Physiotherapy - LUHFT wide

 

This leaflet will provide advice and techniques to help with the clearance of secretions

 

 

Active Cycle of Breathing Cycle

This chest clearance exercise is split into four sections:

  • Breathing control                
  • Deep breaths
  • Huffing
  • Cough

Breathing Control:

  1. Place a hand on your stomach, just above your navel (belly button).

  2. Breathe in gently through your nose allowing your stomach to expand.
  3. Relax and breathe out through your nose, without forcing the air out.
  4. Breathe in for a count of three and breathe out for a count of four

Deep Breaths:

  1. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose.

  2. Hold the breath in for a count of three.
  3. Relax and allow the air to fall out of your lungs through your nose.
  4. Repeat four or five times.

Huffing

Take a medium sized breath in, then, with your mouth open, force the air out, hard and fast.

Cough

Try to cough to clear the phlegm when you feel it at the back of your throat into a tissue, handkerchief or sputum pot if available.                         

Things to look out for:

  • Change in colour of sputum.
  • Coughing up more sputum than normal.
  • If you feel shorter of breath than normal.
  • Generally feeling unwell

If this happens you need to go to the doctors for further advice or appropriate treatment as soon as possible.

Postural Drainage:


Postural drainage involves you lying in different positions to help drain the sputum from these problem areas.

Try to lie in the instructed position for at least twenty minutes twice a day. During this time, you should do your breathing exercises.

Your physio will circle the positions most appropriate for your condition.

When to stop postural drainage:

  • If it is painful or uncomfortable.

  • If you feel breathless or feel like you a having difficulty breathing.

  • If you are feeling nauseous or have been vomiting.
  • If you have fresh red blood in your secretions.
  • If you are feeling wheezy.

Feedback

Your feedback is important to us and helps us influence care in the future.

Following your discharge from hospital or attendance at your outpatient appointment you will receive a text asking if you would recommend our service to others. Please take the time to text back, you will not be charged for the text and can opt out at any point. Your co-operation is greatly appreciated.

Further information

If you have any further questions or concerns about this leaflet or the exercises described, please contact your ward via:

www.uhliverpool.nhs.uk/services/wards

Other sources of information:

  • Asthma and Lung UK (https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/)
  • British Thoracic Society (https://www.brit-thoracic.org.uk/)
  • Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care (https://www.acprc.org.uk/)

 

Author: Physiotherapy Department, LUHFT wide

Review date: May 2028

PI 3252 V1