Why Physiotherapy?

The effects of having a respiratory disease can be widespread and respiratory physiotherapy will help you to manage the symptoms that affect your everyday life.

• Clearing the phlegm from your chest reduces the risk of an infective exacerbation of your condition and improves the ventilation of your lungs. There is also the important benefit of reduced daytime and nightime coughing which, for some people, can be tiring and/or embarrassing.


• Learning positions and techniques to reduce your sensation of breathlessness can make the difference between going out for the day and carrying out your every day activities or being stuck at home.


• A faster and deeper breathing pattern is a completely normal response to increased physical exertion, whether that's walking outside to the car or doing a 100m sprint. Those with a respiratory disease often find themselves in a downward cycle of breathlessness, leading to reduced physical exercise, diminishing general fitness levels, worsening breathlessness and so on. Exercising with the advice of a respiratory physiotherapist is a safe way of halting this downward spiral and improving general fitness levels.


• Hyperventilation syndrome can cause countless unpleasant symptoms due to a change in the carbon dioxide levels in the blood. Learning some simple breathing retraining exercises can normalise your breathing pattern and, therefore, significantly reduce and often eliminate your symptoms.


• Being able to recognise an exacerbation of your respiratory disease helps you to know when to seek medical treatment in order to start antibiotics or discuss a change in the drugs that you take to manage your condition; and when to make some changes (taught to you by your physiotherapist) to the physiotherapy management of your condition.


• Everyone has their own preference as to where they prefer to be assessed and treated by a physiotherapist. Many people would rather be seen within a physiotherapy practice. However, sometimes a respiratory disease can leave a person house-bound, and trying to leave the house for an appointment can leave them exhausted for the rest of the day. This is why Karen offers appointments for individuals within the comfort of their own home, residential care home.