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Home Guide for Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a very common chronic disease, which can cause lung injury, dyspnea and insufficient oxygen supply, thus causing a series of heart and lung diseases.

This kind of disease is irreversible, cannot be cured, can only be controlled. Once you don’t pay attention, the patient will be admitted to hospital due to acute attack. Although in the hospital, doctors will give oxygen inhalation, anti-infection, promotion of sputum excretion and other treatments to improve the condition, but each hospitalization of the patient represents a further deterioration of lung conditions.

Therefore, in the final analysis, the home recuperation of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is equally important than hospitalization.

There is no limit to the form of sports, persistence is the most important thing.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease also need to exercise, but this exercise is mainly based on strength exercise. However, this exercise does not require patients to be the same as athletes, but to do what they can.

What should I do?

  1. Take a walk frequently and don’t stop until you have a little difficulty breathing.

  2. Gradually increase the walking distance;

  3. Don’t talk while walking;

  4. Ask your doctor or therapist about the appropriate walking distance;

  5. After consulting a doctor or therapist, use spinning for exercise.

  6. Strength exercise should also be carried out when sitting:

    Use light weight objects or rubber tubes for arm and shoulder exercises. Do several squats on the seat. Push your legs straight and then slowly lower them. Repeat this action several times.

Before doing these trainings, it is best to consult your doctor whether you need oxygen inhalation during the exercise, whether you need muscle exercise, or similar lung rehabilitation fitness training, etc.

The most convenient doctor is the patient himself.

For patients, the most convenient doctor is actually the patient himself. Only he can know best what is wrong with his body and what kind of help he needs.

Therefore, every patient should understand and grasp the timing of taking COPD drugs, and adhere to the living habits conducive to relieving the disease.

  1. When you feel short of breath, quickly inhale deeply and seek help at the same time.

  2. Every day, you should take lip contraction and exhalation exercises. You should reduce your lips every time you exhale, and exhale the gas in your lungs as slowly as possible instead of exhaling in big mouth.

  3. You should eat less and eat more, for example, you can eat six meals a day. Because, when the stomach filling degree is reduced, breathing may be smoother. At the same time, attention should be paid not to drink a lot of beverages before and during meals.

  4. At the same time, doctors can recommend some high-energy and small-volume foods.

  5. To prevent further lung damage:

    If you still smoke, you should quit smoking immediately and stay away from smokers as far as possible. At the same time, you should prohibit smoking at home and take breathing exercises away from peculiar smell and smoke areas such as lampblack.

If you feel depressed or anxious, or can’t handle the physical situation, you should also communicate with your doctor in time.

Do not give infection a chance.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are often more prone to infection. Therefore, it is recommended that influenza vaccination should be given every year. At the same time, you can consult your doctor if you need to be vaccinated against pneumonia.

Wash your hands before meals, and at the same time, you should also wash your hands after contacting your patients.

Stay away from crowded areas; If the visitor has a cold, ask him to wear a mask or postpone visiting after recovering from the disease.

What should I do if I don’t move?

After patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease develop to a certain period of time, pulmonary heart disease will occur. The daily activities of patients with mild diseases may not be affected. However, patients with severe diseases may be tired without moving.

What about this?

  1. Put common items together so that they can be taken away.

  2. When you need to move heavy objects, you can use trolleys. Use electric bottle openers, dishwashers and other items that make housework simple. At the same time, cookers should also choose light-weight products.

  3. Labor-saving methods:

    Don’t worry, try to slow down and move steadily when doing housework. If conditions permit, you can sit down when cooking, eating, dressing and bathing. Ask for help when doing heavy work; Don’t do too much housework in one day.

Remember, take the phone with you or keep it beside you.

Oxygen inhalation equipment should be on standby.

Most patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease will include oxygen inhalation in their doctor’s advice as long as the indications are met.

Oxygen inhalation can be carried out not only in hospitals, but also at home as long as conditions permit. Adhering to long-term low-flow oxygen inhalation every day is helpful to improve the quality of life of patients and prolong their life span.

So patients should pay attention to what when using oxygen inhalation equipment?

  1. It is forbidden to arbitrarily transfer the parameters of oxygen inhalation equipment without consulting a doctor.

  2. At home or when going out, be sure to prepare oxygen inhalation equipment;

  3. The body should always be equipped with the phone of the oxygen delivery master.

  4. Learn how to use oxygen inhalation equipment safely.

Find the right person during follow-up

Doctors or nurses often require patients to be followed up, that is, to go to the hospital for reexamination after a period of time. However, because many patients have no experience, the significance of reexamination is often greatly reduced.

What kind of doctor should I find during the reexamination?

  1. It is better to find a doctor who has seen and treated for the first time for reexamination.

  2. Find a respiratory therapist to receive respiratory exercises and learn the use of oxygen inhalation equipment.

  3. 3. Find a respiratory doctor for reexamination;

  4. If you smoke, seek help from a smoking cessation expert.

  5. If you plan to take part in lung rehabilitation training, find a physiotherapist.

In case of what, do you need to see a doctor immediately?

When recuperating at home, if the following conditions occur, call the doctor or communicate as soon as possible:

  1. Breathing becomes more and more difficult;

  2. Respiratory rate increased;

  3. It is difficult to take deep breaths, and breathing becomes light and shallow.

  4. When sitting, you need to lean forward to breathe normally.

  5. When breathing, the muscles between the ribs should also exert themselves to help breathing.

  6. Headache attacks are becoming more and more frequent.

  7. Often feeling tired or confused;

  8. Symptoms of fever develop;

  9. The color of expectoration is dark.

  10. The color of fingertips or nails is blue.

Although the illness will be repeated and there are many details of recuperation, the patient’s illness can be completely controlled as long as the above points are carefully done.

Living in harmony with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD patients can also live the life they want.

Editor: Chuyang

Author: Jing Liu