The lungs are the only way that oxygen can be absorbed by the body for delivery to all the organs. Humans cannot live without them. Environmental damage and certain infections can make the lungs chronically unhealthy. Although keeping the lungs healthy to begin with is desirable, there are several techniques to make the lungs healthy again if they become diseased.
Remove Environmental Harms
People who are smokers continuously damage their lungs by inhaling chemicals that irritate and harm the tissues of the lungs. Other people live or work in environments where air pollution is heavy. Anything from car pollution to gas-burning stoves can irritate and damage the lungs. It is important to remove those environmental harms or move to an area where they are less severe. This keeps the lung irritation low.
Aerobic Exercise
Like any other organ, the lungs react to exercise by adapting. Aerobic exercise is the type of exercise that taxes the lungs to work harder by demanding more oxygen to be delivered to the muscles. As more aerobic exercise is performed, the lungs adapt by creating more blood vessels both to irrigate the lung tissues and to absorb more oxygen, thus becoming stronger and healthier.
Incentive Spirometry
Incentive spirometry attempts to duplicate the effects on the lungs of long, continuous breathing, like yawning. This type of breathing expands the lungs to their fullest capacity. In time, patients using incentive spirometry learn to take in deep breaths to make better use of their entire lungs. The lungs then adapt to more oxygen being inhaled.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation
People with certain lung conditions like chronic-obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) benefit greatly from pulmonary rehabilitation to make their lungs healthy. This type of rehabilitation consists of performing certain aerobic exercises under the strict supervision of a pulmonologist (a medical specialist in lung function). The pulmonologist will tailor the exercises to the needs of the patient, thus returning the lungs to health whenever possible.
Medication
Of course, it is not always possible to make lungs healthy through exercise and respiratory therapy. There are those cases where lung disease is advanced and the lungs need medication to become as healthy as they can be. Bronchodialators relax the muscles around the entrance to the lungs, and anti-inflammatory medication eases the inflammation caused by lung irritation or damage. Health care providers are the best to consult on what medications may work best.
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