Alternatives to the vest

A vest is currently one of my airway clearance tools, but sometimes when traveling, I leave it home. In those situations, I first warm up my body and airways with a light jog (occasionally indoors, in place) then nebulize, use a hand-held massage gun, my aerobika in positional drainage and the autogenic drainage app on my phone.

This usually gets the job done!

Good luck,
Linda Esposito

A hand-held massage gun sounds like a great idea. What kind do you use?

I use a Theragun but I find it a little too powerful. Maybe you wouldn’t. I know a respiratory therapist who uses an inexpensive massage and lightweight gun on his patients and he feels it’s very effective.

I am very new to this connection and find it very helpful. My spouse has Bronchiectasis. I look up everything you all mention so that we can question his dr about possible new options for him. Thanks fot being so open and sharing in such detail.

I think you might find these related discussions also useful:
- Percussion Vest and Nebulizer: Do you use both, one or the other? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/percussion-vestnebulizer/
- What is the optimal percentage for the chest wall oscillation vest? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/vest/
- Can you use a percussion vest with brittle bones & spine issues? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/vest-1/
- Percussion Vests: Are you using one? Is it working for you? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/percussion-vests/

I use VibraLung, a handheld device recommended by my pulmonologist. Instead of a vest, because it does not shake your ribs, vibrates only in your lungs. Effective and only takes ten minutes. I use it after nebulizing. But when I got it, insurance didn’t cover it. I paid, but so worth it to me. I took a picture of the device and the rechargeable base. (Using twice a day, it needs to be plugged into a wall outlet every couple of weeks.)
Good luck sorting through all your challenges.

Thank you for sharing the pictures. I looked it up, it is very expensive though. you are right, the vest shakes my ribs and hurts.

I’ve never used a vest before, but I found positional therapy to work better than the flutter devices for me. After nebulizing, it takes about two hours before my mucus is thinned and loose enough to expel. I can feel it when I lay down start to gurgle.

I first lay on bed on my back and pull knees up tight to chest breath deep and huff cough, then lay with arms above me head and huff cough then I use the yoga bridge position ( you can Google it for an image) and inhale and do huff coughing which releases the mucus. Then I lay flat and inhale deeply, and as I turn to my left I strongly huff cough all the way to my stomach position. That releases mucus from the right side. I repeat that until no more mucus come up and then the same for the right side.

I get the same amount every day. You can play around/experiment w huff coughing in different positions and see what works for releasing your mucus the best.

Current price of VibrLung has gone sky high! Exponentially higher than when I bought mine. I won’t recommend it any more. Thanks for warning everyone about the price!