These tubes keep branching until they are very tiny. At the very end of the smallest branch are air sacs that look like little clusters of balloons. These balloons are located next to the blood vessels in the walls of your lungs. Because of the way your lungs are built, when you inhale, air is sucked into the balloons to fully inflate them. The oxygen is then passed to red blood cells in the blood vessels to be carried to the rest of the body by way of your heart. The carbon dioxide (GO₂) waste in your blood is passed into your lungs so that when you breathe out, you get rid of it.

Breathing Before and After SCI

  Breathing out generally takes no effort or energy. Breathing in does require energy. The faster you breathe, the more energy it takes. Breathing in requires many different muscles, a few are listed in the table.

Keeping Your Lungs Healthy

• Limit or stop smoking. Smoking increases your secretions and likelihood of getting infections. It prevents the lung’s natural action from getting rid of pollutants.

• Do breathing exercises on a regular basis if you have a cervical or high-thoracic level of injury. If you have an incentive spirometer, use it at least two or three times a day. If you don’t have one, take as deep a breath intercostals These muscles run in between your ribs They are used in coughing and deep breathing

    You may also learn something called "frog breathing" to help you increase the amount of air in your lungs. It is a type of breathing exercise that you can learn with practice.

• Try to stay away from known pollutants, such as smoke, dusts, and dangerous chemicals.

• If you get a cold or sore throat, do more breathing exercises. If you have a cold, perform quad coughing two or three times a day. This should help prevent the build up of secretions and the risk of a pneumonia. Take it seriously. If a cold or sore throat does not go away in a week to 10 days, contact your health care provider or your doctor for further instructions.

• The use of an abdominal binder can increase respiratory capacity by substituting for a paralyzed abdominal wall.

Respiratory Problems

  Respiratory problems can be caused by many things but by far the most common problem is an infection, such as pneumonia. Other problems can cause you to feel the same way.

  You may experience any or all of the following symptoms:

• Increased shortness of breath.

• Rapid breathing.

• Increased congestion or secretions from your lungs.

• Lower reading of air flow through your incentive spirometer.

• Early morning headache, fever, or unusual drowsiness.

Treating Respiratory Problems

• Increase the number of times you do your breathing exercises. Do them every two hours.

• Quad coughing can be done to increase the effectiveness of your cough. This is done by having someone else push over your abdomen at the same time you cough. NOTE: Do not attempt this if it has never been demonstrated to you. Self-assisted cough can be done by bracing your arms, leaning forward, and putting pressure on the abdomen.

• Change your positions more frequently by moving from sitting to lying and by turning from side to side. This will change the areas of your lungs that get air and will help you keep all areas of your lungs working.

• Do postural drainage after your breathing exercises, whenever time and place allow, but only if you have been taught how to do it properly. Putting your head and chest down allows secretions to drain by gravity toward the upper lung. They can then be coughed up more easily.

• Chest percussion can also be done while you are lying head down. Get someone to clap their hands on your chest. This also aids in removal of secretions. You must be taught how to do this properly.

• Consider taking a warm (not hot!) bath or shower. This warms and humidifies the air with steam. Steam can help liquefy secretions so that they become easier to cough up. Do this once or twice a day, then cough.

  If your symptoms do not go away in 5 to 10 days and your treatments don’t seem to help, call your health care provider.

  If your symptoms are getting worse or if you have a fever, call your health care provider or local doctor.

  Some respiratory infections may need antibiotics to kill bacteria or medications to help you breathe better and easier. Those decisions may require that your health care provider or local doctor see you. Serious breathing problems may need to be treated in the hospital.