We are excited to announce a Free “PRI Breathing Mechanics in COVID Times” Webinar Series beginning next week. We have been receiving phone calls and emails with questions on how the science and techniques of PRI can be applied to COVID-19 patients. What do we recommend, and why? Well, if you have been wondering the same, we will discuss all of this and more over the next several weeks on this webinar series.
As Ron discussed earlier this week in our Zoom Director’s Meeting, he feels like he has come full circle, that is 360 degrees from where he started almost 40 years ago; and where the profession of physical therapy started. Many of the first non-military patients that were treated in 1918, when the Women’s Physical Therapeutic Association was started, were children who were having difficulty breathing because of the Polio epidemic that ramped up in the United States in 1910. Chest physical therapy was well recognized by 1948 and physical therapists and physiotherapists around the world were taking responsible measures and opportunities to ‘restore lung function’ after acquiring an illness or after surgery.
In more recent years, several studies have questioned the use of intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB) machines and have caused many respiratory therapy departments to look to chest physical therapy as a replacement for IPPB. Respiration, ventilation and breathing are all influenced by our postural positions and patterns we are in at the time we are exchanging gas. Therefore, breathing mechanics are postural mechanics. The Postural Restoration Institute’s (PRI) concepts and scientific applications, are today used by many health care providers who collaborate with other disciplines that are mindful of the importance of keeping oral airway and lung airways open. This interdisciplinary practice reflects our early colleague’s effort in taking responsibility for the restoration of lung function through human mechanical intervention, prior to or following events that challenged lung airway position and drainage.
Postural positioning is necessary for postural drainage, and the importance of coupling proper breathing mechanics with positioning enhances lung perfusion, expansion, and compliance to help fight off respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19 and to help acquire lung and chest wall function that speed up recovery following COVID or other viral acquisitions. This is why we are so excited to share PRI concepts, considerations and advice on how to keep your chest and lungs mechanically efficient and physiologically effective.
Just yesterday, a good friend and colleague, Cheryl Chase, PT, PRC emailed us and shared an old book that she pulled out of her desk titled “Postural Drainage and Respiratory Control, 3rd Ed”, which was published in 1971. Her colleague is going to provide an in-service on postural drainage, something that all physical therapy education programs cover, yet many PT’s have never clinically used. In the direct words of Cheryl, “I am so saddened by our current pandemic crisis, but also delighted that this current situation creates opportunities for new dialogues. It seems strangely serendipitous to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the Institute.” This message truly hit home. This is not how we imagined we would be celebrating our 20th anniversary. Yet, in some ways, it is blessing because with all of the messages and questions we have been receiving, we know that we can contribute to this opportunity for new dialogues amongst the general public and across multiple disciplines.
So, we invite you, and your friends and family to join us for this free webinar series, happening every Tuesday at 6pm CT (starting May 5th). Invite someone who has always wanted to know more about PRI, or maybe those who have questioned the “why” behind your use of Postural Restoration®. During this pandemic, we have witnessed humanity helping each other more than ever, and we are hopeful that the dialogues we can spread through this webinar will help thousands across the world.
*If you miss any of the weekly live webinars, they will also be posted to our website, so you can go back and view them later.
PRI Breathing Mechanics in COVID Times
Tuesdays at 6pm CT
CLICK HERE to register to join the webinar
*Pre-registration with your name and email will be required each week
