The primary target of antibiotics is bacterial infections that tend to thrive once they overwhelm your body’s immune system. Most people need antibiotics many times throughout their lives, usually in the form of oral medication.
It is less common to deliver antibiotics directly to the bloodstream using intravenous (IV) delivery, but this method is often more effective when treating certain types of bacterial invasions. Internal medicine and infectious disease specialist Nizar A. Tejani, MD, PC, offers IV antibiotic therapy to his patients from his Stockbridge, Georgia, practice.
While you may not often need antibiotics given in IV form, let’s examine situations where this method is advantageous over pills, capsules, drops, sprays, or lotions.
Though antibiotics are an important part of contemporary medicine, their role is sometimes misunderstood. Although the body is susceptible to many forms of infection, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses, antibiotics are only effective against bacterial agents.
Your body naturally contains many bacteria, both beneficial and harmful. Good bacteria aid processes like digestion and nutrient absorption while keeping bad bacteria, which cause infections, in check.
When bad bacteria overproduce, or when they enter your body from the environment, they sometimes create conditions where they overwhelm your body’s defenses and spread rapidly. Bacteria can cause infections like strep throat or meningitis.
Pills or ear drops are effective and popular treatments for many common bacterial infections, such as strep throat or inner ear infections. With antibiotics delivered in these forms, infections are handled easily, and you’ll usually feel better in a day or two. However, you may be required to continue your medication for a certain number of days to ensure that bacteria fall below harmful levels.
IV antibiotic delivery works best on conditions that meet certain criteria, such as infections that:
Common infectious conditions for which you may need IV antibiotics include:
When your condition could benefit from IV antibiotics, Dr. Tejani explains your options and recommends the best course of action. We offer outpatient IV therapy in our office, so you won’t have to spend time and inconvenience visiting a hospital.
Visit Dr. Tejani’s Stockbridge, Georgia, office to learn more. You can also request an appointment online or by phone today.
