Generally, physiotherapy is known to help improve posture and restore movement and function when someone is affected by injury. However, not everyone knows that physiotherapy is more than an aid to improving posture but it also helps restore function when someone is affected by illness or disability.
Take chest physiotherapy for example. It is also referred to as respiratory physiotherapy or cardio-thoracic physiotherapy. Different people have different understanding of what chest physiotherapy is but what is chest physiotherapy in real sense?
Chest physiotherapy is a medication performed on patients who have respiratory problems. It’s main aim is to improve the breathing of a patient by removing mucus blocking the air passage. It’s a way of clearing or draining the lungs.
There are different techniques through which chest physiotherapy can be done. The techniques include:
(i) Clapping. This involves the therapist lightly clapping the patient upper back or his/her chest.This causes the patient to cough forcing out the mucus from the lungs. It’s done with the therapist hand cupped to form a dome shape on the palm.
(ii) Vibration. In this ,the therapist will firmly place his hand on the patient chest surface.He then tense the hand and shoulder muscle causing some vibration. Unlike for clapping,in vibration the palm will be flat and not cupped
How To Carry Out Chest Physiotherapy 
The patient will lie down in such a way that the chest is slightly raised than the rest of the body. A pillow can be used to raise the chest. The therapist then will clap the upper back of the patient or the chest surface for approximately 30 seconds. This will cause the patient to cough thus forcing out mucus from the lungs. While the therapist is clapping the chest,they have their hand cupped as if it’s holding something but while the palm is facing down. The therapist must ensure he/she doesn’t clap over:spine,ribs,stomach or breastbone. This treatment consumes approximately half an hour.
Safety measures during Chest Physiotherapy:
(i) It should be carried out before meals or at least two hours after
taking a meal.
(ii)The patient for whom the physiotherapy is being performed
on,should remove any tight clothes and jewellery such that the
therapy will be performed on bare skin.
(iii)The therapist should maintain an upright position during the
activity.
(iv)The patient should be laid on a comfortable surface and one which is slightly raised to ensure that the therapist will not lean forward towards the patient.
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