Pneumopathies (or pneumonia) are disorders of the lower respiratory tract, more common in the elderly.
Respiratory physiotherapy is sometimes prescribed for adults with pneumopathy.
How is this condition treated, and is respiratory physiotherapy appropriate for adults?
♻️ Last update: September 1., 2025
👩⚖️ Declaration of financial interests: none directly related to the subject. My complete declaration of financial interests is in the legal notice section.
Summary
What is pneumopathy?
Pneumonia is a form of interstitial lung disease. It can affect both children and adults, with 500,000 people suffering from it every year in France.
This is the contamination of part of both lungs by a bacterium, often pneumococcus. It differs from bronchitis.
Pneumonia is more common in the elderly (adults over 65) and in children under 2. This article deals with pneumonia in adults and the elderly.
How can pneumonia be prevented?
There are several identified risk factors for pneumonia. For example, people with asthma or obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are more at risk.
You can do something about at least one of these factors to prevent pneumonia: smoking.
People who smoke are at greater risk of developing pneumonia. Quitting smoking or limiting consumption is one way of preventing pneumonia.
What are the symptoms of pneumopathy?
Symptoms of pneumopathy appear rapidly. The adult or elderly sufferer most often :
- fever over 39° ;
- first a dry cough, then an oily cough;
- shortness of breath;
- chest pain on either side, especially when coughing;
- a feeling of tightness in the chest, particularly when lying flat on the back;
- a general feeling of fatigue.
Sometimes symptoms are less characteristic and not all are present.
Pneumonia is most often diagnosed by the attending physician, without any further examination other than auscultation and clinical questioning.
How is pneumopathy treated?
Antibiotics must be prescribed and taken to cure pneumonia and limit the risk of complications. Pneumonia is cured within two weeks.
Antibiotics help eliminate the bacteria responsible for pneumopathy and relieve symptoms.
Other treatments can be prescribed on a case-by-case basis to alleviate the symptoms of the disease, such as fever-reducing medication or respiratory physiotherapy to help clear congestion.
As with any fever-inducing illness, we recommend frequent water intake.
Respiratory therapy for adults with pneumopathy
Physiotherapy sessions are sometimes prescribed for pneumonia in adults, particularly the elderly and hospitalized patients.
Respiratory physiotherapy for adults not only helps to clear the congestion from the lungs, but also reminds the patient of instructions for relieving the symptoms of pneumopathy.
Is physiotherapy effective for pneumonia?
Several studies have been carried out to see whether people receiving physiotherapy (in addition to antibiotic treatment) for interstitial lung disease fare better than those not receiving physiotherapy.
Respiratory physiotherapy sessions have a positive effect on :
- the person’s ability to mobilize ;
- some of the person’s respiratory parameters, in particular shortness of breath;
- quality of life.
The people included in these studies were between 36 and 71 years of age. There were no side effects associated with follow-up physiotherapy sessions.
One of the studies evaluates the effect of home respiratory physiotherapy sessions on adults and the elderly suffering from pneumopathy.
These studies do not focus specifically on pneumonia, but on different types of pneumopathy, particularly more chronic ones. To date, there are no studies evaluating the comparative effect of respiratory physiotherapy on adults or the elderly suffering specifically from pneumonia.
In practice, physiotherapy sessions are more often prescribed if the person also has other chronic illnesses such as Parkinson’s syndrome or Parkinson’s disease.
What does an adult respiratory physiotherapy session involve?
A respiratory physiotherapy session for adults, particularly those suffering from pneumonia, involves several stages.
First of all, the physiotherapist assesses the ventilatory status and, above all, the general condition of the adult or elderly person affected: is the person able to get up, move around, carry out certain activities of daily living?
What position does she sleep in? Does she lie down during the day? Does she cough a lot?
Does she feel like spitting up, have secretions coming up, or have difficulty breathing in certain positions? What is her saturation (oxygen level in the blood) and respiratory rate?
This assessment of the person’s condition before each session will enable us to define the appropriate physiotherapy session.
Depending on the person’s condition, respiratory physiotherapy sessions will consist of :
- mobilize the patient as much as possible, depending on his/her state of fatigue, and show him/her exercises and positions for self-mobilization outside sessions (walking exercises, getting up from a chair, mobilizing upper limbs). This will help to limit or even reduce lung congestion;
- perform breathing exercises, with or without equipment, and guide the person to perform them on their own outside physiotherapy sessions;
- advising the person on how to settle in at night and during the day, to encourage as little activity as possible and avoid strict bed rest in a reclining position;
- encourage regularhydration.
Physiotherapists can take advantage of this opportunity to assess a person’s risk of falling, especially if he or she is over 65, and suggestappropriate fall-prevention measures.
Frequency and duration of respiratory physiotherapy sessions for pneumonia in adults
Physiotherapy sessions may be daily (or more spaced out) until the symptoms associated with pneumopathy have disappeared. They are therefore generally spread over a maximum of 2 weeks.
Sometimes, sessions are spread over 5 weeks to 6 months: this is the case in studies evaluating the effect of respiratory physiotherapy on interstitial lung disease.
In this case, sessions are held 2 or 3 times a week.
Session duration varies according to the person’s assessment and fatigue.
Any questions or comments? See you in comments!
See also :
📘 Sources 📘
Dowman L, Hill CJ, Holland AE. Respiratory rehabilitation in interstitial lung disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2014, Issue 10. Art. No.: CD006322. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006322.pub3.
Ameli. Pneumonia . 2019
Written by Nelly Darbois
I enjoy writing articles that answer your questions, drawing on my experience as a physiotherapist and scientific writer, as well as extensive research in international scientific literature.
I live in the French Alps☀️🏔️, where I enjoy the simple pleasures of life (+ I’m a Wikipedia consultant and the founder of Wikiconsult).