Hi all, does anyone have any experience of using a SmartVest to help clear their lungs?
SmartVest: Hi all, does anyone have any... - Lung Conditions C...
SmartVest
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Elizabethk
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Smartvests haven't been mentioned here for a couple of years. You might have to write it in the search bar above and you'll find all the old posts with their replies. P
I have two young grandsons who have PCD which is a generic lung disease. Every morning prior to getting ready for school they put the vests on for about 15 minutes or so to help break up the phlegm. As I understand it they will grow out of the vests unless they find themselves incapable of clearing the mucus. So sad to see little kids since birth saddled with this disease. 8 and 3. It is a great help for them as they are able to break the mucus up quickly. Hope this helps
in reply to pete45
Hi Pete, As you have probably read, I have had bronchiectasis since it was diagnosed when I was 3 in 1953. They didn’t have genetic testing then but in the absence of other causes my current consultant thinks that it might have been caused by the PCD gene. The test now costs the NHS over £300 and really not worth doing in me at this stage.
To my mind it is good that the boys have the use of the vests, especially the very little one. However, I do hope that over a period they are taught to empty their lungs using their muscles and breathing techniques and are gradually weaned off a dependancy on them.
I spent six years attending physio classes to learn to do this every day. In this way I came to take control of my condition myself which was so important in my growing up to lead a full life. It was a total pain but all these years on I notice that this does seem to make a big difference in the way I am able to live my life compared to others who were not so lucky and did not have this. Today I suppose they call it pulmonary rehabilitation.
I was never allowed to think of myself as an invalid and was expected to do everything that the other kids did. I have lived and travelled all over the world, have 2 children, 5 grandchildren, went to grammar school, did 2 degrees in my forties, volunteer 2 days per week at a Heritage tourist centre and have lots of involvements and activities.
As the boys’ muscles strengthen and grow it should just become routine for them to organise the timing and performance of emptying their lungs which, as you know, is vital to help to keep the exacerbations down.
Good luck to them and to the family. They have a lot of good living to do.
pete45 in reply to
Thanks for your response. Sure my daughter will appreciate. PCD is just now coming to the surface and being dealt with. Sad for the little guys as they are clueless and of course the older boy attends school each day which is a germ incubator and difficult to avoid and brings home whatever he picks up. Good point about the vests and being weaned off.
Thanks again, great input. Pete
in reply to pete45
Yes, I feel with everything you say. Hopefully with the right care and teaching they will gradually learn how to be in control of their condition. I can’t stress how important this is. It worked for me and it will work for them, especially as things have moved on so much. I am thinking about you all.
Bella395 in reply to
Littepom - all the Vest does is loosen up the mucous and move it up the airways. I haven't read anywhere that it reduces the user's ability to expectorate themselves. They still have to do the work - it is just that it makes it easier for them and takes less time. It is an aid in the same way as manual percussion, mucolytics, devices, active cycle breathing etc. It helps lessen fatigue. Various research studies have shown that they are effective in reducing infection, hospitalization and improving quality of life.
in reply to Bella395
I think that you have picked up the wrong stick from what I have been saying and I am sorry that this has made you so cross with me.
I am not against the use of the vests, especially when a person is so very weak that they cannot use their muscles and breathing tecniques to loosen the secretions, or in cf children who are not old enough to learn how to to do the tecniques themselves. I understand that your partner is very poorly and weak and very much appreciate why the vest is useful for both of you.
In the UK the vest is not standard for all cf patients and certainly not for most non cf patients for the same reasons that I had described in my previous post. As the cf children grow and their muscles develop they will be taught how to utilise their own strengths to take control of their lung clearance with the vest as a back up when their secretions are extremely sticky. Their secretions are very different to ours because of additional problems caused by the genetic element
Lung clearance is not a matter of coughing and coughing until you make yourself sick and fall over but rather a gentle progression of breathing to do for oneself what the vest does for your OH and then, as you have said, the patient expels the mucus.
I spent years learning how to use the muscles in my body to breathe properly and to achieve this end. If I had not done I would never have developed and strengthened my muscles as I grew and would have been in a lot of trouble. Not least that I would not have known how to fill my lungs with as much air as possible to allow me to do my daily activities.In fact I wouldn’t be here now as it would have left me unable to empty my lungs by myself and overwhelming infections would have finished me off long ago. Remember, vests are a comparatively new innovation.
It is always better that we do things for ourselves when we can to maintain our sense of control and agency. When we can’t - thank heaven for tecnology.
Bella395 in reply to
I am not at all cross with you Littlepom. It is just that I needed to point out that they can be useful for certain groups of people.
in reply to Bella395
BTW. My consultant is co chairman of the committee which wrote the latest BTS guidelines on the treatment of non cf bronchiectasis and so she just may know her subject.
Bella395 in reply to
Littlepom - I expect you are correct.
in reply to Bella395
Sorry that you still think that I am in conflict with you. I definitely am not and. I Thoroughly admire your tenacity and the care that you give to your OH. Nobody has ever done that for me. My husband was in denial about my condition for 22years and when I was trying to get divorced, in an effort to reduce my settlement he signed an afidavit saying that although I claimed to have some sort of lung problem he had never seen any sign of it and that I should be forced to work full time.
My children grew up with Mum handling things herself and so when I nearly died of pneumonia and an empyema in 2015 I had to get myself admitted to hospital and they visited twice in 6 weeks because they are both ‘so busy’
So respect Lady!
I see that you have been reading my old posts. Thank you. Unfortunately, however hard I suck on a standard nebuliser I couldn’t make the smaller particles that my ‘expensive new nebuliser’ pushes deep into my lungs and I feel lucky that I can afford it. I have only been nebulising saline since Jan 1 as my second attempt at colomycin was again a disaster. When I saw my con 2 weeks ago she said that my chest was clearer than she had heard it for years and the pseudo numbers had gone down! The saline? The nebuliser?
There really is no accounting for any of it.
Love to you Bella and a big hug for a very special person.
Bella395 in reply to
Possibly it is not uncommon that chronic illness in one partner does lead to separation - some people just can’t cope with it. It has been hard for you by the sound of it.
By the way i have COPD and do not feel a need to use one. I am get to get through the lung clearing, nose blowing and drip in about 15 minutes or so every morning. I am 75 and God knows where I might be in years ahead. Presently at a stage 2 plus.
Hi pete45, thanks for your reply. I really feel for you and your family having to deal with life-changing illness in such young children. It puts my problems into perspective. I hope that they are getting enough medical support.
I suppose I’m asking as I’m looking for an easier way to clear my lungs. I use a flutter, breathing techniques and postural drainage and usually end up feeling tired, my chest muscles get strained so easily and I’ve had long-term chest infections.
There’s no quick-fix to any of our conditions but it’s good to know that I’m not alone. Take care Ex
Thanks and good luck ahead for you.........life is hard enough.
Elizabeth - OH has had one for almost a year and it has been useful. His infective episodes were almost back to back. Since using the Vest he has had only one exacerbation. He uses it twice a day, sometimes three if necessary. He keeps on top of the mucous, not letting it build up. He has multiple health issues and lung clearance was exhausting but now it is less tiring.
I read that not everyone finds them useful.
Forgot to say that they are not particularly pleasant to use and you do have to learn to tolerate them by building up slowly.
Best to do as much reading as you can about them before deciding. Google brings up interesting results to ‘how do Smart Vests work?’ Studies have shown that they are effective:
smartvest.com/airway-cleara...
Hi Bella395, thank you that was a really helpful reply. I have asthma and Bronchiectasis, have been struggling with lung infections since August last year and know that effective mucus removal will be a contributory factor in my recovery. I have a consultant appointment in April and am hoping for a more thorough investigation of the bacteria which have colonised my lungs. I’m also hoping to be sent back for some more physio.
I guess that the SmartVest is quite expensive so I’m grateful for your advice in helping me to decide if it’s worth getting. I’m tired of infections, sore chest muscles and being so darn tired all the time.
There, moaning over and done with!
Take care Ex
Hill-Rom provide them on trial. Perhaps you could print some information off and take it with you next time you see your consultant. There are some contraindications to their use, fractured ribs and osteoporosis being two.
You might also ask about immunity blood tests. This is in the BTS Guidelines for the Management of Bronchiectasis.
Thank you Bella, that’s given me confidence to ask the specialist some pertinent questions. Take care Ex
Good luck Elizabeth and please let us know how you get on.
‘Treatment Algorithm Centered on Chest Physiotherapy May Minimize Lung Function Decline, Study Says’ is an article from Bronchiectasis News. The report is about research on the SmartVest, featured in BMC Pulmonary Medicine.
bronchiectasisnewstoday.com...
The BMC publication is here:
bmcpulmmed.biomedcentral.co...
The research was conducted by the University of Alabama and the sample size was only 65. Although the results were positive they acknowledge that more research needs to be done.
It would perhaps be useful to have studies done in the UK.
Thank you Bella395, that’s interesting! It seems like a no-brainer to us mucus-shifting folk that any assistance with removing the nasty stuff is going to benefit our long-term health.
I’ve looked into using a vest but am cautious as I cracked a rib a couple of years ago and don’t want to do more harm than good.
Today I joined a Taiko drumming group and can vouch for its effectiveness in toning the upper arm muscles and shifting some gunk😉 It was also incredibly satisfying to thump a drum and forget about my troublesome lungs.
Take care Ex
