How to Use Your Aerobika - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Time to Read: About 4 minutes

This information explains how to use and clean your Aerobika. An Aerobika is a handheld device you breathe into. Using your Aerobika can help clear secretions (mucus) from your airways, making it easier to breathe.

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An Aerobika has 4 parts (see Figure 1). They are:

• A mouthpiece. This is the part you’ll breathe through when you use the device.
• A case. This is the part you’ll hold when you use the device. It protects the valve cartridge.
• A valve cartridge. This is inside the case. It creates the quick pulses of resistance you’ll feel when you use the device.
• A resistance indicator. This shows the device’s resistance setting. It’s also how you or your healthcare provider can adjust the device’s resistance.

Don’t let anyone else use your Aerobika. Replace it after 12 months or right away if it breaks.

Instructions for using your Aerobika

You can also watch the video Guidelines for How to Use Your AEROBIKA® OPEP Device.

Before you start:

• If your healthcare provider told you to use your Aerobika along with a short-acting bronchodilator (medication you breathe in to help open your airways), use the bronchodilator 15 minutes before you use your Aerobika.
• Check your Aerobika’s resistance indicator. Make sure it’s at the resistance setting your healthcare provider or respiratory therapist told you to use. If the resistance setting is too low, move the indicator toward the “+” to increase it. If it’s too high, move the indicator toward the “–” to decrease it.

Sit in a chair with your back straight and feet on the floor. Then, follow the steps below:

1. Put the mouthpiece in your mouth. Tightly seal your lips around it so no air escapes around the mouthpiece when you breathe in or out. Make sure your hand isn’t blocking the hole on the other side of the device.
2. With the mouthpiece still in your mouth, breathe in. Take a deeper breath than usual, but don’t try to fill your lungs all the way. Hold your breath for about 2 to 3 seconds.
3. With the mouthpiece still in your mouth, breathe out. Breathe out more strongly than usual, but not hard enough that you get dizzy. Don’t puff your cheeks. The device should vibrate slightly and make a fluttering noise while you breathe out. Keep breathing out until you no longer hear a flutter.
4. You should also feel the vibration in your chest. You can place your hand on your chest to check for vibrations. If you don’t feel it, try tilting your head up a little until you do. 
5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 about 10 to 20 times. Try not to cough yet.
6. Take the mouthpiece out of your mouth and huff cough 2 to 3 times. A huff cough is a special type of cough that helps bring up mucus that’s usually hard to clear. To huff cough:
   1. Breathe in a little deeper than usual.
   2. Use your abdominal (belly) muscles to forcefully breathe out 3 times. Don’t inhale (breathe in) in between.
   3. Breathe normally.
7. Give one big cough to bring mucus up and out of your airway. Spit the mucus out. Don’t swallow it.

Repeat these steps for 10 to 15 minutes at least twice per day. If your healthcare provider tells you to use your Aerobika more or less often, follow their instructions instead.

Instructions for cleaning your Aerobika

Wash your Aerobika every evening. Disinfect it once a week or as often as your healthcare provider tells you to.

When you’re ready to wash or disinfect your Aerobika, take it apart so the top case, bottom case, cartridge, and mouthpiece are separate (see Figure 2).

Washing your Aerobika

You can also watch the video Guidelines for Cleaning Your AEROBIKA® OPEP Device.

You can wash your Aerobika’s parts by hand or in a dishwasher.

To wash the parts by hand:

1. Fill a container with warm water and mild liquid soap. Make sure it’s big enough to hold all the Aerobika’s parts.
2. Put the parts in the soapy water and gently swish them around. Let them soak for 15 minutes.
3. Take the parts out of the soapy water. Rinse them with warm running water.
4. Shake the parts to get rid of any extra water. Let them air dry completely before you put them back together.

To wash the parts in a dishwasher:

1. Put the Aerobika’s parts in a dishwasher-safe plastic basket on the dishwasher’s top rack.
2. Start a normal wash cycle using dishwasher detergent and a rinse aid.
3. If the parts aren’t totally dry when you take them out of the dishwasher, let them air dry completely before you put them back together.

Don’t put your Aerobika’s parts in the dishwasher with very dirty dishes.

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Disinfecting your Aerobika

Wash your Aerobika’s parts (following the instructions in the “Washing your Aerobika” section) before disinfecting them. Then, disinfect the parts by boiling them, putting them in a microwave steam cleaning bag, soaking them in 70%  or stronger isopropyl alcohol, or soaking them in 3% hydrogen peroxide.

To disinfect the parts by boiling them:

1. Boil water in a pot on the stove.
2. Put the parts in a metal colander (container with holes to let water drain out). This protects them from touching the pot’s hot bottom.
3. Gently put the colander into the boiling water. Make sure all the parts are underwater. Leave them there for 5 minutes.
4. Carefully lift the colander out of the boiling water. Set it aside to let it cool.
5. Let the parts air dry completely before you put them back together.

To disinfect the parts in a microwave steam cleaning bag (such as a Quick Clean™ Micro-Steam™ bag):

1. Follow the instructions that come with the microwave steam cleaning bag.
2. Let the parts cool before you take them out of the bag.
3. Let the parts air dry completely before you put them back together.

You can buy microwave steam cleaning bags at some supermarkets or online.

To disinfect the parts with 70% or stronger isopropyl alcohol:

1. Put the parts in a container.
2. Pour the isopropyl alcohol into the container until the parts are completely covered. Let them soak for 5 minutes.
3. Take the parts out of the isopropyl alcohol. Rinse them well with running water.
4. Let the parts air dry completely before you put them back together.

You can buy 70% or stronger isopropyl alcohol at your local supermarket or pharmacy without a prescription.

To disinfect the parts with 3% hydrogen peroxide:

1. Put the parts in a container.
2. Pour 3% hydrogen peroxide into the container until the parts are completely covered. Let them soak for 30 minutes.
3. Take the parts out of the hydrogen peroxide. Rinse them well with running water.
4. Let the parts air dry completely before you put them back together.

You can buy 3% hydrogen peroxide at your local supermarket or pharmacy without a prescription.

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Coughing is vital to your health.

People often think of coughing as a nuisance. But it plays a vital role in keeping your upper airways clear, so your lungs can function properly, and you don’t develop dangerous infections.1

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For more information, please visit Mucus Flutter Supplier.