Aerobika OPEP /oscillatory airway cleaner

DETAILS

What is an AeroBika OPEP?

The Aerobika* Oscillating Positive Expiratory Pressure (OPEP) device is a drug-free, easy to use, hand-held device with a proprietary pressure-oscillation dynamic that provides intermittent resistance, creating positive pressure oscillations during patient exhalation.

The Aerobika* device can assist with opening weak or collapsed airways and can help to thin and loosen mucus, enabling it to move to the larger airways of your lungs, where it can be coughed out.

Help to manage acute flare-ups of COPD. When you breathe out through the device, you feel rapid vibrations in your airways caused by the resistance of the device. The vibrations open up the airways, while the difficult-to-cough-up mucus lining the airways thins and loosens. The vibrations help to move the mucus into larger airways, where it can be more easily coughed up and removed.

In what conditions is it recommended?

It is excellent for all conditions caused or aggravated by sputum build-up in the airways.

• COPD - chronic obstructive bronchitis (treatment and prevention of flare-ups)
• cystic fibrosis
• residual symptoms of pneumonia (after acute phase)
• respiratory rehabilitation after pneumonia due to covid! Increased secretion persists for weeks after covid pneumonia and can be used to reduce it.

What are the benefits of using an AeroBika OPEP?

The mucus, which blocks the airways, is easier to cough up and empty

• Reduces the frequency of a nagging cough
• Decrease the feeling of breathlessness
• Improved performance for daily activities
• Improved quality of life

What causes the excessive mucus production in the lungs?

Several processes work in concert to increase the production of mucus and prevent it from being expelled. Repeated lung infections (e.g. pneumonia or bronchitis) reduce the elasticity of the lungs, so that the airways collapse at the end of exhalation or do not open up in response to the inflow of air. The blocked airways collect mucus and the air that is sucked in becomes trapped behind the blockage. Air exchange is stopped in these areas and infections develop here again and again, causing flare-ups. Breathing difficulties increase and can eventually become so severe that even the simplest daily activity is hindered.

Why can't the lung get rid of all the mucus? 

The cilia in the mucous membranes of the lungs carry the sputum to the larger airways, where it can be coughed up and removed. In bronchitis, the production of saliva is so intense that the lungs cannot keep up with the increasing amount. Over time, the mucus builds up and thickens. It forms a thick and sticky layer in the lungs that cilia can no longer remove, so they need help. Aerobika OPEP helps the lungs to naturally self-cleanse, helping to thin and loosen the mucus layer, allowing it to be released into the large airways where it can be coughed up and expelled.

The use of the AeroBika OPEP

If you notice an increase in COPD symptoms, use the machine 2-3 times a day for 10-10 minutes.

When COPD symptoms are at rest, once daily use is recommended for prevention.

The device is easy to use

• set the resistance control lever to the lowest value (for the minus sign)
• sit down, put the "pipe" of the device in your mouth
• inhale normally through the tube
• blow out the air through the tube more forcefully (for example, like blowing up a balloon)
• exhalation should be at a steady rate and slowly, i.e. the exhalation should take longer than the inhalation
• repeat breathing through the device for 10 minutes, coughing if necessary to help clear the airways
• feel a vibration in your chest as you exhale - this gives the effect
• the stronger the vibration, the more effective the airway cleansing effect
• but do not start with the strongest resistance setting! Exhaling through the device can make you 'tired', i.e. after a few minutes, the heavy breathing tends to increase.
• so start with the lowest setting and if you can go 10 minutes without increasing the heaviness of your breathing, then for the next treatment, set it one notch higher
• find the resistance of the device at which you can feel a definite vibration in your chest, but without increasing the dyspnoea after 10 minutes.
• This is the most effective way to treat you!

Hints for using the AeroBika OPEP

• Exhale actively
• Active exhalation is the exhalation you make when blowing out a candle or inflating a balloon
• A stronger exhalation creates a stronger vibration, which clears the airways more effectively - this forced breathing can exhaust a heavy patient!
• Do not inflate the cheeks, keep them flat when blowing out.

Cleaning the Aerobika device

• Detailed cleaning instructions are included in the instructions for use of the device.
• As the mucus in the airways contains pathogens, the machine can become infected during exhalation.
• Therefore, clean the device after each use.
• The manufacturer recommends that the Aerobika should be replaced every 12 months.

WARNING! The Aerobika OPEP is a personal hygiene device. If you have tried the product, if you have blown into it, it is considered to be contaminated. You can only exercise your right of withdrawal if the Aerobika OPEP is unopened.

The Aerobika OPEP (Oscillating Positive Expiratory Pressure) therapy system is a gold medal winner of the Medical Design Excellence Awards. 

This international award is given to devices that represent innovative technology in life-saving, disease management and bring technical innovation to problems that could not be solved before. It is one of the highest honours in the medical device industry.

The New York awards celebrated the achievements of medical device manufacturers. They highlighted how increasingly advanced devices are helping to improve patient health and enhance the effectiveness of medical treatments. 

The drug-free Aerobika OPEP device is effective in helping to prevent COPD flare-ups and relieve symptoms in the acute phase.

• COPD patients have experienced fluctuations in the symptoms of the disease, with symptoms becoming more severe and then relieved.
• Flare-ups can be triggered by many things, with respiratory infections being the most severe.
• Some studies suggest that 20% of patients need hospitalisation for flare-ups.
• Flare-ups can be very unpleasant in the short term because they cause shortness of breath and coughing, but in the longer term they can make the illness worse.
• Therefore, preventing COPD flare-ups is very important.

Medical studies have shown that the use of aerobics equipment has reduced the likelihood of hospital admission by 30% and has also significantly reduced the need for medication. 

Those using the equipment needed fewer antibiotics and steroids than control groups.

In addition, there were significant improvements in respiratory function scores, breathing and patient well-being.