Breathing thingy...LOL..

Anyways that breathing thing they give you to breathe into....does anyone know why you  have to suck in? I thought you blew out LOL...Anyways i was told to do it 4 times a day 10 times each time and to get up to 2500 adn something about 2 secs..I cannot remember if I have to hold the breathe for 2 secs or 2 secs in between breathes?

your lungs work both ways... in and out

WEll you breathe in deep to stretch out your lungs, with the anestesia they can get kinda "foggy" you want to do the deep breating as much as you can. They will probably also make you cough in the hospital too. I would think that you should hold the breath for 2 seconds.

Almost there!

When you breath in and HOLD your breath for 2 seconds, you are pushing the air to the bottom of your lungs which helps to reexpand your lungs.  This prevents pneumonia! 

You should take 2 seconds to breathe in to get to 2500 (at least) and hold it for 2 seconds before breathing out.  The respiratory therapist told me that inhaling more slowly (that's why there's the good, better, best on the left side of it) helps you strengthen the muscles and fill your lungs completely.

The key is to strengthen  your lungs and to get used to fully clearing the "stale" air out (which is the only way you can get to the point of getting to 2500). 

You'll be doing it a lot after surgery as well.  You'll also have the blowing out one after surgery (that's the EASIER one).

Karen

The idea behind the incentive spirometer is to expand your lungs.

When you blow out air, you are doing just that...blowing out...so like a balloon...your lung "collapses" when the air is let out.

However...when sucking IN...you are filling your lungs with air, making them exapand (again...like an inflated balloon)

After surgery you don't want to breathe to deep because, quite frankly, it can hurt.  And even when you are not THINKING about breathing (like most times) you are "automatically" breathing more shallow.  Because of the hurt thing and also because of the anesthesia and pain meds.

Breathing shallow creates a better chance for fluid to collect, causing pneumonia.

soooooo......they will have you doing these exercises ALOT to keep those lungs open and filled and stretched so you don't get the pneumonia.  The coughing is to help loosen any secretions that DO build up.  It might be a pain to do them...but seriously....that and walking will help you heal MUCH faster.

Pam

Ditto to what everyone said. I had a lot of phlem coming up in the am after surgery so it was good to get that up so you don't get pneumonia. I did it religiously and walked a lot. I only had to go to 2000. Don't worry if your first few inhales don't get that far after surgery. By the time you get to 10 you'll be hitting the mark.