Advice on chest clearance please !

I have not used those devices but i do my physio and postural drainage also get someone to bang the lung areas to dislodge any stubborn mucus videos are on u tube i also tske mucodgne which thins and loosens mucus but i am currently doing a trial of nebulising using ventolin followed by a hypertonic saline this is working really well sometimes worth getting in touch with your specialist or gp to discuss as clearance means lesss infections

Are you Active Cycle of Breathing? So, three normal breaths, three deep  breaths with lungs as big as possible and hold breath as long as you can, three normal then  three huffs?

How were you told to do the huffs? Forcible exhalation? If so, then some advice the physio at Brompton gave me may be useful.

Rather than big in, hard huff out - which I find leaves stuff behind - do a big breath in through nose then SLOW exhalation through wide open mouth.

As you do this you'll hear the rattles especially at the end. Keep doing a few of these long slow open mouth breaths out. You will hear - and feel- the rattles getting louder and bigger.

The physio described it as trying to chase the blockages out. The rattles are air pushing through the mucus plug before the plug reforms again. The bigger deeper sound is - like the end of a kettle boiling- bigger and bigger blobs opening and reforming. 

The slower you breathe out, the more likely you are to encourage the little plugs to move and become bigger plugs. This is also why big breaths when you're doing the breathe and hold are important. You're trying to force air behind the plugs.

WaIt until you really, absolutely, totally have to cough. And only then do the cough / huff. If you're well hydrated, you might be surprised how much you can get out.

Sometimes I need to shift around - either just wiggling / stretching / bending from side to side. Sometimes I need to lie on one side or another to really chase them out.

In any case, the slow chase works better for me than the sharp huff.

Hope that helps

S

Dear Bricklayer,

I find that exercise is the best way to clear the lungs, so if you are able to do anything like swimming, running, cycling etc. even fast walking, I think this would help you. If you use an inhaler take this before the exercise to open up the airways, then exert yourself as much as you are able. Afterwards postural draining may also help you bring up the mucus that should have been loosened by the excercise.

Best wishes,

John

I also can highly recommend the use of a bronchodilator in your nebulizer, followed by hypertonic saline solution...7%

Also...I have found an over the counter supplement that is highly recommended by respiratory doctors......though it took this forum to out me onto it.  Once I asked about it all my docs said it would be a good idea.  It is n-acytlcysteine or nac for short. I take the 600 mg pills which I get from amazon. I would say that they have reduced my mucus by at least 75%. Check with your doctor.  These two treatments have so improved my life.  The n-acytlcysteine is also available to be nebulized and many find it very helpful.  I have been resisting because everyone says it tastes and smells like rotten egggs.  Could be sulfur, which makes me wonder if folks that are allergic to sulphur would be able to take it.  Anyway...check with your doctor.