Expert care is right here at Syracuse Area Health
When you can’t breathe, your entire life is impacted. Everyday activities like getting the mail or even spending time with family can feel impossible. Diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, emphysema or lung damage from COVID-19 or other health issues, can make you feel isolated, even hopeless. But there is a solution to help to help you catch your breath and reclaim your quality of life.
At Syracuse Area Health, our pulmonary rehabilitation team collaborates with your medical team to personalize programs of education, exercise and support to help you understand your condition, manage the severity of your symptoms and learn techniques to help you regain lung health—and overall health.
First step: pulmonary function test
The pulmonary—or lung—function test is painless, quick and helps rehab teams identify concerns and diagnose and treat lung disorders. The noninvasive evaluation shows how much air the lungs can hold and how quickly air moves in and out of the lungs. It also shows how well the lungs remove carbon dioxide from your blood.
Rehab programs customized to you
Information from pulmonary function testing helps rehab teams tailor programs to each patient’s needs, abilities and goals. Personalized programs help patients improve or manage shortness of breath, regain strength and independence and return to doing everyday activities. Programs often include:
- Exercise and strength training
- Education about managing your condition
- Nutritional counseling
- Breathing techniques
- Emotional support
Who needs respiratory therapy?
Simply put, respiratory therapists help people who have trouble breathing. Through diagnosis, education and individualized treatment plans, specialists can help patients reduce the severity of symptoms, regain lung function and live fuller, more complete lives. At Syracuse Area Health, pulmonary rehab teams offer outpatient care to help with conditions including:
- Asthma
- Bronchitis
- Emphysema
- COPD
- Cystic fibrosis
- Post-COVID lung damage
- Heart or other health conditions that impact breathing
Experts who care
If you—or someone you love—have ongoing breathing issues, get the help you need. Ask your provider for a referral to pulmonary rehabilitation at Syracuse Area Health. Shannon Hoffman, MHA, RRT, is SAH’s Director of Cardiopulmonary and leads our skilled teams. Hoffman provides treatments and collaborates with physicians and providers including Sean Barry, MD, FACCP, and Michelle Tyser, PA-C, who specialize in pulmonary disease and sleep medicine.
Close care is right here
Talk to your provider about pulmonary rehabilitation and ask for a referral to Syracuse Area Health where it’s closer for you and your family. To learn more about the program, call 402-269-7638 or visit www.syracuseareahealth.com/our-services/pulmonary-rehab/.
