If you, or a loved one, suffers with a chronic lung disease, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or pulmonary fibrosis, there is hope for rebuilding strength and enjoying a more full and active life through pulmonary rehabilitation. These programs are designed to improve lung function, reduce symptom severity and improve quality of life.
Pulmonary rehabilitation—”rehab” for short— will not reverse the damage to your lungs from COPD. But it will help you do your daily tasks, such as dressing, grocery shopping, and walking, more easily.
What is Pulmonary Rehab
Pulmonary rehabilitation is the use of exercise, education, and behavioral intervention to improve how well people with chronic lung disease can function in daily life and to enhance their quality of life.
Pulmonary rehabilitation is a program designed for people who have chronic lung disease. Its primary goal is to enable people to achieve and maintain their maximum level of independence and functioning. Although most pulmonary rehabilitation programs focus on people who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), people with other types of lung disease may benefit as well. People in all age groups can benefit, including those older than 70.
Pulmonary Rehab and Positive expiratory pressure (PEP) therapy
Positive expiratory pressure (PEP) therapy gets air into the lungs and behind the mucus using extra (collateral) airways.
In positive expiratory pressure (PEP), a person breathes through a mask or a handheld mouthpiece. PEP devices allow air to flow freely as you breathe in, but not when you breathe out. You must breathe out harder against the resistance. It takes about four times as long to breathe out against the resistance than it does to breathe in.
This helps air get behind the mucus and helps move it from lung and airway walls. It also holds your airways open, keeping them from closing.
Oscillating PEP
Oscillating PEP is an airway clearance technique (ACT), where the person blows all the way out many times through a device. Commonly known by their brand names (Flutter®, Acapella®, AerobikA®, and RC-Cornet®), these types of oscillating PEP devices work in two ways.
First, they use resistance to make it more difficult to breathe out, like non-oscillating PEP devices. Oscillating PEP devices also create vibrations when you breathe out. The vibrations move mucus from the surface of your airways.
After blowing through the device several times, the person huff coughs to clear the mucus from the lungs and out of the body.
Although your respiratory therapist may suggest a different way to use PEP based on your unique circumstances, typically, people perform 10 breaths before stopping to cough or huff cough mucus out of their airways. A typical session of PEP takes about 20 minutes to complete.
- Aerobika® Oscillating Positive Expiratory Pressure (OPEP) Therapy System
- Aerobika® is a convenient, user-friendly device that provides clinicians and patients with a means for reliable, drug-free and natural airway clearance
Aerobika® OPEP Therapy System Highlights
- Improves ease of bringing up sputum and improves lung function
- Easy to learn and understand for independent use
- Lightweight and ergonomic design fits comfortably in the hand
- Reduces dyspnea and hyperinflation
- Decreases cough frequency and breathlessness
How the Aerobika® Device Works
Aerobika® OPEP system opens up weak or collapsed airways by creating positive pressure and oscillations simultaneously, which helps move mucus to the upper airways where it can be coughed out.
How To Use The Aerobika® Device
- Acapella® Vibratory PEP Therapy
The Acapella® Valve is a unique handheld device that is used to keep your lungs clear of mucus so you can breathe easy. It combines the benefits of positive expiratory pressure or PEP therapy with airway vibrations.
How it works
Inside the valve is a small steel ball in a cone shaped valve. As you exhale, the ball moves up and down, doing two things—a) vibrating your airways and b) making you exhale against resistance.
Why that’s good
The vibration opens up your airways, facilitating the movement of mucus. Exhaling against resistance creates back pressure or positive pressure which allows mucus to move from peripheral airways to the larger central airways so it can be coughed out.
There are two types of Acapella® Valves. The green or high flow valve is for users who can exhale at 15 liters per minute or more for at least three seconds. The green valve works for most users. If your lungs are lower volume, you can use the blue or low flow valve.
To use, simply
1. Breathe in and out regularly through the valve 5 times. Then breathe in and out slowly 5 times. Your exhalations should be about 3 times longer than your inhalations.
2. Keep alternating between regular and slow breaths. At the end of each exhalation, hold your breath for 2 to 3 seconds.
After 5 or 6 exhalations try to cough if you have not done so already. This will help get rid of mucus.
4. Repeat until no further mucus is expelled. This should take between 10 and 20 minutes.
The Acapella® Valve is designed to be easily cleaned and sterilized. Plus, it can be used with your mask or mouthpiece nebulizer.
Flutter® device
The Flutter® is a small, lightweight mucus clearance device that requires no power and can be used anywhere at any time.
The Flutter® device works by the patient exhaling into the device, which causes the ball-bearing inside the casing to vibrate. The vibrations travel back into the lungs. These vibrations loosen the mucus in the airways. Gentle coughing then removes the mucus.
Product features and benefits
- An effective alternative to physiotherapy
- Small, portable device
- Easy to clean by simple washing
- Easy to use
- Low cost and effective option for mucus clearance
- Short sessions required for maximum effectiveness
- Loosens trapped mucus
- Keeps the airways open.
Short sessions required
Mucus secretion and clearance are extremely important for airway integrity and pulmonary defense. If trapped mucus is not cleared, it makes breathing difficult and if allowed to build up, it leads to infection and damage to the lungs.
Sessions typically last between 5 and 15 minutes. The Flutter® is an effective alternative to physiotherapy.
- RC-Cornet®
Product description
A disorder of the lower respiratory tract is often accompanied by a constriction of the bronchia as well as persistent mucous secretion. The RC-Cornet® treats these symptoms without medication by physical means.
The RC-Cornet®
- Frees annoying mucous secretion
- Relieves dry cough
- Trains pulmonary function
Is refundable on prescription
Application for
- COPD and pulmonary emphysema
- Bronchial asthma
- Bronchiectasis
- Mucoviscidosis
- Smokers cough
The RC-Cornet® belongs to the oscillating group of PEP-devices. The exhalation in the mouthpiece causes a positive pressure (PEP). This pressure massages the mucous membranes, loosens the secretion and widens the lower respiratory tract of the bronchia.
The RC-Cornet Plus®
- The Vest™ Airway Clearance System
Helps patients breathe a little easier.
The Vest™ Airway Clearance System is designed to assist patients in the mobilization of retained secretions. If not removed, retained secretions may contribute to increased rates of respiratory infection, hospitalization and reduced lung function.
How does the Vest™ Airway Clearance System work?
Through High Frequency Chest Wall Oscillation (HFCWO) technology, The Vest™ Airway Clearance System dislodges mucus from the bronchial walls, and mobilizes secretions and mucus from the smaller to larger airways where it can be cleared by coughing or suctioning.
Effective therapy for Cerebral Palsy, Cystic Fibrosis, COPD and more
The Vest™ has been used to assist with effective airway clearance in more than 500 diseases and conditions in adults and children.
The Vest™ is ideal for people experiencing:
- Cerebral Palsy.
- Cystic Fibrosis.
- Bronchiectasis.
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
- Emphysema.
- Cardiac Failure.
- Muscular Dystrophies and other myopathies.
- Quadriplegia and/or Quadriparas.
- Acute Respiratory Failure (ARF).
- Atelectasis, Pulmonary Infiltrates.
The removal of retained secretions may help:
- Reduce respiratory infections.
- Reduce hospital admissions.
- Improve lung function.
- Improve quality of life for patients and caregivers.
An ideal supplementary treatment to existing therapies, especially if experiencing:
- Limited success with current airway clearance techniques.
- Lack of strength or ability to perform active treatment.
- Poor cooperation with other airway clearance methods.
- Constant fatigue is impeding existing therapies.
- Reliance on others to assist with therapies.
Philips InCourage® system
Vest therapy can help break the serious cycle of excess mucus, lung infections and further lung damage for patients living with chronic respiratory conditions.
Patients who use vest therapy have been shown to experience fewer pneumonias, fewer hospitalizations, and better results on pulmonary function tests, which measure how well the lungs are working.
The Vibralung® Acoustical Percussor
The Vibralung® Acoustical Percussor is intended for use in the hospital or at home for patients with respiratory diseases and related conditions that involve increased mucus production, infection and inspissation of secretions, and defective mucociliary clearance.
These conditions are typical in patients diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, pneumonia, ciliary dyskinesia syndromes, asthma, muscular dystrophy, post-operative atelectasis plus neuromuscular respiratory impairments, thoracic bellows defects, and any other cardiorespiratory or neuromuscular diseases that inhibit effective cough, mucokinesis, airway clearance and expectoration.
The New Sound of Airway Clearance Therapy
The Monarch™ Airway Clearance System
It can be hard to fit your therapy into your life, even though you know how important it is.
The Monarch® Airway Clearance System changes all that. Its revolutionary new technology clears your airways while allowing you to move about freely. That lets you fit more in your day, do more of the things you love, and take more control of your life.
Mobility powered by POD technology
The Monarch® System uses Pulmonary Oscillating Discs (PODs) to generate oscillations and targeted kinetic energy to your lungs. This airway clearance therapy helps thin mucus and increase airflow, mobilizing secretions from the airways while you’re going about your day. As a result, you no longer have to put your life on hold for therapy.
Like a fitness tracker for your lungs
Track your treatments and stay connected with your care team automatically through the VisiView® Health Portal*. With available Bluetooth® connectivity, you can also control your Monarch® System from an intuitive mobile app.
9 TheraPEP® PEP Therapy System
The TheraPEP PEP® Therapy System by Smith’s Medical is a lightweight, easy-to-use positive expiratory pressure system designed for clearing airways, helping to promote airflow in patients with chronic pulmonary disease (COPD) or cystic fibrosis (CF), as well as for individuals recovering from surgery.
With the TheraPEP® System, patients breathe out with a moderate force through resistance which in turn creates a positive pressure that gets beneath obstructive mucus, mobilizing it to the front of the airways so that it can be coughed out.
With the TheraPEP PEP® Therapy System, respiratory therapy can be self-administered by patients in the comfort of their own home, or anywhere, at any time that the need arises, and in much less time than the labor-intensive, time-consuming chest physiotherapy (CPT).
The device features a built-in pressure indicator, six fixed orifice options, and can be used with a mask or mouthpiece, as well as a nebulizer. The TheraPEP® device is sturdy enough to resist breakage, allowing it to go with the user wherever they go.
10 GeloMuc® Atemtherapiegerät
GeloMuc® is a breathing treatment device for shifting persistent, tough bronchial mucus from the respiratory tract, for example in patients with chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma.
It opens the airways and releases persistent, tough bronchial mucus.
Active principle
By shifting persistent, tough bronchial mucus, the
GeloMuc® increases pressure in the bronchi, opening the respiratory tract and reducing unproductive coughing.
- Lets the bronchi vibrate
- Clears the respiratory tract from bronchial mucus
- Decreases throat irritation
- Opens the airways
Shaker Mucus Clearance Device
The Shaker® offers simple and convenient relief from excessive mucus and its associated problems. It can be used for chronic conditions such as COPD, asthma, emphysema and acute problems like chesty coughs, flu and bronchitis.
Shaker® devices help to shift bronchial secretions by combining PEP (positive expiratory pressure) and oscillations. This combination helps to move mucus into the larger airway ready to expectorate.
- For relief from excessive mucus
- Models for personal use and hospital/clinic use
- Suitable for children and adults
The Shaker® is ideal for both children and adults suffering from:
- C.O.P.D.
- Bronchiectasis
- Emphysema
- Catarrh
- Asthma
- Cystic Fibrosis
- Chronic Bronchitis
How it works
Inside the casing of the Shaker® Classic is a weighted ball. By breathing into the Shaker® Classic, the ball is raised, but then falls under its own weight. This rise and fall action happens extremely quickly and to the user, feels like a vibration.
This vibration, combined with the gentle resistance created by breathing against the ball causes several positive benefits. Changes in air pressure mean the smaller airways are encouraged to open, increasing lung usage and efficiency. Mucus is thinned or dislodged by the vibration and increased airflow helps this mucus to move to the large airways where gentle coughing can expel it.
Regular sessions with the Shaker® of between 5 to 15 minutes produce a beneficial effect, equivalent to that delivered by physiotherapy techniques.
- AirPhysio® Mucus Clearance Oscillating Positive Expiratory (OPEP) Device
AirPhysio® is a mucus clearance and lung expansion OPEP device. The device uses an all-natural process called Oscillating Positive Expiratory Pressure (OPEP). This assists the body’s natural cleaning process of mucus clearance. This helps to maintain optimal hygiene in the lungs and restores lung capacity.
The Device Is Used As A Treatment And Preventative For The Following Conditions
- Asthma
- Atelectasis
- Bronchiectasis
- Cystic Fibrosis
- The Elderly or Smokers who have respiratory conditions
- Many more respiratory conditions…
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) consists of Emphysema and Chronic Bronchitis These conditions hinder the body’s ability to clear the contaminated mucus. Your lung capacity is reduced by 5-25 ml/year for asthmatics and 33 ml /year for smokers. This may cause breathlessness after a small set of stairs or a light jog.
If you have questions about your prescription medications or any other medication, please contact our team at CheapoMeds by calling toll free 1-800-721-7045. One of our patient representatives will be happy to assist you or transfer you to a licensed Canadian pharmacist for a free consultation.
This article contains medical information provided to help you better understand this particular medical condition or process and may contain information about medication often used as part of a treatment plan prescribed by a doctor. It is not intended to be used as either a diagnosis or recommendation for treatment of your particular medical situation. If you are unwell, concerned about your physical or mental state, or are experiencing symptoms you should speak with your doctor or primary health care provider. If you are in medical distress, please contact emergency services (such as 911).
Reference:
- respiratorytherapy.ca
- hill-rom.com
- cegla-shop.com
- haag-streit.com
- medline.com
- trudellmed.com
- philips.com
- mymonarch.com
- bronchiectasis.com.au
- hindawi.com
- merckmanuals.com
- lung.org
- cff.org
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