By the end of this chapter you will be able to:
- understand the importance of a good cough
- describe the benefits of pulmonary clearance
How does coughing clear the lungs?
A cough is the body’s natural way of clearing secretions (mucus) from the lungs. To make sure they can clear secretions from their lungs, your child needs to be able to take a big breath in to completely fill their lungs with air and breathe out forcefully.
A strong cough involves three short steps, one after the other.
- Inhalation (taking a big breath in).
- Forceful exhalation (breathing out forcefully) while the vocal cords are closed (your muscles need enough strength to close the vocal cords).
- An explosive release of air when the vocal cords open.
If your child's breathing muscles are weak, their cough will be weak too. However, your child can use "pulmonary clearance" to help strengthen their cough so they can clear secretions from their lungs.
What is pulmonary clearance?
Pulmonary clearance techniques are exercises and devices to help your child cough. If your child does these exercises every day, they will increase their ability to move secretions up from their airway into their tracheostomy, throat or mouth.
What are the benefits of pulmonary clearance techniques?
Pulmonary clearance techniques can:
- improve the amount of air your child can breathe into and out of their lungs
- improve coughing and speaking
- increase the amount of oxygen getting into your child’s body
- prevent the air sacs in your child’s lungs from collapsing
- prevent lung infections
Pulmonary clearance techniques
There are four main types of pulmonary clearance techniques:
