what is lung capacity? lung capacity is the total amount of air your lungs can hold. This can be affected by your age because the lung capacity normally starts decreasing slowly when you pass your mid-20s.  

In addition, there are some conditions that significantly speed up the reduction of lung capacity and also how they work such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), leading to difficulties in breathing and shortness of breath.

Here are 5 breathing exercises you can do at home that may help to maintain your lung capacity, making it easier to keep your lungs healthy and with the amount of oxygen that your body needs to function better.

Let’s have a closer look. 

5 Breathing exercises

1.Rib Stretch:

• Stand upright and exhale all the air from your lungs. 
• Slowly breathe in and expand your lungs to the maximum capacity. 
• Hold the air for about 20 seconds or what is comfortable for you. While counting, place both hands on your hips with your thumbs facing front with pinkies touching the small of your back.
• Exhale the air slowly, relax and repeat 3 more times.

2. Deep Breathing  followed by cough 

•  Inhale deeply
•  Hold your breath for five seconds and exhale
• Repeat 6 times
•  On the sixth deep breath, as you exhale, cough deeply 3 times  .
•  Repeat once then, lay flat on your front and breathe slightly deeper for 10 minutes

3. Deep Breathing

• Sit straight but with your shoulder relaxed
• Take a deep breath in
• Breath out fast with your mouth open
• Have a pause and repeat it a couple of times

4. Pursed Lip Breathing 

• Breathing in through your nose
• Breath out slowly through the mouth with pursed lips 
• Repeat couple of times 

5. Belly breathing/Diaphragmatic breathing

• Sit straight with shoulders and neck relax or do it in your bed
• Breathing in through your nose
• Put your hands lightly on your stomach to feel your belly full of air
• Breathe out through your mouth at least two to three times as long as your inhale

These exercises reduce the number of breaths you have to take and keep your airways open for more time. More air can flow in and out of your lungs; this means your lung capacity increases so you can be more physically active.

2 Extra tips…

Drink plenty of fluids

Be sure you are drinking enough fluids, they loosens phlegm.  Dehydration makes phlegm sticks more to the lungs, so it is going to be very difficult to cough it up. Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day. What you drink should be caffeine free fluids like water or sugar-free juices.

Exercise

Exercise has many benefits for your overall health and lung health, in particular. While you exercise, your muscles need more oxygen. This increases the demand of your lungs to take in air, and your heart to circulate blood. With regular exercise, your Muscles will become stronger and more efficient using less oxygen. It can help lessen some of the symptoms of bronchitis. Also, when you are properly hydrated, exercise can loosen nasal congestion and open your sinuses.

Although exercising may be more difficult if you have chronic lung conditions, but you can benefit from regular exercise too.  Take into account that, if you have COPD, cystic fibrosis, or asthma, you should ask your doctor before starting an exercise regimen.

For more detailed information about how our physios or osteopaths can help with congested chest feel free to contact us.

We hope this information is useful for you. If you need advice or have any questions about our treatments, please contact us. You can find us in Mill Hill Broadway and Islington. We are always happy to help. If you like this blog, please share!

The post How to increase your lung capacity appeared first on Perea Clinic.

For most of us cold weather means overproduction of mucus. Sometimes it is an irritating and uncomfortable symptom. You may have a runny nose, cough, wheezing or phlegm in your throat. However, it is not something you have to worry about. According to the cause, there are different treatments available. keep reading to know more.

What is mucus? and what is its main function? 

As I said before, mucus is not something you have to worry about. In fact, mucus protects your respiratory system with lubrication and filtration. It’s produced by mucous membranes that run from your nose to your lungs.

When you inhale (breathe in) dust, viruses, allergens, and other debris stick to the mucus, and then it is eliminated from your system. 

Why do I overproduce mucus? Causes

Sometimes, your body can produce too much mucus that may require frequent throat clearing or treatment to get rid of accumulated mucus in your lungs (Know how in this link https://pereaclinic.com/3-ways-to-release-mucus-from-your-lungs/).

There are different conditions or environmental factors that can trigger mucus overproduction, some of them are:

• when the indoor environment is dry.
• low water/ fluid intake.
• Covid-19.
• viruses.
• Common cold.
• high consumption of coffee, tea, and alcohol because they produce fluid loss.
• Some medications.
• smoking.
• acid reflux.
• allergies.
• asthma.
• infections.
• lung diseases, for example: pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, cystic fibrosis.
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

How can I treat overproduction of mucus?

There are different treatments available, you can choose the one that best fills your needs.

Home Remedies

If you don’t have a serious or chronic condition,  you may prefer a more natural option. Some home remedies are:

1. Use a humidifier at night.
2. Try steam therapy :https://pereaclinic.com/chest-congestion-relief-steam-therapy/
3. Add a couple of drops of eucalyptus essential oil to your shower floor while you rinse off. Or use eucalyptus leaves while you shower.
4. If you have a cough, you can use honey as a natural anti-inflammatory and cough suppressant.

Physical Treatments

Physical treatments may also be helpful. These links show you easy exercises and treatments you can do at home

• Chest physical therapy, using gravity to move mucus from the lungs to the throat and out, to know how visit: https://pereaclinic.com/3-ways-to-release-mucus-from-your-lungs/
• To clear your nose visit: https://pereaclinic.com/nasal-irrigation-an-easy-way-to-reduce-symptoms-of-allergies-and-sinusitis/

Over-the-Counter Medications

Over-the-counter medications can help relieve mucus buildup and symptoms. These include:

1. Decongestants like pseudoephedrine or oxymetazoline. These medicines can help stop mucus production.
2. Expectorants These help remove mucus from the respiratory tract. They work by increasing the water content of mucus. Making it easy to cough mucus up.

If these treatments don’t work for you or your symptoms are chronic, you should visit your GP for advice and prescribed medications.

If you need advice or have any questions about our treatments, please contact us. You can find us in Mill Hill Broadway and Islington. We are always happy to help!

We hope this information is useful. If you like this blog, please share!

References

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/mucus-and-phlegm-what-to-do-if-you-have-too-much/

https://www.healthline.com/health/overproduction-of-mucus-in-throat#causes

https://www.verywellhealth.com/why-does-copd-cause-increased-mucus-production

The post Mucus: why do I overproduce mucus and how can I treat it? appeared first on Perea Clinic.

Your lung capacity is the total amount of air your lungs can hold. This can be affected over time as the lung capacity normally starts decreasing slowly as you pass your mid-20s.

Some conditions significantly speed up these reductions in lung capacity and functioning such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), leading to difficulties in breathing and shortness of breath.

You cannot change your lung capacity in terms of how much oxygen your lungs can hold. However, you can do some exercises that may help to maintain your lung capacity, making it easier to keep your lungs healthy and get your body the oxygen it needs.

Let’s have a closer look.

Breathing exercises

1.Rib Stretch:

• Stand upright and exhale all the air from your lungs.
• Slowly breathe in and expand your lungs to the maximum capacity.
• Hold the air for about 20 seconds or what is comfortable for you. While counting, place both hands on your hips with your thumbs facing front with pinkies touching the small of your back.
• Exhale the air slowly, relax and repeat three more times.

2. Deep Breathing  followed by cough 

•  Take five deep breaths in.
•  Hold your breath each time for five seconds.
•  On the sixth deep breath, as you exhale, cough deeply 3 times.
•  Repeat once, then, lay flat on your front and breathe slightly deeper for 10 minutes.

3. Deep Breathing

• Sit straight but with your shoulder relaxed.
• Take a deep breath in.
• Breath out fast with your mouth open.
• Have a pause and repeat it a couple of times.

4. Pursed Lip Breathing exercise 

• This technique involves breathing in through your nose.
• Breathing out slowly through the mouth with pursed lips.
• Repeat couple of times.

5. Diaphragmatic (belly) breathing

• Sit straight with shoulders and neck relax or do it in your bed.
• Breathing in through your nose.
• Put your hands lightly on your stomach to feel your belly full of air.
• Breathe out through your mouth at least two to three times as long as your inhale.

These exercises reduce the number of breaths you have to take and keep your airways open for more time. More air can flow in and out of your lungs; this means your lung capacity increases so you can be more physically active.

Drink fluids

Be sure you are drinking enough fluids, they loosens phlegm.  Dehydration makes phlegm sticks more to the lungs, so is going to be very difficult to cough it up. Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day. What you drink should be caffeine free fluids like water or fruit juices.

Exercising

Exercise has many benefits for your overall health and lung health, in particular. While you exercise, your muscles need more oxygen. This increases demand on your lungs to take in air, and your heart to circulate blood. With regular exercise, your Muscles will become stronger and more efficient using less oxygen. It can help lessen some of the symptoms of bronchitis. Also, when you are properly hydrated, exercise can loosen nasal congestion and open your sinuses.

Although exercising may be more difficult if you have chronic lung conditions, but you can benefit from regular exercise too.  Take into account that, if you have COPD, cystic fibrosis, or asthma, you should ask your doctor before starting an exercise regimen.

We hope this information is useful. If you need advice or have any questions about our treatments, please contact us. You can find us in Mill Hill Broadway and Islington. We are always glad to help.

 If you like this blog, please share! 

The post Breathing exercises to increase lung capacity and clear the lungs appeared first on Perea Clinic.