Suggest remedy for chest pain post TB treatment
Patient: Hi, I had TB 7-8 years back and it was fully treated and eventually I got normal X- ray. I still feel pain in my chest when I take and hold long breaths. My doctor told me that its fibrosis and I ve nothing to worry. Is there any cure for this? Will this affect my chance of getting a work abroad (US, Australia)? I`m an Systems Engineer in an IT company in India and had good offers working aboard but I`m afraid that I might turn down for health reasons if they`ll find out my previous record. Please advise what would be the best thing to do? Doctor: Hello,First of all, no need to worry about this. TB lesions in lung heal by fibrosis. These fibrotic lesions are sometimes painful when there is a movement of pleura like deep breathing, laughing, sneezing etcetera. No treatment is required hence available for these scars. But for work visa purpose, you need to prove that these are old healed fibrotic scars and not active infections lesions. For this, you need to consult pulmonologist and get done CT thorax and bronchoscopy. If both these are negative for active infection then you can definitely opt for a work visa. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.Regards,Dr. Kaushal Bhavsar