Understanding bronchiectasis

Posted by jen1974 @jen1974, Sep 18 2:56pm

I’m curious what everyone’s thoughts are about the concern/question. If bronchiectasis doesn’t allow our lungs to empty out like normal lungs, I’m not understanding the need to break all that mucus up if it’s not coming up all the time, isn’t it still building up and clogging up mucus plugs causing infections like pneumonia?

TIA

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bdr | @bdr | Sep 19 8:36am

Yes, that's my understanding. And, we work to get mucus out so that we can breathe more easily and to reduce the likelihood of infection.

Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Sep 19 8:39am

@jen1974 Good morning, I'm not sure what your question is exactly, but I think you are asking why it is necessary to break up the mucus and expel it by using airway clearance techniques. The need to break it up and expel it is so that it does not provide the needed warm, dark moist environment germs need to multiply.
Here are 2 really excellent resources to look at.
This is a clear description of what Bronchiectasis is, and how it affects us:
https://ntminfo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/englishpamphlet-ntminfo.pdf
This is an excellent video about airway clearance - why and how: