Respiratory physiotherapy is a specialty of physical therapy, which aims to prevent and treat virtually all diseases affecting the respiratory system, such as asthma, bronchitis, respiratory failure and tuberculosis, for example. It should always be performed by a physical therapist, at home, in a clinic or in the hospital.
Breathing exercises are critical to improving breathing as they help move ventilatory muscles. In addition, respiratory physiotherapy can also be performed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), even when the patient is intubated, deciding, breathing with an artificial respirator.
The main benefits of respiratory physical therapy include
Improves gas exchanges;
Mayor’s pulmonary expansion;
Release of lung and airway secretions;
Clear and clean the airways;
Decreased hospitalization time;
Facilitates oxygen flow throughout the body;
Fights shortness of breath.
Some strategies used to achieve these benefits include postural drainage, manual chest pressure, percussion, vibration, vibrocompression, stem facilitation and upper respiratory suction.
Some examples of respiratory physical therapy exercises, to increase lung capacity in case of respiratory distress:
Lean sideways on a sloping surface, where your legs and feet are slightly higher than the trunk, which helps eliminate secretions;
Sit on a ledge, hold a pill in front of your body, infuse over your head and exhale the pill from the front again;
Hold it, place your hands to the front and swell deeply through your nose, opening your arms horizontally (like a Christ) and slowly blowing the air back through your mouth to bring your arms to the front of your body.
The exercises should be carried out slowly, without delay, and can be repeated between 5 and 10 times, however, the physical therapist will be able to indicate which exercises are the most deficient for each situation.
Respiratory physiotherapy is used to improve oxygen intake throughout the body, with the aim of always releasing respiratory secretions and increasing lung ventilatory capacity, which could be useful after heart, chest or abdominal surgery, for example, preventing pneumonia or ateleccicia.
Specific examples of cardiorespiratory physiotherapy include
Respiratory physical therapy could be performed in childhood, pediatrics and neonatology whenever necessary, as children are also susceptible to diseases such as pneumonia and bronchiolitis and respiratory physiotherapy may be appropriate to treat these and other diseases. To improve gas exchange and facilitate breathing. .
Respiratory physical therapy in infants is very important because the respiratory system is still in development and could be difficult in exchanging gases, for example, physiotherapy helps improve the efficiency of the respiratory process and eliminate secretions, look for other alternatives to eliminate the baby’s secrets.
Outpatient respiratory physiotherapy is performed in clinics to treat and alleviate chronic diseases such as asthma and heart disease, depending on the doctor’s guidance, should be performed once or twice a week for an indeterminate time, provided that the patient’s breathing capacity is normal.
Hospital respiratory physiotherapy is performed in a hospital room when the patient is hospitalized and sometimes placed in a bed, in this case respiratory and motor physiotherapy is indicated during their stay and even if they do not have any respiratory disease, they should have at least 1 daily session of physiotherapy, to prevent the onset of respiratory diseases and improve lung function.
Home respiratory physiotherapy is indicated for people who have been discharged from the hospital but are still recovering from respiratory problems or cardiac events, such as a heart attack. This can be done once or twice a week, under the guidance of a physiotherapist who works with home care (home care), encouraging the patient to practice respiratory physiotherapy exercises daily.
The physical therapist may use devices that displace secretion, fluidize and facilitate disposal, such as flotation and nebulizer, and indicate exercises that stimulate forced breathing.
Learn about some nebulization options.