Breathing after Laryngectomy
Going through a total Laryngectomy means changes in your breathing. Your nose does more than just smell – it heats, humidifies, and filters the air you breathe. That way, when the air reaches your lungs it has reached body temperature and contains the level of moist needed for the lungs to function properly. After your operation, you will breathe through the stoma in your neck so these functions of the nose are lost. As a result, the air is not warmed and humidified before it reaches the lungs
A different Way of Breathing
Lungs are vital organs. They are responsible for ventilation, providing oxygen to your body from the air you breathe in, and releasing carbon dioxide to the air you breathe out.
learn more
Pulmonary rehabilitation
Your nose does more than just smell – it heats, humidifies, and filters the air you breathe. In this way, you can be sure the air is at the right body temperature and contains enough moisture when it reaches your lungs for them to function properly.
After a total laryngectomy, you breathe through the stoma in your neck. This means the air that reaches your lungs is cooler and less humid than it should be.
Heat and Moisture Exchanger (HME)
A Heat and Moisture Exchanger (HME) helps to reduce mucus production and coughing by humidifying and filtering the air you breathe through your stoma.
An HME or Heat and Moisture Exchanger fits onto the end of your laryngectomy tube, laryngectomy button or an adhesive baseplate. HME's traps heat and moisture from the air you breathe, which is given back to the air you breathe in.
learn more
Share