The main treatment for bacterial pneumonia is antibiotics, rest and drinking lots of water. Most people with pneumonia will manage their condition at home with medication from their physician. Some people with severe pneumonia will need to go to the hospital to have additional support of oxygen, and medication through an IV.
People who have been admitted to the hospital with other medical conditions and develop pneumonia may become very ill and may need very powerful antibiotics.
If you are prescribed antibiotics it is important to take the medicine as your doctor prescribes, even if you start to feel better. Do not take cough medicine or cold medicine unless your doctor says it is okay.
Antibiotics do not treat viral pneumonia. Some of the treatment of viral pneumonia may include drinking lots of fluids, corticosteroid medicine, oxygen and rest.
If you have a milder pneumonia, you will usually begin to feel better within a few days or a week. If you have severe pneumonia, where you spend time in the hospital you may take a number of weeks to feel better.
