Doing the vest while inverted!?!

[nhaggard07]

I've had this idea and wondered lately.. Sometimes it's really hard to get out mucus that's deep down..
They sell all these inversion therapy devices these days like the teeter hang ups table, or better yet, the boots from the 80s with the hooks that you free hang upside down from. If you found a way to comfortably hang or lay upside down, while doing the vest at the same time, would that make a noticeable improvement in getting mucus up and out??

 

[Melissa75]

To vest upside down, I think you'd have to be not prone to reflux, or not have eaten for hours prior. Gravity is great, though. Postural drainage!

I don't do yoga classes much, but I have a habit of stretching and doing the "plow pose" every day. (I had to look that up just now as I had no idea how to describe the position lol. Google images.)

Anyway that inversion moves mucus for me and releases tension in my back, really good.

Hope you get some vest responses!

 

[Ratatosk]

I believe Froggy-Mama's daughter has done this, just for fun -- stood on her head while vesting.

 

[BreathinSteven]

I think it would be worth a try -- I like Melissa's answer... Fortunately, I haven't needed CPT or the vest for 14 years now -- but I recall great benefit from even resting in a head-down/trendelenburg position. I would often sleep at a rather-steep angle and I always had tended to rotate throughout the night whether flat, or at an angle...

I would imagine, if you could tolerate it without reflux, that doing vest treatments inverted would have benefits... Love, Steve

 

[nhaggard07]

Thanks guys. You're mentioning positions I've never heard of. I've never done stretching or drainage techniques before, could you guys give me more names of any of them you can think of? I can google the rest of the info and pictures myself. I've tried just googling cf stretches, drainage techniques, etc.. But I'm not coming up with results that are related to CF.. I don't think.
oh, also, I sleep in a recliner. So my legs are perfectly horizontal, and my back and head are at a 30* angle. I know this probably isn't ideal since I'm not able to get mucus out during the night, but for some reason it's the ONLY position I feel comfortable to sleep in. My back and hips can't handle sleeping on a flat surface. I've tried all types and firmness/softness of mattress, but I always constantly wake up every 45mins with lower back and hip pain.. Sometimes shoulder as well. Sleeping in my recliner causes no pain and I have a perfect nights rest. I've also read that sleeping with the head elevated above a 20* angle is healthy for the body as it takes pressure off of areas like the shoulders, hips, and also is good circulation for the brain as you have poor circulation and oxygen flow when your head is flat.

 

[nhaggard07]

To vest upside down, I think you'd have to be not prone to reflux, or not have eaten for hours prior. Gravity is great, though. Postural drainage!

I don't do yoga classes much, but I have a habit of stretching and doing the "plow pose" every day. (I had to look that up just now as I had no idea how to describe the position lol. Google images.)

Anyway that inversion moves mucus for me and releases tension in my back, really good.

Hope you get some vest responses!

Holy cow! I looked up the plow pose you mentioned.. I've never done yoga or any techniques like I mentioned.. But when I'm sick and not feeling good, I would sometimes lay on the floor and stretch... And I've done this position myself because it made me feel a little better. I never knew that it was an actual pose for yoga, or anything else lol. I always thought it was some bizarre thing I came up with on my own..
and when I'm having severe stomach pain from whatever, maybe my enzymes aren't working correctly or something, I've always found myself on the floor on my elbows and knees.. Butt up in the air and the top of my head pressed against the floor. It seems like that position was the ONLY thing that would make my stomach pain go away.

 

[Melissa75]

That's so funny. I also had done that stretch before ever taking a yoga class, but I was a gymnast as a kid, so I think I picked it up then since it is a bit of a precursor to a backward roll. It is definitely not for people with neck problems.
Your stomachache position sounds like "child's pose" from yoga.

I wish I had more ideas for...wait, I do! The pose pictured on the right in the link below is great for opening up the chest, and it helps with dance and rock climbing moves where you need your shoulder line to be 90' to your hip line.

The half-revolved belly pose:
http://www.yogacards.com/yoga-postures-8.html

 

[scarecrow]

I've thought about the same thing. My problem is when I start coughing sometimes I have to stop everything and get "restarted". I would have to be able to get back upright in a HURRY for me to be able to try it. I used to do yoga every day, long ago. It felt great as long as you do it every day. The trouble was if you missed a day I felt worse than I did if I didn't do it at all.

 

[Gammaw]

An interesting idea, to be sure! At the risk of dousing the fun, let me strongly suggest you speak with a respiratory therapist first! I remember when we were first instructed in using our cupped hands and then later a percussor to perform what was called "postural drainage" on our new baby. The instructions included positions in which the head was lower than the chest while percussing, I suspect based on the same logic you've suggested. Then just about the time they decided he was ready for a vest, around 2 or 3, a bulletin came out that indicated the upside down positions were no longer recommended because of difficulties and complications they caused. Now, if I could remember the precise reasons they cited at the time, I would be thrilled. But I really don't remember the details. Terrible. No doubt those positions could greatly aggravate reflux, which can already be aggravated by many of the medications CFers take among other things. I suspect your respiratory therapist would remember the transition, if they worked in the field with CFers for about 10 years or more. So you might want to ask them too. But any positions which lower the head are no longer recommended in hand percussion materials. http://www.cff.org/UploadedFiles/tr...o-Postural-Drainage-and-Pecussion-03-2012.pdf.

 

[LittleLab4CF]

I had a vest for chest infections for many years but never used then daily. I also had one of the early inversion tables or hang ups. The ability to return to vertical quickly is quite simple and as fast as you need. I never thought to combine the two and there is enough good reasons to ask a respiratory therapist of doctor.

We aren't exactly straight plumbing when you invert the body. Stuff draining from the lungs would fill the nasal structures in the head, bypassing the mouth. Even a normal productive cough shoots lumps of mucus up above the roof of the mouth in the back of the throat. A totally full nasal cavity sounds like a problem that you may not want.

What strikes me as the ideal method is a compromise of inversion with a vest until it's time to cough and swing back vertical to cough. A concern I have about inversion is the increase in blood pressure in the head and the weight of the heart and organs above it weighing on it. Having said that, inversion did little for my back but feeling better from having my organs and body fluids like the lymphs and blood a chance to get repositioned and stimulated was profound. As for reflux, full inversion may not work, or be needed. My GI doctor recently remarked that most people have a non functioning upper stomach valve after age 37. If healthy folk have reflux, it's going to be an individual choice depending on how much it interferes.


Try before you buy, everyone knows somebody with an inversion swing. Long before either were invented, I gravitated toward the plow stance by luck. In fact I had a ten pose routine recommended by my brother, who was immersed in yoga when I was 9. It was great, in ten minutes I was limber, my gut got a thorough massage, lungs were hyper inflated, sinuses loosened and muscles were warm.

With your respiratory therapist/doctor's blessings, or cautions, let us know how it goes.

LL

 

[Jennyvb17]

In the old days we always did "postural drainage" with our manual percussion therapy.
I would think there is a reason they don't do it anymore. Maybe not shown have good enough affect?
Very good question for dr and pt