What is cardiorespiratory physiotherapy?
It is physiotherapy for the lungs, breathing and the heart’s ability to keep up with activity. A physiotherapist helps you breathe more efficiently, clear mucus from the chest and build stamina.
It does not replace your doctor’s care. It works alongside medicines, scans and any oxygen or hospital treatment you have been given.
Who can benefit?
People whose breathing or stamina has dropped after illness, surgery or a long period in bed can benefit. It also helps those with long-term chest conditions.
- Chronic lung disease such as COPD (long-term lung damage that causes breathlessness).
- Recovery after pneumonia or a long hospital stay.
- Weakness and breathlessness after an intensive care unit (ICU) stay.
- Recovery after heart surgery.
- Lingering effects of long COVID (coronavirus disease).
- Tiredness and breathlessness during or after cancer treatment.
- Older people who stay in bed and find the chest filling with phlegm.
If you are unsure, describe the problem. We will tell you if a doctor should see you first.
What do we check on the first visit?
We listen to your story and read your discharge papers, then watch how you breathe at rest and when you move. We count your breathing rate, check your posture and the way your ribs move, and see how far you can walk and how you cope with stairs.
We also ask what makes you breathless, whether you cough up phlegm, what colour it is and how well you sleep. We look at how you use your inhalers, and if the technique is wrong we tell your doctor or pharmacist.
You leave with a plan for the week and one or two techniques to start the same day.
What does treatment include?
The plan depends on the problem. These are the parts that make up most of it:
- Breathing control, so that each breath uses less effort.
- Airway clearance techniques, to move sticky phlegm.
- Positioning, to ease breathlessness and help the lungs expand.
- Chest wall and posture exercises, to loosen tight breathing muscles.
- Graded walking and strength exercises, to build stamina.
- Pacing and energy-saving habits for daily tasks.
We teach each technique until you or your helper can do it alone.
Can breathing exercises help at home in Ipoh?
Yes, and the home setting helps. We practise in the room you actually use, with your own chair and bed. Ipoh is warm and humid, so a fan beside you and sips of water can ease a dry throat, and cooler hours suit exercise better.
On hazy days, stay indoors when air quality is poor, follow your doctor’s advice and keep windows closed. Tell us if haze or dust makes the cough worse, and we adjust the plan.
How do we help a bedridden patient?
For patients who spend most of the day in bed, chest care is a daily need. Sitting up, changing position and practising deep breaths and coughs can help prevent phlegm settling in the lungs.
We teach the family or helper how to position the patient safely, how to support a cough and which signs to report. See our page on bedridden patient physiotherapy.
When must you call a doctor or go to hospital?
Go to the emergency department for severe breathlessness at rest, blue lips, chest pain, coughing up blood, fainting, or a fever with fast, laboured breathing. Do not wait for the next physiotherapy visit.
See your doctor soon if the cough changes, your phlegm becomes thick, green or bloody, your ankles swell, or your breathing suddenly worsens. Physiotherapy supports your treatment but does not replace a medical review.
How do we start and what does it cost?
Message us on WhatsApp with the diagnosis, the hospital, current medicines and what is hardest now. We arrange a home visit across Ipoh, and our Canning Garden centre, opening soon, will suit people who can travel and want a gym setting.
Home and centre prices differ, and we send a quote after your description. Read about older adult rehabilitation or home physiotherapy.