The Bronchiectasis Airway Clearance Toolkit

I wouldn’t exactly call myself a handy person—but I do love the idea of having toolkits to manage bronchiectasis. One for infections, another for reflux (which can drive disease progression), and of course, my favorite: an airway clearance toolkit.

When I meet with clients, I often present information this way—packaged in practical, easy-to-understand terms. Not a one-size-fits-all approach, but rather a collection of tools they can explore with their medical team to figure out what works best for them.

In my latest YouTube video, I talk about the airway clearance toolkit. It’s not a deep dive into any one method (I do that in other videos – 119 altogether‼️), but a big-picture overview of the many tools available: breathing techniques, oscillatory PEP (OPEP) devices, vibration, vests, massagers, and most importantly—a relaxed, flexible attitude about getting mucus out.

Because as we know, the process is often just as important as the outcome. Even if nothing “comes up” during a session, you’re still helping to mobilize mucus, improve airflow, and disrupt bacterial biofilms.

And since I like to keep things light—even when talking about serious topics like airway clearance—I like to imagine the pathogens in my lungs getting a clear message: there’s a cop on the beat. The lungs aren’t sterile (we’ve known that for over 15 years), but I’m not letting anything get too cozy. I’ll hit them with hypertonic saline, shake things up with my vest and Aerobika, and generally create a very unpleasant environment for any bugs thinking of settling down.

This is one of my longer videos—nearly 20 minutes—and there aren’t a ton of visuals, so it’s perfect to listen to while cooking, folding laundry, tackling other household chores or better yet, taking a walk.

BE CLEAR with Bronchiectasis, LLC has a consulting relationship with Monaghan Medical Corp.