Taming COPD or Tips for controlling COPD at Home might sound a lot like the home hints we gave in our previous blog. Please consider this as Part 2 of that blog. You see, Life Tips for Living at Home with any lung disease has been our theme at the FLASS blog this month. We are especially reaching out to patients who have been recently diagnosed with a chronic lung disease such as COPD.
In our previous blog, we showed you some tips to help you stay secure in your home. You need to know how to modify your environment so you can stay home where you have security, independence, and your best life.
Household Tips for Taming COPD
To put it briefly, in that previous article, we began a detailed list of changes you could make to your home. We want your home to be your favorite place to cope with your COPD or other lung diseases.
Therefore, we advise you to read all the details about these homey hints in our previous blog.
As we said, you might consider this blog to be Part 2 of our tips, although it can be read independently of the first part. To update you if you do not have time to read Part I, we give you the shortlist.
The Review: Tips for Coping with COPD in your Home
1. To begin, Utilize a shower chair in the bathroom. Don’t feel bad or weak about this new piece of furniture. You don’t want to be overcome with breathlessness or weakness while you are wet and slippery.
2. Next, Invest in an air purifier. One with a HEPA filter will chase away the irritants that could put you into an exacerbation.
3. Simply put, you must not allow smoking in your house. Even second and third-hand smoke takes days off of your life. Friends and family must honor this request.
4. A carpet is a breeding ground for mold, mildew, and a host of irritants. Hardwood floors or tile are now your best choices.
5. We highly recommend you live on one level. Stairs can make you feel weak and winded. Let’s avoid them and other potential dangers. Put your bedroom on the first floor.
Introducing the Newest FLASS Tips for Taming COPD and Living At Home
One blog could not begin to address all the tips we have discovered for coping with lung disease at home. We know there are no cures for many lung diseases. Chronic conditions can haunt you for years.
The trick to a high quality of life with lung disease is to create an environment where you have control over the triggers. Triggers are those items in an environment that cause you to have exacerbated episodes.
And we all know exacerbations will send you to the hospital. Taming your COPD completely is pretty impossible. However, our tips for taming COPD show you how to live with it.
If you have chronic lung disease and follow our tips, you will not need to run to the hospital constantly. Your home will be your oasis, your sanctuary.
More Tips for Taming COPD: Start Clean and Natural
You must dust, mop, or disinfect regularly to avoid irritations to your system. Dust, dander, and irritants can trigger violent spasms of breathlessness and coughing.
Your home is the one place you can control these problems with careful cleaning. However, just keeping a home clean can trigger more problems if you clean with the strong chemicals available today.
Utilize Natural Cleaning Products to Avoid Attacks of Breathlessness
“Some chemicals used to dust, mop, or disinfect your home could potentially irritate your symptom and trigger breathlessness.”
For dusting, cleaning, and mopping, FLASS recommends you use natural, non-toxic, or “Green” cleaning supplies. Avoid those beautiful but irritating air fresheners and plug-ins. Likewise, just say, “no,” to scented candles.
You can even create your own recipe for cleaning supplies with lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda, and water.
Another Healthy Tip To Tame Your COPD: Decluttering
Well-lived lives often lead to memorabilia and collections. However, we now invite you to edit those collections. Eliminate some of it. Put it away, give it away, or rotate it seasonally.
Eliminating indoor clutter will reduce dust accumulation. The result is better breathing in the atmosphere of your home.
Not only will this clear the air, but incidentally it will streamline your décor. And finally, you will grow to like the “look,” as you inhale sweeter, cleaner air.
FLASS is not alone in giving you this advice. The experts at Healthline say that in “addition to vacuuming and mopping your floors, declutter shelves, desks, tables, corners, and bookcases.”
Add Self-care Tips to our Home Tips for Taming COPD
We learned some very healthy tips during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, these personal hygiene tips are vital to every lung disease patient, every day.
Hand Washing is a very important detail of self-care. Use soap and water, of course. Don’t throw away that hand-cleaner just because COVID-19 numbers have improved. Use it to keep your hands clean and healthy.
Three More Self-Care Tips for Taming COPD
Care for yourself as well as your home will increase your quality of life. So, now, let’s look at some personal choices you might need to enact in order to tame your COPD symptoms.
- First, realize crowds and COPD do not mix well. FLASS advises you to stay away from crowds. Likewise, avoid the scented or irritating air in large public venues. This is especially important during cold and flu seasons.
- Secondly, did you know that dedicated oral hygiene can protect you from the germs in your mouth? Additionally, these powerful germs can lead to infections and infections can lead to exacerbations.
- You need to brush your teeth at least twice daily. We also recommend you see your dentist every six months.
- Thirdly, maintain your medication properly. And likewise, we also recommend some type of exercise befitting your abilities. At FLASS, you are part of your healthcare team. So, talk to your healthcare giver here. Then, together you can devise a FLASS ACTION PLAN for living with your chronic lung disease.
Terrific Take-Aways from Tips for Taming COPD
FLASS hopes you will be an acutely informed patient and find out what it will take to help you tame your COPD or other lung diseases.
And we leave you with one final thought from the American Lung Association. “Whether you are young or old, slender or large, able-bodied or living with a chronic illness or disability, being physically active can help keep your lungs healthy.”
The doctors and staff of FLASS hope you enjoy these helpful tips for taming COPD and other lung diseases. Use them to heighten your quality of life and live in your own home.
Thank you for following the FLASS blog, and remember that every day is a day to “Breathe Deeply!”