What is Respiratory Physio?

Respiratory physiotherapy is a branch of physiotherapy focused on treating and managing conditions affecting the respiratory system, particularly the lungs and airways. It aims to improve breathing efficiency, reduce respiratory symptoms, and enhance the overall quality of life for individuals with acute or chronic respiratory issues. Respiratory physiotherapists use various techniques to help patients clear their airways, improve lung function, and regain normal breathing patterns.

What Conditions Do Respiratory Physio’s Treat?

Respiratory physiotherapists work with a wide range of conditions from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) to asthma or emphysema. They can help when patients are struggling to clear their airways, had chest infections or consolidation of the lungs. They can also help with deconditioning, when someone has lost fitness following an operation or illness.

Chest physiotherapists commonly treat:

  • Asthma

  • COPD

  • Cystic Fibrosis

  • Bronchitis

  • Covid Recovery

  • Pneunomia

  • Post Surgical Lung Issues

  • General deconditioning

  • Respiratory Muscle Weakness

Respiratory physio
Chest physio

Assessment and Diagnosis

Assessment and diagnosis of symptoms is important during respiratory physiotherapy as the right diagnosis can mean the right treatment is started earlier. Using a stethoscope a physio can identify which part of the lung may have more consolidation and therefore benefit from more focused treatment or perhaps the patient needs to learn correct breathing techniques. Improving the technique of breathing can ensure deeper breathes and enable to the body to make full use of the oxygen introduced into the lungs.

The Goals Of Respiratory Physiotherapy

The overriding goal of respiratory physiotherapy is to improve the quality of life of the patient. To achieve this education, treatment techniques as well as equipment can be used to help facilitate this. Improving the lung function and increasing the lung capacity of everyone is an ideal outcome. Keeping airways clear is important to help with the quality of breathing and reducing the effort to breath. Reducing breathlessness improves quality of life through enabling the patient to do more activities and exercise which has positive effects to other areas of their life.

Who Can Benefit From Respiratory Physiotherapy?

The benefits of treatment are wide and can be of benefit to many people. From the athlete who sleeps with tape over their mouth, through to the asthmatic who struggles to breathe through to the patient with cystic fibrosis who needs help to loosen their phlegm and cough it up. For more information about respiratory conditions https://lungfoundation.com.au/.

Treatment Techniques

Respiratory physiotherapists use a variety of treatment techniques including diaphragmatic and pursed lipped breathing, which help strengthen the respiratory muscles. Airways clearance techniques such as chest percussion, postural drainage, expiatory devices such as positive expiatory pressure (PEP) devices, can be used to loosen and help clear mucus or phlegm from the lungs.

  • Breathing exercises

  • Airway clearance techniques

  • Manual therapies

  • Exercise programs

Massage

Exercise Programs

An exercise program is crucial for respiratory rehabilitation as it plays a key role in improving the lung function of a patient, improving their overall fitness and helps complement any treatment nicely. Even a walk post a percussion treatment helps the patient to expiate any phlegm that had been loosened with the treatment but hadn’t quite came up yet. Regular exercise helps strengthen the lungs, increases oxygen utilisation and improves lung capacity. This increased lung capacity helps to reduce breathlessness and improved physical endurance and activity levels. Not only does an exercise program help with respiratory rehabilitation but it also helps with all other facets of life.

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