Chest Physiotherapy

Chest Physiotherapy for Children

Lungs have several mechanisms of clearing out the secretions from the airway. Coughing is the protective reflex by which these lungs are pushed out of the lungs.

Chest physiotherapy (CPT) is a set of exercises that are performed on the chest to aid in the process of clearing our secretions and also to strengthen respiratory muscles.

CPT is particularly beneficial for children with chronic respiratory conditions like asthma, cystic fibrosis, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. It can also be used to manage acute respiratory infections that cause excessive mucus production.

Why is Chest Physiotherapy Important for Children?

Chest physiotherapy plays a critical role in managing and improving your child’s lung health. Here’s how it can help:

Improves Airway Clearance: One of the primary benefits of CPT is its ability to help clear mucus from the airways. Excess mucus can block airflow, leading to coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. By loosening and removing this mucus, CPT can help improve breathing and prevent infections.

Enhances Respiratory Function: For children with chronic respiratory conditions, regular chest physiotherapy can help maintain clear airways, making it easier for your child to breathe and reducing the frequency of flare-ups.

Prevents Lung Infections: When mucus accumulates in the lungs, it can lead to bacterial growth, resulting in infections like pneumonia or bronchitis. CPT helps reduce the risk of infections by keeping the airways clear and preventing the build-up of harmful bacteria.

Relieves Breathing Difficulties: By improving lung function and clearing blocked airways, chest physiotherapy can help reduce the severity of symptoms like wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.

Enhances Overall Quality of Life: Regular CPT can help children with chronic respiratory conditions lead a more active, healthy life by reducing symptoms, preventing complications, and improving lung health.

Chest Physiotherapy for airway clearance

Positioning: Your child is placed in various positions to drain the excess mucus from the different lobes of lungs. Each position is designed so that one of the five lobes of the lungs is facing downward and gravity helps in drainage.

Vibrations: Gentle vibrations are given on the chest wall either by fingers (in infants) or by using vibrating devices (older kids) to loosen the secretions and move them from lobes to larger airways.

Tapping and Patting: Taps are given on the chest wall in all the areas using fingers or cupped hands to help in loosening the secretions and their drainage from various lobes to larger airways from where it is then coughed out.

High-frequency chest wall oscillation or the Vests: inflatable vests are advised to children with suppurative lung diseases like cystic fibrosis or bronchiectasis. These vests are attached to a machine that delivers high frequency vibrations and helps in drainage of the airways.

Active cycle of breathing exercises (ACBT): These are set of breathing exercises, divided into 3 phases, that help in drainage of thick mucus. The first phase allows relaxation of airways, second phase pushes air behind the mucus and third phase allows pushing the mucus out.

Chest physiotherapy for Asthma

Breathing exercises:

Pranayama: Breath holding exercises have been a form of promoting lung health since ancient times. Pranayama is a set of breathing exercises in yoga and is extremely beneficial for improving lung functions specially in children with asthma.

Blowing: Blowing through pursed lips or blowing a deflated balloon is a good exercise and a fun activity for children.

Chest Physiotherapy to improve Aeration

Incentive Spirometry: This is a device in which maximum inhalation and maximum exhalation is done by blowing into the device and then inhaling air from the device. This activity helps in opening up the collapsed airways and is especially important in pneumonia.

ACBT also helps in improving lung function

How Often Does My Child Need Chest Physiotherapy?

The frequency and duration of chest physiotherapy depend on the severity of your child’s respiratory condition. For some children with chronic respiratory diseases like cystic fibrosis, daily physiotherapy may be required to keep the airways clear and prevent complications. For children with milder conditions or occasional flare-ups, CPT may be needed only during symptoms or acute illness.

It’s important to follow your pediatric pulmonologist’s advice on how often and when CPT should be performed to optimize your child’s lung health.