Osculating Positive Pressure Flutter Valve

I saw my physiotherapist who is excellent at her job and she said that require a Osculating Positive Pressure Flutter Valve which will assist in helping me to get shut of difficult to remove phlegm from my lungs. Has anybody else either got one or has comments on how good this machine is for getting rid of the horrible green sticky stuff. Looking at tinternet they appear to be like an old mans pipe.

[Hidden]

Incidentally my GP did not know what this was and appeared to be very confused with what was required I could hear him tapping away on his keyboard and the answer he came back with was"Ask you physiotherapist to phone me with what is required". This to me proves that GP's do not have sufficient knowledge about asthma and require more training in order to deal with asthmatics as a great number of of us suffer from this problem

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi David, couldn’t agree more with your comment on gp’s needing more training.

I say my doctor 2 weeks ago when my asthma was causing problems again and all he said was ‘did I want to try this new inhaler that’s just come on the market’. What sort of diagnosis was that !!

[Poobah]

My niece is a physiotherapist and the stories of doctors' attitudes to this therapy can be truly breathtaking. She learned quickly that part of the job is educating her colleagues how physiotherapy can be part of a package of treatment. It's not always about drugs and surgery.

I haven't used this item but will definitely discuss it with my asthma nurse (& my niece). Reading about the way it works it sounds brilliant and it is definitely less invasive than medications. Shifting phlegm is important and anything that helps is a plus in my book.

I do have a resistance breather that helps exercise the lungs. I told my GP but he'd never heard of it. I started using it to warm up my lungs before starting exercise. Really helped.

These small and inexpensive items should be standard as part of a range asthma treatment in my opinion.

Hope you get this on the NHS - keep us updated on how you get on.

[Hidden in reply to Poobah]

I am definitely getting one on the NHS from my Physiotherapist who will be phoning me this morning. Also due to 2 bad bouts of my brittle asthma in 3 days my physiotherapist has contacted my specialist and I am seeing him on Wednesday. I now also have the direct telephone contact number for my specialists secretary who I have spoken to in the past so now I can cut the corner of trying to get passed those people called doctors receptionists who incidentally always say that I have brittle asthma which is very life threatening and they are playing with my life and not the rules of the GP surgery and all of a sudden I get an appointment. TRY THIS YOURSELVES IT DOES WORK

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I think that everybody who suffers in any way with asthma will agree that us asthmatics get FOBBED OFF and feel like we are guinea pigs for GP's to try out new things which have been on clinical trial, and also the company rep may be giving out discounts on their products if prescribed.

[Poobah in reply to Hidden]

Yes, I now have direct contact details for the specialist team. It just helps everyone and saves money and time for GP surgery. Everyone wins.

[Clareykc in reply to Poobah]

I was hospitalised in France and found that physio therapy for asthma is standard there - they couldn’t believe that I had never had physiotherapy for my lungs before. I found it so helpful and even after the attack was over, they still said I should continue with lung training - even if it was just blowing down a tube into a bottle of water, or practising breathing out slowly by pursing my lips into a whistle shape when releasing breath.

I went home and told my doctor - who nodded wisely then did nothing about it. Love the NHS, but I think they could definitely learn something here.

[Poobah in reply to Clareykc]

I was referred to a physio last year for the first time specifically for asthma. We concentrated on diaphragm use. I was expecting more but I know that our physio services are under great strain.

When I broke my shoulder the physio saw me until I was ready to start a specific rehabilitation group of 6 patients that met every week in the physio gym. It meant that six patients could be seen by one physio and practice their exercises under supervision. We all had the same injury so very exercise specific plus we had healthy competition with each other which spurred us on to do our exercise at home. It was an efficient use of physio time.

An asthma gym for several patients at once would be very helpful but my guess is that we just don't have the resources to run to this.

I've used physio services on a private basis (not for asthma) & it's worth every penny.