PULMONARY REHABILITATION

When you have chronic lung disease it can be hard to do things that use to be easy. Things like climbing a flight of stairs, playing golf or keeping up with your grandchildren. If this sounds familiar, there is good news. Pulmonary Rehabilitation can help you breathe easier, get stronger and do more activities in your daily life.

Chronic lung disease is an ongoing problem that keeps you from breathing normally. There are many conditions that make up chronic lung disease. These include COPD, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, asthma and restrictive lung disease all of which can cause shortness of breath. You may find you avoid certain activities because you are afraid of getting short of breath and that your daily activities are becoming limited. There is help.

The Pulmonary Rehabilitation course is program that will teach you to live and breathe better with chronic lung disease. The course is run by a Respiratory Therapist trained to treat people with lung disease. The goal of the course is to help reduce your symptoms and improve the quality of your day-to-day life. During the Pulmonary Rehab course, which lasts six weeks, you’ll learn about your condition and gain skills to help you manage it. Pulmonary rehab often takes place in a group setting where you will gain help and support from others who share your concerns, fears and rehab goals. As part of the treatment you will learn breathing techniques to help your lungs work as well as possible. You’ll learn exercises to increase strength and endurance. And you’ll learn tricks for conserving energy so you can do more of the things you want to.

There are many types of treatment for chronic lung disease. Your doctor can tell you if the Pulmonary Rehab course if right for you. A doctor’s referral is required to take the class. The class is covered by some insurance companies.