In a city with poor air quality like Los Angeles, keeping your lungs healthy may call for individual effort. When you speak with a sinus doctor in Los Angeles, they will tell you that many patients come in asking for ways to cleanse their lungs.
We offer several ways to achieve nasal breathing relief through lung cleansing below.
- Steam Therapy
Steam therapy will cleanse your airways by inhaling warm water vapor to open your airways. The opening of your airways will then help the lungs drain mucus. The warm, moist air helps open up the mucous membranes and improve the blood flow.
- Controlled Coughing
Coughing is the way your body expels toxins. By coughing, mucus is loosened in the lungs and sent up through the airways and out of the body. Controlled coughing loosens excess mucus in the lungs, sending it up through the airways.
Doctors recommend that though with congested lungs try the steps below to induce controlled coughing:
- sit down on a chair with the shoulders relaxed, keeping both feet flat on the floor
- fold the arms over the stomach
- slowly inhale through the nose
- slowly exhale while leaning forward, pushing the arms against the stomach
- cough 2 or 3 times while exhaling, keeping the mouth slightly open
- slowly inhale through the nose
- rest and repeat as necessary
- Drink Green Tea
Green tea has been consumed for centuries due to its soothing and healing nature. Asian cultures value this drink because it contains antioxidants that reduce inflammation. Drinking two cups of green tea a day will help nourish and protect the lungs.
A study in South Korea found that people who drank two cups of green tea each day had better lung function than those who drank none. It’s also been suggested that green tea consumption can also help protect the lungs from smoke inhalation, which is vital if you live in Los Angeles.
- Chest Percussion
Chest percussion is another way that you can expel mucus from the lungs. To do this, you should visit a respiratory therapist, who will use their hand to rhythmically tap your sternum to dislodge mucus trapped in the lungs.
Chest percussion can help your lung get rid of excess mucus.
