Treatments

Breathing treatments and taking all kinds of medication is a reality in the management of Cystic Fibrosis. Pulmonary clearance probably the most important part of CF management. Elena uses a Vest® airway clearance machine. Elena getting manual CPT The way it works is by having the patient wear an inflatable vest that is hooked up to a type of air compressor which oscillates at different frequencies. This vibrating action loosens the mucous so that it can be coughed out. Usually, it takes a bit of huff coughing to help her cough up the loosened secretions after therapy. She received her Vest® when she was seven. Before that, we had to do manual chest physiotherapy (CPT) on her twice a day. It took forty-five minutes each session, and Elena hated it.

During her Vest® therapy, Elena uses a nebulizer to inhale several medications. Using the Vest® has saved us a lot of time, because she can do all of her nebulized treatments at the same time she is using the Vest®, and her treatments can be completely finished in about twenty minutes.

Elena doing her vest Manual CPT, also called postural drainage, is done by "clapping" several different areas on the chest, sides, and back, in order to loosen and drain the five different lobes of the lungs. Each lobe has several areas that must be "clapped" for about five minutes, followed by huff coughing to move the secretions up and out of the airways.

Another type of airway clearance is done by using hand held devices which the patient blows into, and the device oscillates and uses positive expiratory pressure (PEP), causing vibrations in the lungs and the tiny alveoli to inflate. My daughter has one of these devices called an Accapella®. She takes that with her on trips and such, since carrying the Vest® machine can be quite cumbersome. The Accapella® works very well for her.