Sinusitis
Symptoms of sinusitis include severe headache, facial pain around the eyes or in the forehead or cheeks, pain in the roof of the mouth or teeth, excessive nasal drainage, fever and chills, feel generally ill, occasionally facial swelling around the eyes, sore throat, earache, frequent nosebleeds, and breath odor.
The physiotherapist also has other options for sinus therapy. Use can be made of nebulization, ultrasound therapy, and dry needling to mention but a few of the treatment modalities. Excellent results are normally achieved in two to three treatments with the above mentioned physiotherapy techniques. Bear in mind, however, that results depend on the state of the sinusitis (i.e. acute or chronic), patient compliance (i.e. whether cutting down on smoking, attending treatment) and most importantly, early referral achieves quicker results which inevitably saves on medical costs.
Chest Physiotherapy
Chest physiotherapy is a treatment that helps to remove the excess secretions (also called mucus, phlegm, sputum ) from inside the lungs, by physical means. The techniques used are postural drainage,percussion, vibration, nebulisation, breathing techniques. It is used to assist a cough, re- educate breathing muscles to try to improve ventilation of the lungs.
For some people, this treatment is only needed for a short time after a lung illnesse eg bronchitis, neumonia. Others with chronic lung diseases eg bronchiectasis, COPD, cystic fibrosis, will need to perform this treatment daily because they have a lot of mucus to the upper airways where it can be coughed out. This reduces the chance of lung infection and makes breathing more comfortable.
Julie has had a lot of experience working with chest patients having gained significant experience working at Groote Schuur hospital in Cardiothoracic and Respiratory ICU and wards for 18 months as well as in the NHS in the UK.
