How to Strengthen Your Lungs After Having Pneumonia

Co-authored by Ni-Cheng Liang, MD

Last Updated: October 26, 2024 Approved

Having pneumonia can be a very scary ordeal. Once you have recovered your health, it is important that you strengthen your lungs so that you can take back control of your breathing, and your life. Scroll down to Step 1 for tips on how to strengthen your lungs after you have had pneumonia.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Performing Breathing Exercises

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1
Practice deep breathing. Deep breathing helps to recover lost lung capacity. Begin either in a sitting or standing position. Place your hands on your waist and relax. Inhale as much air as possible. When you reach the maximum capacity of your lungs, hold your breath for 5 seconds. Exhale as much air as possible. Make sure that you exhale slowly and empty the lungs completely or as much as your health level permits.^{[1]
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- Repeat the procedure 10 times in each set. It is advisable to do 3-4 sets of deep breathing exercises throughout the day.
2
Do pursed-lip breathing. Perform pursed-lip breathing will help you increase the oxygen intake of your lungs, while decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide. Start by relaxing your entire body. You can do this in a sitting or standing position. Inhale through your nose within a span of 3 seconds. Before you exhale, you need to purse your lips as if you are going to kiss somebody. Exhale through your pursed lips within a span of 6 seconds. Inhale and exhale slowly. Don’t force the air to come in and out of the lungs.^{[2]
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Expert Interview. 18 June 2021.}
- Repeat the procedure. Pursed-lip breathing is done when the patient has shortness of breath. This breathing exercise should be repeated until shortness of breath is diminished.^{[3]
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3
Try breathing from your diaphragm. The diaphragm is the muscle that pushes and pulls air in and out of the lungs. Start by lying down on your back and bend your knees. Place one of your hands on your belly and another hand on your chest. Take a deep breath. Let your belly and lower rib cage rise while making sure that the upper chest cavity won’t move. This is the challenge you need to overcome in diaphragm breathing. Inhaling should take about 3 seconds. Exhale for 6 seconds. You need to purse your lips as well to better control your breathing.^{[4]
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- Repeat the whole procedure. At first, this exercise might be difficult for you. However, more practice and repetition of this exercise can train the diaphragm and will eventually increase your lung capacity. As time passes by, diaphragm breathing will become easier.
4
Practice huff-cough breathing. Doing huff-cough breathing will help eliminate bacteria and respiratory secretions by triggering the cough reflex. Sit down or elevate the head of the bed if you can’t get up. Relax and prepare yourself. To do the huff-cough exercise:^{[5]
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- Step 1: Perform 3 to 5 deep breathing exercises. Combine your breathing with the pursed-lips and diaphragm breathing exercises. Push out air as if you are coughing. When you have done 3-5 cycles of deep breathing, open your mouth but do not exhale yet. You need to hold your breath, tighten your chest and abdomen.
- Step 2: Force air out from the lungs in a fast manner. If you have done this correctly, you will elicit the cough reflex and loosened secretions stuck within your respiratory tract. If phlegm comes out, spit it out and repeat the whole procedure.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Making Lifestyle Changes

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Drink lots of water. Drink 8 glasses of water if you are an adult.^{[6]
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Go to source} For children, the amount of water depends on body weight. Water helps mucus in the lungs to become more liquid. Water or fluids helps mucus to be brought out of the lungs and the nose and mouth more easily.^{[7]
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Go to source} This leads to better breathing.^{[8]
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Farrell JJ, Petrik SC. Hydration and nosocomial pneumonia: killing two birds with one stone (a toothbrush). Rehabilitation Nursing. 2009 Mar-Apr;34(2):47-50, 83.}
2
Exercise regularly. Regular exercise and physical fitness training helps our pulmonary system cope with disease. For most individuals who exercise at sea level, the lungs saturate arterial blood with oxygen more effectively than those who don’t. This means, if there is breathing limitation due to exercising at high altitudes, or asthma or other types of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, those who actively exercise may need extra help with ventilation such as an inhaler. Always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise routine, especially if you are older or have other medical conditions.^{[9]
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- Walking, running, swimming, and cycling are all excellent ways to restore your lungs’ strength. Before you exercise, begin by stretching and bending. Each exercise session should last about 20 to 30 minutes. Stop if you feel short of breath or have palpitations.^{[10]
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- Even just going for a walk outside can make a difference.^{[11]
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  Ni-Cheng Liang, MD
  Board Certified Pulmonologist
  
  Expert Interview. 18 June 2021.}
3
Quit smoking. Smoking is known for being dangerous to health. It is even worse for you if your lungs have been stricken by pneumonia. One effect of nicotine is constriction of the terminal bronchioles of the lungs, which leads to airflow resistance into and out of the lungs. When you are already having trouble breathing, you certainly don’t want your lungs to become even more constricted.^{[12]
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- Nicotine also paralyzes the cilia, or the hair-like projections found in the cells that line the airways. Cilia help remove excess fluids and particles--paralyzing them will stop them from helping you remove excess fluids in your airways caused by your pneumonia.
- Another effect of smoking is the irritation from the smoke itself which causes increased fluid secretion into airway passages.
Even when you think you’re all good, you shouldn’t stop taking your antibiotics unless your doctor tells you to do so. People who suddenly stop taking these meds or who do not take their meds on time put themselves at risk for drug resistance. This means antibiotics may not be as effective as they could have been if you don’t follow your doctor’s prescription.^{[13]
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5
Get enough vitamins and minerals. Good nutrition helps fight illness and a good balanced diet can give you the vitamins and minerals you usually need. For a little boost, intake of multivitamins or a tablet of Vitamin C once a day may help your immune system. Before starting any new vitamins and supplements, check with your healthcare provider.^{[14]
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Ni-Cheng Liang, MD
Board Certified Pulmonologist

Expert Interview. 18 June 2021.}
- Adequate amounts of vitamins such as A, B complex, C, E, folic acid, and irons such as iron, zinc, selenium, and copper are required. These vitamins and minerals act as antioxidants and help the immune system fight diseases, especially infectious ones like pneumonia.
- Zinc sulfate is helpful in the reepithelialization, or in the repair of the lining of your airways.
- Vitamin D and beta-carotene supplements can also boost your immune system.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Preventing Relapse

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Stop drinking alcohol while you are recovering. Alcohol may decrease sneezing and coughing reflexes needed to remove mucus from the lungs, interferes with antibiotics or other medicines like those taken during a bout of pneumonia.^{[15]
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2
Keep up to date on vaccinations. There are several vaccines that are available to prevent the occurrence of pneumonia. Pneumococcal and influenza (flu) vaccines are examples of those that can be given. Some vaccines are routinely administered to children, however, in certain circumstances, vaccines may also be recommended to adults.^{[16]
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- There are two types of influenza or flu vaccine of vaccines. One of them is the "flu shot", which contains a killed influenza virus that is administered to a muscle using a syringe. It is given to those older than 6 months, including healthy people and people with chronic medical conditions.
- The other one is the nasal-spray flu vaccine, which contains live, weakened viruses. Because the viruses are weakened, they will not be strong enough to cause disease, but our body will be able to produce defenses against them. It is approved for use in healthy non-pregnant people who are 2-49 years old.^{[17]
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3
Cover your mouth when you cough or when someone coughs. Covering your mouth when you cough or someone else does will help you to avoid sharing germs, making it less likely you will get pneumonia again. It is also important to wash your hands anytime you are around someone who is coughing or sneezing.^{[18]
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- Ways to cover your mouth and nose include using tissue paper, your upper sleeve, or wearing a face mask.^{[19]
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4
Wash your hands regularly. We can get and spread pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms) from our hands because we use them to cover our mouth when coughing, turn door knobs, handle food, rub our eyes and hold our children. Without washing, pathogens multiply on our hands and spread to everything we touch. The proper handwashing technique as prescribed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is as follows:^{[20]
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- Wet your hands with clean, running water.
- Apply soap and lather the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails by rubbing your hands together.
- For at least 20 seconds, scrub your hands.
- Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.
- Dry your hands.
5
Clean things that you often touch regularly and thoroughly. As mentioned in the previous step, our hands are effective in spreading pathogens so cleaning objects that our hands usually touch will also prevent the spread of disease.^{[21]
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- Things that you should clean include: doorknobs, light switches and remote controls.

Expert Q&A

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Question

How can I strengthen my lungs with exercise?

Ni-Cheng Liang, MD
Board Certified Pulmonologist
Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang is a board certified Pulmonologist and the Director of Pulmonary Integrative Medicine at Coastal Pulmonary Associates affiliated with the Scripps Health Network in San Diego, California. She also serves as a Voluntary Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine while volunteering for the UCSD Medical Student-Run Free Clinic for uninsured patients. With over 15 years of experience, Dr. Liang specializes in pulmonary and respiratory medical concerns, mindfulness teaching, physician wellness, and integrative medicine. Dr. Liang received her Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Liang was voted as a San Diego Top Doctor in 2017 and 2019. She was also awarded the 2019 American Lung Association San Diego Lung Health Provider of the Year.

Ni-Cheng Liang, MD

Board Certified Pulmonologist

Expert Answer

Try getting back to some sort of physical activity, even if it's just walking around outside for a minutes. This helps build back your immune system.

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Question

What should you eat after pneumonia?

Ni-Cheng Liang, MD
Board Certified Pulmonologist
Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang is a board certified Pulmonologist and the Director of Pulmonary Integrative Medicine at Coastal Pulmonary Associates affiliated with the Scripps Health Network in San Diego, California. She also serves as a Voluntary Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine while volunteering for the UCSD Medical Student-Run Free Clinic for uninsured patients. With over 15 years of experience, Dr. Liang specializes in pulmonary and respiratory medical concerns, mindfulness teaching, physician wellness, and integrative medicine. Dr. Liang received her Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Liang was voted as a San Diego Top Doctor in 2017 and 2019. She was also awarded the 2019 American Lung Association San Diego Lung Health Provider of the Year.

Ni-Cheng Liang, MD

Board Certified Pulmonologist

Expert Answer

Stick to a healthy diet. A good rule of thumb is to eat 5-9 servings of veggies and fruits each day. You might also like the Mediterranean diet, which is very healthy and anti-inflammatory.

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Question

How do you regain your strength after pneumonia?

Ni-Cheng Liang, MD
Board Certified Pulmonologist
Dr. Ni-Cheng Liang is a board certified Pulmonologist and the Director of Pulmonary Integrative Medicine at Coastal Pulmonary Associates affiliated with the Scripps Health Network in San Diego, California. She also serves as a Voluntary Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine while volunteering for the UCSD Medical Student-Run Free Clinic for uninsured patients. With over 15 years of experience, Dr. Liang specializes in pulmonary and respiratory medical concerns, mindfulness teaching, physician wellness, and integrative medicine. Dr. Liang received her Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Liang was voted as a San Diego Top Doctor in 2017 and 2019. She was also awarded the 2019 American Lung Association San Diego Lung Health Provider of the Year.

Ni-Cheng Liang, MD

Board Certified Pulmonologist

Expert Answer

Make sure you get 7-9 hours of consolidated sleep every night. Also, do a relaxing activity that helps lower your stress.

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Tips

Lungs can better expand when you are in an upright position or leaning forward with pillows on your lap.

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Rest often. When recovering from pneumonia, it is important that you give your body lots of rest so that it can repair itself.

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Breathing exercises should be done all throughout the day giving more emphasis in the morning. The lungs are saturated with respiratory secretions accumulated throughout the night; thus, it is very important to perform breathing exercises when you wake up in the morning.

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