Lung Exercises
While there is no one-size-fits-all cure for pneumonia, one can do things to ease the symptoms and speed up recovery. One of those things is exercise. A few lunch exercises are practical and relatively easy to perform.
Deep breathing exercises help expand your lungs and loosen the mucus in your chest so you can cough it up more easily. To do a deep breathing exercise, sit up straight in a chair with your feet flat. Put one hand on the stomach just below your belly button. Slowly inhale through the nose, letting the stomach push the hand out. Fill the lungs without causing unnecessary straining and then exhale slowly through pursed lips while pressing on the stomach so that it collapses inward. Repeat this process ten times.
Coughing exercises help break up the mucus in your chest so you can cough it up more quickly. They also help strengthen the muscles used for coughing so that a patient can cough more effectively. Chest physiotherapy (CPT) is a technique that uses airway clearance devices to help loosen thick mucus so that one can cough it up more quickly. A physical therapist or respiratory therapist usually does it. Still, pneumonia patients can also learn how to do it at home with the help of an instructional video or pamphlet from a doctor or physical therapist.
