The best way to regain lung capacity is to do some consistent diaphragmatic breathing exercises as well as getting active and doing regular physical activity and if you smoke you should stop smoking and maintain a healthy diet.
Diaphragmatic breathing is also known as belly breathing and involves breathing deeply into your diaphragm, which is a muscle at the bottom of your chest.
The diaphragmatic breathing helps to maximize lung expansion.
To perform the diaphragmatic breathing, lay on your back with one of your hands on your stomach and the other hand on your chest.
Then inhale deeply through your nose, feeling your stomach rise and then exhale slowly through pursed lips.
Pursed lip breathing and alternate nostril breathing as well a deep breath holds can also help you regain and maintain lung capacity.
To do pursed lip breathing, inhale through your nostrils and exhale slowly through pursed lips as if you're blowing through a straw.
To do alternate nostril breathing, sit comfortably, close on nostril with your thumb and then inhale through the other nostril, then close that nostril and exhale through the first.
The best vitamin for lung repair is vitamin A, C, D and E along with omega 3 fatty acids and magnesium which all play a crucial role in supporting your lung health and can protect your lungs against damage and respiratory illnesses.
Vitamin A is important for immune function and for protecting against respiratory infections and vitamin c is an antioxidant that can help reduce oxidative damage in your lungs and improve your lung function, and especially in people that have COPD.
Vitamin D plays a role in lung immunity and can help prevent respiratory infections and exacerbations of lung conditions like bronchiectasis and COPD and vitamin E which is another antioxidant can help to protect your lung tissue from damage.
Magnesium can help improve your lung function and reduce your risk of developing COPD and omega 3 fatty acids can help improve your lung function and reduce the length of possible stays in intensive care units for people that have acute lung injury.
The medication that is used to improve lung function is bronchodilators.
Common bronchodilator medications that are used for improving lung function include albuterol, montelukast, theophylline and salmeterol.
Other medications that are used for improving lung function includes inhaled corticosteroids such as budesonide and fluticasone which helps to relax your airway muscles and reduce inflammation as well as improve the airflow.
Bronchodilators are medications such as albuterol also known as ProAir HFA and Ventolin HFA as well as salmeterol "Serevent Diskus" relaxes your muscles around your airways and makes it easier for you to breathe.
The bronchodilator medications come in different forms which include inhalers, nebulizer solutions, syrup and tablets.
Short acting bronchodilators such as albuterol for example, work quickly to provide immediate relief and long acting bronchodilators provide you with longer lasting relief but take a bit longer to work.
Another medication for improving lung function is Theophylline which is a daily pill that helps keep your airways open by relaxing the muscles around your airways.
Inhaled corticosteroids are often used for long term control of conditions such as COPD and asthma.
Common inhaled corticosteroid medications are fluticaseone "Flovent HFA", Flovent Diskus, Xhance and budesonide "Pulmicort Flexhaler" and Pulmicort Respules and Rhinocort which reduce inflammation in your airways.
Other medications that can help improve lung function are Leukotriene Modifiers which are medications such as montelukast or Singulair, zileuton "Zyflo, Zyflo CR" as well as Zafirlukast or Accolate which help to reduce inflammation and improve breathing in asthma.
Biological medications are also sometimes used in improving lung function and treating breathing problems.
Examples of biological medications that are used in improving lung function are mepolizumab "Nucala", omalizumab "Xolair" and dupilumab also known as Dupixent which are used when other medications have not not worked for conditions like COPD and Asthma.