Pulmonary Rehabilitation for Patients with COPD
Patients who are diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) should expect mucus production that is tenacious, long-term coughing, and extreme fatigue. The main concern with COPD is if permanent scars have developed in the lungs. If scarring does occur, the condition cannot be cured it can only be managed.
What is pulmonary rehabilitation?
This is also known as PR, or pulmonary rehab. It is a holistic, non-pharmaceutical approach to alleviate the signs and symptoms of COPD. The pulmonary rehabilitation program includes health education, physical exercise, and social support to patients. More often than not, physicians prescribe pulmonary rehabilitation to patients who have been experiencing the difficulties brought about by COPD for a long period of time.
Pulmonary rehabilitation entails collaborative efforts from several departments or specialists:
- doctors
- respiratory therapists
- nurses
The aim of PR is to improve your bodily functions so that you can physically manage with the demands of your body during exacerbations.
How can pulmonary rehabilitation help?
This holistic, therapeutic, regimen starts with a thorough assessment starting with recording one's medical history, followed by a physical check-up. This primary step allows your physicians to identify important details about your respiratory health.
Examples of details recorded by your physician include:
- How difficult it is for you to breathe
- Your ability to breathe and exercise at the same time
- Your level of activity
Pulmonary rehabilitation improves a patient's respiration technique. Experts will teach the client proper ways to carry out daily activities without experiencing problems with ventilation. Their job is to help you make your breathing as comfortable as possible.
PR improves a patient’s physical condition gradually. After properly assessing the baseline activity tolerance of the patient, experts will try to give the patient goals depending on his or her capabilities. Pulmonary rehabilitation processes are based on scientific studies and it ensures the safety of all patients.
This all-inclusive approach allows clients to learn diverse ways on how they can cope COPD, as they teach about lifestyle, diet, tips that could make you healthy, medications you have to take, and ways to avoid COPD exacerbations.
