What is Pursed-lip Breathing?
Pursed-lip breathing is a breathing technique where the lips are pursed to form a smaller airpath like a short straw which creates breathing resistance and back pressure during exhalation. This created back pressure helps keep the collapsed airways open so that carbon dioxide that’s trapped in the lungs can get out. This technique is particularly useful for COPD which usually causes the airway to collapse, and it is a common breathing technique as a part of pulmonary rehabilitation programs.
What is the common procedure to perform Pursed-lip Breathing?
- Breathe in through the nose using the diaphragm during inhalation.
- Purse the lips as if to whistle during exhalation.
- Slowly exhale through pursed lips. Some resistance should be felt.
- It should take about twice as long to exhale as it does to inhale.
What is the shortcoming of the Pursed-lip Breathing?
The key shortcoming of pursed-lip breathing is the repeated process of alternating from nose breathing to mouth breathing, where it requires constant effort on the part of the patient to control the pursed-lip which makes it a bit hard to adapt correctly and consistently over an extended time. Therefore, pursed-lip Breathing is not ideal if the exercise is long which may be needed for some COPD patients.
Normal Configuration of AYO BT Breathing Trainer
In the normal configuration, AYO BT consists of an Inhalation module BTi on the left side of the mask, and an Exhalation module BTo on the right side of the mask. In the configuration shown below, it trains inspiratory muscles when the air inlet in the BTi is adjusted small enough to create inhalation resistance while BTo provides an Exhalation valve to ease exhalation. In this configuration, the inspiratory resistance can be adjusted independently:
How to Use AYO BT to Improve Pursed-lip Breathing – Option 1
For COPD breathing training, where an increased exhalation resistance and pressure are needed, the normal BTo module can be replaced by another BTi module as shown below, so that an adjustable air outlet can be achieved to vary the back pressure of the lung during exhalation:
In this configuration, the BTi on the right side will independently limit the exhalation by adjusting the air opening so that, the exhaled air is restricted thus increasing the resistance to exhale.
AYO BT in this configuration will train and activate exhalatory muscles.
How to Use AYO BT to Improve Pursed-lip Breathing – Option 2
For applications requiring symmetric adjustment of inhalation and exhalation, one can fit the BTi module on the Right side of the mask, and fit the BTo on the Left side of the mask as shown below:
Note: In this configuration, the inspiratory and expiratory resistance are adjusted at the same time and no independent adjustment is possible.
In summary, when configured and adjusted properly, AYO BT can be used as an improved method for Pursed-lip Breathing. In particular, it can be configured:
- to train both the inspiratory and expiratory breathing muscles.
- to provide exhalation resistance/back pressure for a long period without the control effort from the patient as for pursed-lip breathing.
- to breathe in the entire exercise through the nose only, which also helps normalize breathing by using the diaphragm.
Related Article: How to Use AYO BT as an Alternative to Alternate Nostril Breathing