There is a whole lot of pushing and misinformation out there misrepresenting exercise as an airway clearance technique, even from clinicians. Surprisingly even from experts in mucociliary clearance disorders are dangling the push to claim exercise as an airway clearance technique. Unfortunately the data doesn’t appear to back these claims. What research does support is that exercise may be a better bronchodilator to airways than pharmaceutical bronchodilators for pulmonary patients without an asthma component to their overall health picture. The key thing that these clinicians fail to mention in their counseling for exercise in airway clearance is that the exercise only opens the airways to allow the secretions to move, and to allow airflow to get behind the mucus. This basically means absolutely nothing if the patient using exercise as airway clearance fails to utilize actual airway clearance techniques to cough out the secretions. Basically cough it up and out. If the patient does not cough and move the secretions out of the airways with airway clearance techniques immediately following the exercise then opening the airways with exercise was just a futile exercise, no pun intended here.
So while aerobic exercise is a great way to open the airways in preparation for airway clearance, the patient still needs to utilize airway clearance techniques immediately following the activity. Exercise May help encourage uncoordinated breathing which varies the airflow through a PCD patient’s airways to mobilize secretions, but will only benefit the patient’s airway clearance if they utilize airway clearance techniques and cough out those secretions. If you’re struggling to get your child engaged with their airway clearance techniques try turning airway clearance into play, it could help lessen the burden of persuading your child to do their treatments. If you’re an adult, remember that the best airway clearance technique for you is the one that you will actually do. There are tons of airway clearance techniques and tons of outside the box ideas as well. Experiment today and put the fun back into your life. Remember airway hygiene is an important part of primary ciliary dyskinesia care.
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