Your doctor has referred you for chest physiotherapy. What does this mean?
Chest physiotherapy is the term for a group of treatments designed to improve and promote respiratory efficiency, promote expansion of the lungs, strengthen respiratory muscles and eliminate secretions from the respiratory system.
This physical treatment is used as part of a co-ordinated approach to helping you become healthy again.
Healthy lungs are vital to life, so any problem with them which is serious enough to cause admission to hospital should be treated comprehensively. The infection you have may be either bacterial, fungal or viral. It may affect the airways leading down into the lungs, or of the lungs themselves. Symptoms include a cough that may or may not be productive (thick mucus), breathing difficulties, lung treatment and chest pain.
Your Physiotherapist will work with you to help fix each of these problems. You will be taught helpful breathing and coughing techniques which minimise your discomfort. You will be encouraged to mobilise as much as possible, and your therapist may also choose to perform manual therapy techniques on you to facilitate your recovery. This may include a combination of nebulisation, manual techniques and postural drainage.
What must I do?
You need to understand what treatment will be performed. Ask your therapist if you are still unsure after reading this page.
- You need to sign the consent letter before treatment can start.
- You need to follow the therapist’s advice.