Chest clearance without coughing - is it possible?
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hi,
Does anyone manage to clear their chests just through huffing, without any actual coughing?
I have bronchiectasis and Pseudomonas and clear my chest every day using Active Cycle of Breathing and Autogenic Drainage techniques that I was taught by the brilliant phsyios at the Royal Brompton.
Annoyingly I have pelvic floor issues (prolapse) for which I am seeing a women's physio in an effort to stop it from getting worse. I have given up running and heavy lifting, but cannot eliminate the single biggest risk factor, i.e. the daily coughing.
Whenever I do my chest clearance I try to tighten my pelvic floor muscles ("the knack"
, but there is still a lot of pressure everytime I cough. So I am trying to minimise the coughing during chest clearance - but so far without much success. I take mucolytics to thin the mucus, which makes it a little easier, but still cougha lot. The Brompton phsyio suggested adapting the AD technique so I don't bring up too much mucus in one go, but it still happens :-(
In a forum somewhere someone mentioned they were using a Yoga breathing technique that enabled them to clear their chests without anyone noticing - sounded like they managed to bring up the mucus without coughing (though they must then have swallowed it, which I am not planning to do!!). Has anyone heard of this kind of chest clearance through breathing only?
Or is there any medication that will simply shut down the cough reflex for a few minutes?
Any tips and tricks gratefully received :-) - many thanks in advance!
1 like, 2 replies
steve62514 Anna2020
Posted
Maybe try daily long walks instead of coughing it up? A Thai pulmonologist I use here told me that in Thailand doctors encourage people to walk and let nature take its course in bringing up the gunk. It does work - I find that on days that I do long walks (talking an hour plus) I don't feel the need to do other clearance - although I have to say that if I did lie down after and do the physio I could still bring stuff up (but I don't as I am generally less paranoid about this aspect of my bronchX than others - probably more because my condition is milder than most rather than because I claim some special superiority of spirit over my fellow sufferers!:-) ).
If it weren't so bluddy hot here and if I didn't have a pool in the back garden to take my daily exercise and if I didn't have a dodgy hip to manage out a few years more to hip replacement time I would stick to doing one hour plus walks a day and try it out for a few weeks. Once a month though I dose myself up with anti-inflammatories and set a trail for a hash house harriers group of joggers/runners/walkers that I run in my local area of Thailand. That involves me walking typically 2 hrs and 8km. I find that my chest feels good for a couple of days afterwards and I don't bother doing any huffing/coughing; the gunk comes up as throat clearances throughout such a walk, presumably naturally working its way up the system.
aitarg35939 Anna2020
Posted
I don't know the yoga technique but I know that talking and singing can help bring things up. For those of us who live alone, hard to manage that much talking without feeling like we're nuts, but you could practice diaphragm breathing while reading aloud. Or a deep loud hum. The "om" of yoga is a phenomenal vibration also.