So let’s talk about lungs. I’ve been delving into the different ways that I can help people after the respiratory ramifications of COVID. Especially the challenges that it created for people with sports and general health.
With that in mind, I’ve been doing lots of research on what people can do to heal their bodies and breathe better.
That lead me to COPD. If you are like me, you just thought to yourself - what is COPD? It sounds like a police force or maybe even a branch of the military. Well let me tell you - it’s just a big old fancy acronym for lung diseases that block airflow and make it hard for you to breathe.
COPD = Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
This is most commonly caused by being exposed to toxic and irritating gasses, particles, and other airborne materials. Normally this results in Emphysema and Chronic Bronchitis. (I’ll explain more about these two later on.) This disease is irreversible, but I want to address how to prevent this disease from getting worse.
Now the reason I bring up COPD is because some of the struggles that people experience with these diseases have started to crop up with COVID and I want to create more awareness around this. Specifically the following symptoms:
Symptoms:
Referenced from Mayo Clinic, Article 1.
Excessive Coughing
Difficulty Breathing
Wheezing
Chest Tightness
Lack of Energy
Congestion or tightness in throat
What are some of the risk factors for COPD?
Referenced from the Mayo Clinic:
Well first, let’s break down more of what COPD is. There are two common things that can lead to COPD and are often working in tandem in your body if you have COPD.
The first is Emphysema - this is where the alveoli at the end of the smallest air passages in your lung are damaged by being exposed to unnatural particles - especially those with chemicals like toxic smoke or irritating substances. This reduces your lungs abilities to get oxygen to your blood and leads to breathlessness.
The second is Chronic Bronchitis - this is where there is prevalent inflammation in the tubes which transfer air throughout your lungs (bronchial tubes.) This leads to excessive mucus production and coughing.
What this looks like overall is that your breathing isn’t optimal and that you have damage and inflammation along the pathways that air is carried throughout your lungs.
This is similar to the bronchitis that is experienced with COVID and has similar inflammation and damage within the lungs.
How does light therapy help?
There are two core areas where light therapy helps. The reduction of inflammation and the increase of blood flow to allow for healing & repair within the lungs.
When you use the red, blue, and infrared lights, they can reach deeper into the body to target sensitive areas in the body like the bronchial tubes and alveoli that your body needs to breathe. This especially helps to reduce inflammation in the bronchial tubes. Clearing up that inflammation helps to allow more air into those passageways.
For the rest of the healing process, light therapy helps to increase ATP, aka energy production, and to enable your body to focus more resources on repairing damaged tissues in your body. In this case, your lungs. That increased healing and blood flow lead to better breathing and recovery.
What does the science say?
There was a recent study that was performed with 12 male COPD patients where light therapy was applied in intervals to test the improvement of respiratory muscle strength and lung function. The results showed that “Photobiomodulation applied to respiratory muscles was effective in improving acute functional capacity in COPD patients.” (Article 2.)
Another study shows that, “LLLT can be pointed as a promising therapeutic approach for lung inflammatory diseases as COPD.” (Article 3.) The results “showed that LLLT significantly reduced the number of inflammatory cells and the proinflammatory cytokine secretion (aka what signals the release of cells that promote inflammation.)” (Article 3.)
Basically Low Level Light-Therapy has been shown to reduce the inflammation that occurs in the lungs with COPD and for other lung inflammatory afflictions like COVID.
Knowing that there are ways to heal parts of our body that we use every moment of everyday is so powerful and liberating! If you are worried about how your breathing has been impacted by COPD, COVID, or even the seasonal flu, know that I’m here to help you.
In the meantime, spend this month giving to those you love!
~Lisa Chadsey
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