Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) causes you difficulty when you try to breathe properly. When you suffer from COPD, your lung becomes inflamed due to changes in its shape and lack of elasticity. Your airways become compromised and your lung cannot efficiently engage in moving air in and out in a normal way. Smoking plays a major role in developing COPD. Other irritants such as inhalation of toxic substances, environmental issues as well as outdoor and indoor pollutants contribute to this deadly disease. Physical therapy can help you improve your COPD condition with the use of exercises that return you to performing your activities of daily living. You will be initially evaluated before treatment.

Evaluation and Exercise Training

Your physical therapist, after evaluating your condition, will design unique exercises that enable you to reach your goals for treatment. Special exercises increase your aerobic capacity by strengthening muscles that reduce your shortness of breath. You'll learn that aerobic exercises come in many forms such as walking, jogging or biking outdoors, which you can do when you're at home. Strength training could also be recommended.

Strength Training

Strength training is recommended for you by your therapist if your condition runs the gamut from moderate to severe COPD. You'll be using a variety of strengthening exercise objects that especially benefits your arms. Those exercises include your utilizing appropriate weights and resistance bands to improve your muscle mass. You'll be given restraining bands to take home with you. You might be required to use a treadmill or stepper that will increase your cardiovascular endurance. Muscle stretching exercises will also be part of your routine program.

Muscle Stretching

When you perform stretching exercises, this activity slowly lengthens your muscles. So when your physical therapist instructs you to do stretches before and after your regular exercises, that's because this activity increases your flexibility and range of motion. Upper body exercises will also be a part of your routine exercises.

Upper Body Exercises

Malfunctioning respiratory muscles pose problems and trigger COPD. The physical therapist will have you perform repetitive muscle contraction tightening exercises in your upper body. That serves the purpose of decreasing your heart rate and blood pressure, which allows you to breathe easier. You should expect to undergo inspiratory muscle training too.

Inspiratory Muscle Enhancement

You breathe in with your inspiratory muscles, and you'll receive training to enhance that activity. Diaphragmatic breathing will be taught to you, which helps you to accomplish effective breathing. This type of breathing activity reduces the shortness of breath you experience when you perform your physical activities.

For more information about physical therapy that will reduce your COPD symptoms, talk to a clinic like Eastern Shore Physical Therapy.