Pulmonary rehabilitation is an exercise and education programme for people with lung disease who experience symptoms of breathlessness.
It can improve people’s ability to walk further, and helps them feel less tired and breathless when carrying out everyday activities.
Pulmonary rehabilitation is suitable for people with a range of respiratory conditions including:
- COPD
- bronchiectasis
- interstitial lung disease (ILD)
- lung transplant
- asthma
Breathlessness can be uncomfortable, scary, and make you not want to exercise. It can become a vicious cycle – not exercising makes your breathlessness worse, which makes you want to exercise even less. So it’s important to try and keep exercising. Pulmonary rehabilitation can help.
What does pulmonary rehabilitation involve?
It’s a seven-week programme where a specialist therapy team help you to improve your breathlessness.
Each session consists of:
- 60 minutes of exercise tailored to your ability (both endurance and resistance-based exercises)
- up to 30 minutes of education related to your condition
NHS South Tees delivers the pulmonary rehabilitation programme across Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland, including at the Live Well Centre.
Getting pulmonary rehabilitation
You’ll need a professional to refer you to the service. This can be a:
- GP
- respiratory consultant
- practice nurse
- respiratory nurse
- allied health care professional
Contact
You can contact the pulmonary rehabilitation service by calling 01642 944607 or emailing ste-tr.PulmonaryRehab@nhs.net.
The service is based at Langbaurgh House, Guisborough, TS14 7AA. Their opening times are Monday to Friday, from 8:30am to 4:30pm (excluding bank holidays).
You can find out more on the NHS website.
