Carragee Consulting

Incentive Spirometer

I got an Incentive Spirometer (plastic device) from the hospital last week.

On one level its the most preposterously unnecessary device and on another level its genius.

Post intubation and sedation from surgery it’s critical that patients inflate their lungs deeply and breathe well on their own.

When patients undergo chest surgery, breathing deeply can be painful and your body’s natural response is to avoid that, resulting in fast shallow breaths which barely inflate your lungs, and shield your wounds from movement.

I’m certain the simple plastic tube with a pressure gauge plus the nurses time to teach me how to use it cost $500 at some point in the healthcare/insurance system.

Why not just explain to people that they should box or triangle breathe and take care of their lungs?

Well, because we’re visual and competitive creatures and the incentives barometer device gives instantaneous feedback on:
– what our baseline ability is
– how much it can be improved with simple training and focus
– how much it can be improved over time with dedication, other health recovery and practice
– a standard unit of measure to compare across individuals

I’d like to take a moment to thank Jay Farias for his guided breathing sessions during team call at Action. Countless times in the past 6 months I’ve channeled his techniques to mentally reset, recovery my breath and control the aspects of my mental and physical health that are directly under my power.

That I learned box and triangle breathing during calls with a data team is an absolute blessing among my career experiences.

Who do you think takes the best deep breaths, Piglet, BunBun or Me!?