Our Osteopaths are regularly seeing people in clinic with recurrent cough and discomfort following chest infections and we wanted to share with you some of our easy to implement advice to help you clear mucus, breathe easy and get back to regular activity.
Improving Breathing Following a Chest Infection
Chest infections can significantly impact your breathing and overall respiratory health.
Recovery requires not only medical intervention but also self-care practices to restore lung function, clear mucus, and gradually return to regular activities.
This article outlines effective strategies to improve breathing after a chest infection, including breathing exercises to clear mucus, ways to enhance air quality, and guidelines for safely reintroducing regular activities.
Breathing Exercises to Clear Mucus
Clearing mucus from the lungs is crucial for recovery from a chest infection. Several breathing exercises can help achieve this:
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- Deep Breathing Exercises
Deep breathing helps expand the lungs and can loosen mucus. Follow these steps:
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**Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.**
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**Place your hands on your abdomen.**
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**Inhale deeply through your nose, feeling your abdomen rise.**
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**Hold your breath for a few seconds.**
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**Exhale slowly through your mouth, feeling your abdomen fall.**
Repeat this exercise 5-10 times, several times a day.
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- Huff Coughing
Huff coughing is a technique designed to move mucus up and out of the lungs:
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**Sit upright in a chair.**
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**Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose.**
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**Hold the breath for 2-3 seconds.**
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**Forcefully exhale with your mouth open, making a “ha” sound.**
Repeat this process 2-3 times, followed by a normal cough to clear the mucus.
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- Pursed-Lip Breathing
This exercise helps keep the airways open longer, allowing for more air to be exhaled:
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**Inhale slowly through your nose for two counts.**
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**Purse your lips as if you are about to blow out a candle.**
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**Exhale slowly and gently through your pursed lips for four counts.**
Practice pursed-lip breathing several times a day, especially when you feel short of breath.
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- Active Cycle of Breathing Techniques (ACBT)
ACBT combines different breathing exercises to clear mucus effectively:
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**Breathing Control:** Take gentle, relaxed breaths through your nose.
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**Thoracic Expansion:** Take deep breaths, allowing your chest to expand fully.
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**Forced Expiration Technique:** Perform huff coughing to clear mucus.
Repeat the cycle until your lungs feel clearer.
Improving Air Quality
Maintaining good indoor air quality is vital for respiratory health, particularly during recovery from a chest infection. Here are several ways to improve air quality:
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- Keep Your Home Clean
Regularly dust and vacuum to reduce the presence of allergens and irritants.
Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter to trap small particles, consider your mattress as well as other soft furnishings which may be dust traps.
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- Use Air Purifiers
Air purifiers can remove pollutants, allergens, and bacteria from the air.
Look for purifiers with HEPA filters and ensure they are appropriately sized for your room.
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- Control Humidity Levels
Maintaining optimal humidity levels (30-50%) can help reduce mold and dust mites.
Use a dehumidifier in damp areas and a humidifier in dry conditions.
Using steam can also loose a cough
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- Ensure Proper Ventilation
Regularly ventilate your home by opening windows and using exhaust fans to remove stale air and introduce fresh air.
In areas with high pollution, use an air purifier instead.
Remember indoor plants can also help improve air quality and reduce pollutant levels.
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- Avoid Smoke and Pollutants
Do not smoke indoors, and avoid exposure to secondhand smoke.
This may include the use of an indoor or outdoor fireplace.
Limit the use of strong cleaning products, paints, and sprays that can release harmful chemicals into the air.
Reintroducing Regular Activity
Gradually resuming physical activity is crucial for regaining strength and improving lung function after a chest infection. Follow these guidelines for a safe return to regular activity:
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- Start Slowly
Begin with light activities such as walking or gentle stretching. Listen to your body and avoid pushing yourself too hard.
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- Gradual Progression
Gradually increase the intensity and duration of your activities. For example, start with 10-15 minutes of walking and slowly extend the time as your endurance improves.
- Breathing Exercises
Incorporate breathing exercises into your daily routine to strengthen your respiratory muscles and improve lung function.
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- Stay Hydrated
Drink plenty of fluids to keep mucus thin and easier to clear. Hydration is essential for overall recovery and respiratory health.
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- Monitor Symptoms
Pay attention to your symptoms. If you experience increased shortness of breath, chest pain, or fatigue, reduce your activity level and consult your healthcare provider.
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- Professional Guidance
Consider working with a respiratory therapist or osteopath who can provide tailored exercises and monitor your progress.
Our osteopaths work regularly with breathing mechanics, as well as reducing load of breathing by reducing tension in the ribs, thoracic cage and diaphragm.
When to Reintroduce Regular Activity
The timing of reintroducing regular activity depends on the severity of your chest infection and your overall health. Here are some general guidelines:
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- Mild Infections
If you had a mild chest infection and are feeling better, you could start light activities within a few days to a week. Always listen to your body and progress gradually.
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- Moderate to Severe Infections
For more severe infections, it may take a few weeks before you can safely resume regular activities. Consult your healthcare provider for personalized advice.
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- Follow-Up Care
Attend follow-up appointments with your healthcare provider to ensure your lungs are healing properly. They can provide guidance on when it is safe to increase your activity level.
Overview
Recovering from a chest infection requires a comprehensive approach to improve breathing, clear mucus, and gradually return to regular activities.
Incorporating breathing exercises, enhancing air quality, and following a gradual reintroduction of physical activity are key steps in this process.
Always listen to your body, stay hydrated, and seek professional guidance to ensure a safe and effective recovery.
By taking these steps, you can restore your respiratory health and regain your strength after a chest infection.
Is your exercise routine predetermined by your parents?
Active parents model and promote physical activity to their children, by getting them involved in what they enjoy, making it fun and age appropriate, as well as through simply making it a part of the regular routine.
Kids who are active in younger age groups tend to be more active in their teenage and later years, so encouraging kids to move promotes a happy and healthy lifestyle for the long term.
Active teens become more active parents and are more likely to have active kids, so the cycle continues.
It can be worth reflecting on the example that was set for physical fun and activity in your family as you were growing up and how this may have shaped your tendencies and preferences into adulthood.
Maybe you were naturally active as a kid and loved to play outside.
Or your parents made you stay outside until dinner time.
Was your regular weekend filled with bike rides, swimming at the beach, community cricket matches or building cubby houses?
In some families, valuing education, reading, music or other activities may have taken a bigger role.
What influence has this had on your habits, behaviours and values?
Movement is important at every stage of life
At all ages, making exercise and regular movement a regular part of your routine while having fun reaps its benefits and longevity rewards.
If you’re a parent, it can also be worth exploring what you’re consciously doing and what the kids see in regards to how much you move and what they may be picking up on more subtle levels.
As lots of our subconscious patterning happens before the age of 3, we thought we’d cover exercise and physical activity for young children up to preschool age
Just to be clear, we’re not about blaming or shaming you, your parents or your kids!
We often don’t think about the idea that a baby needs regular “exercise” and toddlers and young children tend to be naturally quite active, so it can be hard to believe the possibility that they may not be getting enough movement in their day.
Kids, (like all of us) benefit from a variety of physical activity, inactivity and sleep within a 24 hour cycle. Physical activity in young children typically happens primarily through play.
Why is physical activity important even in these younger age groups?
Promoting adequate movement in children helps them discover and learn more about their environment, their body and stimulates the nervous system to build pathways for ongoing learning.
It helps kids increase their gross motor skills, including physical strength and coordination to balance, sit, crawl, walk, run, jump and engage in more complex play.
Essentially it helps develop strong muscles and bones.
It also stimulates the mind, while promoting emotional and social wellbeing.
Movement and play can also provide a stimulus for fine motor skill development, even though we don’t often think of it this way.
Kids will move themselves towards interesting and interactive activities and objects, leading to multi skill learning.
Carrying and manipulating an object while on the move is a more complex form of fine motor function, while having to balance and avoid knocking large objects or obstacles in their path.
Engaging in lots of physical play at a young age helps prevent injuries and encourages a love of movement, which in turn supports and encourages maintaining a healthy weight.
Age 0-1
It’s important that parents and caregivers support and encourage children to be active even at this young age.
Even before babies are mobile, it is worthwhile encouraging them to engage in physical activity several times per day for short intervals.
For our youngest babies, virtually from 1 month to 1 year, or even earlier if they’re healthy and awake enough, neonates and babies need 30 minutes of active time per day.
This can include:
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Supervised floor play
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Tummy time for a minimum of 30 minutes per day, every day (unless very unwell)
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Reaching and grasping of objects
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Kicking and moving their arms and legs
Once children are more mobile it can include:
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Rolling around on the floor
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Crawling, it can be fun to make them obstacle courses once they’re on the move
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Pulling up on furniture
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Cruising around furniture and objects
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Walking (please note not all children will be walking by 12 months)
Toddlers – 1 and 2 year olds
Toddlers typically love to be on the move, which is great, but also stressful for parents at times as they can tend to reach, grab and play with objects we wish they wouldn’t.
As they’re growing quickly, we often need to place things further out of reach in order to reduce hazards, such as objects falling on their head.
The more play and activity they engage in, the better.
The recommended amount of physical activity for children in this age group is
3 hours per day, including energetic action every day, broken into shorter bursts and not all at once.
This can come as a surprise for parents that kids of this age need this amount of movement.
Kids that move more also tend to be better sleepers (overall) and experience tells me that kids who aren’t getting enough sleep or physical activity tend to be itching to get more of it and in turn can start climbing the walls, so to speak.
This can include:
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Learning to ride a foot propelled tricycle (preferably with a helmet)
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Running; playing chase, ball games or races
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Twirling and dancing
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Jumping and navigating obstacles
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Playing on park equipment
Preschoolers – 3-5 year olds
Kids of this age are naturally inquisitive and want to explore their surroundings, start playing alongside and with friends. Including activities such as hide and seek, discovery walks and other games that promote exploration and learning is valuable.
They need 1 hour of energetic (think higher intensity) play alongside another 2 hours of physical activity, 3 hours in total per day.
Fun and energetic activities could include:
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Running and learning to kick a ball at the same time
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Skipping, hop scotch, twister
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Swimming (supervised at all times)
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Riding a bike or scooter (always with a helmet)
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Dancing
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Throwing balls, totem tennis
Again activity should be done in smaller intervals and not all at once.
While the activity guidelines do change from childhood to adulthood, we recommend that older children get at least an hour of purposeful physical activity daily and adults a minimum of 30 minutes (such as going for a walk).
Adults exercise advice regarding timing is affected by how much high or moderate activity one is participating in.
High intensity activity which involves getting your heart rate up is recommended for a minimum of 90 mins per week. If you prefer moderate intensity then 180 minutes per week is the baseline recommendation.
Limit sitting and laying down
As much as possible, we want to limit sitting / laying down and encourage more movement to encourage healthy habits for life.
Encourage getting up and moving around after 30-60 minutes, even if it is only for a short stint.
In educational and work settings, taking these mini movement breaks has been shown to increase productivity and reduce aches and pains associated with excessive sitting.
Look out for our follow up email outlining the recommended amount of screentime for adults and kids.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions, ideas or feedback and let us know your thoughts on physical activity guidelines and if your exercise routine has been predetermined by your parents.
