Blow the balloon for the ease -- A cross-sectional study on wheezing patients.

Aim and Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of balloon blowing exercise on wheezing patients. Introduction: Wheezing is a dynamic sign, occurs when airflow through narrowed airways, by creating vibrations in the audible frequency. In this highly polluted society, all age groups are affected invariably with respiratory diseases, in which wheezing is the most common condition. To control the severity of wheezing, Balloon blowing exercise has been introduced. It is cheap and can be followed by all age groups. The principle followed in blowing the balloon exercise is to increase the maximum expiratory volume of lungs. Materials and Methods: The sample size of 15 students of the age group 18-20 years was selected. They were given the balloon and asked to blow the balloon for the consecutive 30 days, both in the morning and evening for 15 min. The lung functions such as FVC, FEV1, and PEF were measured using spirometer before and after the exercise. Results and Discussion: There is a significant increase in the forced vital capacity (FVC) of wheezing patient after balloon blowing exercise. Among the respiratory function test parameters, only FVC showed a significant increase of P = 0.056. Since it is a pilot study, it had many limitations. Therefore, future studies need to be conducted with more subjects, measuring the balloon resistance accurately. Conclusions: Blowing the balloon strengthens the respiratory muscles and results in increased of forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one sec (FEV1), and peak expiratory flow (PEF). This exercise improves pulmonary function and reduces the risk of lung disorder from wheezing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]