning, then you should see a dentist or TMJ expert to be sure youre treating the right condition, notes Dr. Nguyen-Huynh.
The good news? Hot and cold compresses and OTC pain relievers can also help relieve TMJ pain until you sort things out.
Antibiotics Are Ineffective Against Viral Infections
But they are often prescribed for self-limiting illnesses, such as colds and influenza, caused by viruses that will not respond to antibacterial drugs.
Diagnostic uncertainty is a key driver of drug misuse and overuse. Since classical laboratory methods, based on culture of the pathogenic agent, require 36-48 hours to provide results, few infections are accurately diagnosed.
In the absence of a clear diagnosis, physicians often prescribe antibiotics just “to be on the safe side” or to prevent possible secondary bacterial infections.
In addition, patients often put pressure on physicians. In a survey conducted in the USA, nearly half of respondents indicated that they expected an antibiotic when they visit a doctor In another survey, more than 50% of French interviewees expected an antibiotic for the treatment of influenza-like illness .
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Garlic On How To Treat Bacterial Infection
You can lay your belief in garlic because it is also another natural home remedy with antibacterial properties. Garlic is available in every kitchen and it is the excellent home remedy to treat different fungal and bacterial infections. An effective way on how to treat bacterial infection is eating 4-5 cloves of garlic per day. You can chew and swallow it. Another way is taking garlic in the form of capsules. However, this way may be less effective than chewing garlic freshly. If you cannot stay with fresh garlic cloves, you can think of its capsules but we still recommend you eating it raw. Besides, garlic tea is another solution that is also considered as the herbal remedy on how to treat bacterial infection. You should add some cloves in the boiling water and steep for a few minutes before sipping the garlic tea. It is easy to have a cup of garlic tea so that you are supposed to spend a little effort and time on it. Garlic tea will be a useful treatment.
To know other benefits of garlic, you can view at Benefits Of Garlic
When Do You Need Antibiotics
In its SIGN 88 guidelines for UK healthcare, the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network recommends antibiotic treatment for otherwise healthy women, under 65, who have three or more symptoms of UTI.
Potential symptoms of UTI are listed as follows: pain passing urine , frequency of urination, bladder pain, urgency, passing lots of urine , and passing blood in the urine .
The guidelines recommend using dipstick tests to guide treatment decisions in otherwise healthy women under 65 years of age presenting with mild or more than two symptoms of UTI, comments Ali. Put simply, if symptoms are severe, urine testing is not required before initiating treatment.
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When Should I Call The Doctor
Very rarely, ear infections that dont go away or severe repeated middle ear infections can lead to complications. So kids with an earache or a sense of fullness in the ear, especially when combined with fever, should be seen by their doctors if they arent getting better after a couple of days.
Other things can cause earaches, such as teething, a foreign object in the ear, or hard earwax. Your doctor can find the cause of your childs discomfort and treat it.
Use Of Antibiotics In Food Animals May Result In The Deposition Of Residues In Animal Products And The Environment
Consumption of antibiotic residues represents a potential threat to human health, through direct toxicity, allergic reactions, or alteration of the bacterial flora present in the human digestive tract .
To safeguard humans from exposure to antibiotic-added food, a withholding period must be observed until the residues are no longer detected before the animal or animal products can be processed. Heavy responsibility is placed on the veterinarian and livestock producer to observe the period of withdrawal. In Europe, rapid tests are regularly performed to check the absence of antibiotic residues in food.
Eliminating the unnecessary usage of antibiotics implies a change in mindset, integrating both long-term public health concerns and productivity. This involves everyone — from governments to producers to the consumer. To stem the rising threat of resistant bacteria to human health, there is an urgent need for regulation of antibiotic usage in animals at the global level.
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When Should I See A Doctor For A Sinus Infection
Its important to come to The Doctors Office & Walk-In Clinic early on when a sinus infection starts brewing. Common signs and symptoms of a sinus infection include:
- Frontal headaches or tooth pain
- Postnasal drip and runny nose
- Greenish nasal discharge
In some cases, having asthma increases your risk of chronic sinusitis, even though no infection is present. If you have asthma and are experiencing any of these symptoms, immediate medical care from The Doctors Office & Walk-In Clinic is particularly important, since the swelling of your nasal passages can make breathing difficult.
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When Do You Really Need Antibiotics For That Sinus Infection
- By Monique Tello, MD, MPH, Contributor
It was February, and clinic was teeming with respiratory infections of all kinds: mostly the common cold, but also bronchitis, pneumonia, and sinus infections. The patients were coming in usually thinking that they needed antibiotics for their sinus infection, or another respiratory infection.The first patient on my schedule was a healthcare provider with sinus infection written down as her main issue.* Shed had about two weeks of nasal and sinus congestion which she blamed on a viral upper respiratory infection . Her two young kids had been sick with colds all winter, so she wasnt surprised to have these symptoms, along with endless postnasal drip and a cough.
Her congestion had improved a bit at one point, and she thought that she was finally getting better. But then, the day before her appointment, she awoke with throbbing pain between her eyes, completely blocked nasal passages, and, more concerning to her, green pus oozing from her left tear duct. She had body aches, chills, and extreme fatigue.
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How Long Do Utis Last
With antibiotic treatment, symptoms of a UTI typically improve within 2 to 4 days.
But this can vary depending on many factors, including how quickly you receive treatment, the severity of your infection, and whether or not any complications arise.
Keep in mind that the course of antibiotics should be completed for UTI symptoms to completely resolve and prevent recurrent infections.
Looking In The Garden
Over the centuries, a variety of herbal remedies evolved for the treatment of infections, but very few have been evaluated by controlled clinical trials.
One of the more famous herbally derived therapies is quinine, which was used to treat malaria. It was originally isolated from the bark of the cinchona tree, which is native to South America. Today we use a synthetic form of quinine to treat the disease. Before that, cinchona bark was dried, ground into powder, and mixed with water for people to drink. The use of cinchona bark to treat fevers was described by Jesuit missionaries in the 1600s, though it was likely used in native populations much earlier.
Artemisinin, which was synthesized from the Artemisia annua plant is another effective malaria treatment. A Chinese scientist, Dr. Tu Youyou, and her team analyzed ancient Chinese medical texts and folk remedies, identifying extracts from Artemisia annua as effectively inhibiting the replication of the malaria parasite in animals. Tu Youyou was coawarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of artemisinin.
The most potent naturally occurring honey is thought to be Manuka honey. It is derived from the flower of the tea tree bush, which has additional antibacterial properties.
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Natural Antibiotics To Combat Infections
Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician once said, Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. And even after these many centuries, this statement still holds a lot of truth.
Thanks to revolutionary advancements in the field of medicine, we can fight various drug-resistant bacteria and superbugs with the help of antibiotics.
However, over usage of antibiotics has its own ill effects on the body and may lead to lowering its immunity.
If you want to avoid antibiotics while fighting infections, turn to Mother Nature.
Despite weathering various environmental issues, vegetables, fruits, herbs, plant extracts, essential oils have always retained their ability to fight bacteria. Known as astringent foods- these plant-based products naturally cleanse your blood without any side effects or disturbing the balance of good bacteria in the body.