Every day we are bombarded with news about how the virus affects us and the pharmacological treatments that are used to combat it, even about how the vaccine issue is progressing, but little is known or understood about how the physiotherapy professional can help with this disease. We will see in this article what role the physiotherapy in COVID.
It is known that around 20% of those infected They develop the disease in a severe form, affecting the concentration of oxygen in the blood, rapidly evolving pulmonary infiltrates, coagulation problems, cardiac complications and many others that mean that the patient requires admission to the intensive care unit, which can cause respiratory failure, multi-organ failure, etc.
So what role does the physiotherapy in COVID? Well, this can be beneficial for those patients who are experiencing it from the mildest form to those who have required hospitalization in the intensive care unit.
It will have to be optimized for each patient and should be performed by a specialized physiotherapist in the field and we will base ourselves on several aspects:
- Optimize the patient's breathing pattern and reduce the sensation of dyspnea (feeling of shortness of breath).
- Increase lung volumes and improve lung expansion (help manage how and how much air enters the lungs).
- Promote drainage of secretions in patients where necessary (in patients with increased mucus, help promote expulsion).
- Improve functional capacity.
- Prevent and reduce complications.
- Improve adaptation to daily living activities.
- Improve Life Quality.
It is also very important to work on the patient's reconditioning with therapeutic exercise programs, both aerobic and strength-resistance, and in the case of weakness in the respiratory muscles, specific training will be prescribed for this based on the values of each patient.
Although we can see that the role of this professional is fundamental, it is important to know that this must be a qualified and trained professional in the field. For this reason, LoveXAir We encourage you to contact us with any questions and to join our community where our coaches (respiratory physiotherapists) will be able to advise and guide you throughout the process.
Last updated on 24 November, 2020
