Pulmonary Fibrosis Rehabilitation can:

• improve your muscle strength so you can use the oxygen you breathe more efficiently and become less breathless
• help you cope better with feeling out of breath
• improve your fitness so you feel more confident to do everyday tasks
• help you feel better mentally
• help you understand and manage your condition better.

PR helps you manage your condition and makes you feel better, but it’s not a cure. You’re unlikely to see a change in your lung function, so you may not see a difference in breathing test results. What it can do is help you make the most of the lung function that you have. There’s evidence that it improves your ability to walk further, helps you feel less tired and breathless doing day-to-day activities and reduces your risk of ending up in hospital.

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a scarring disease of the lungs of unknown cause. To make a diagnosis of IPF, your doctor will perform a thorough history to try to identify potential exposures or other diseases that might lead to scarring of the lung.

If diagnosed, over time scarring can worsen making it hard to take a deep breath. The lungs then cannot take in enough oxygen to oxygenate the blood. IPF is a form of interstitial lung disease, primarily involving the interstitium or the tissue and space around the air sacs of the lungs, and not directly affecting the airways or blood vessels.

There are various kinds of interstitial lung disease that can also be caused by inflammation and/or fibrosis. These types of IPF are treated a bit differently. It is important to work with your health care provider to determine if you have IPF or another form of interstitial lung disease. If a plausible cause is found, then you do not have IPF. The scarring pattern of IPF is technically called usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP). Your doctor will use detailed X-rays of your lungs called high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and sometimes a lung biopsy to look for this pattern. A diagnosis of IPF requires that your doctor cannot find a cause and the presence of a pattern of UIP on either HRCT or a surgical lung biopsy sample.

PR is aimed at people with a lung condition whose ability to be active is affected by breathing difficulties. It can benefit people with long-term lung conditions, including:

• bronchiectasis
• pulmonary fibrosis
• asthma
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It’s recommended for people coming out of hospital after a COPD flare-up.

If you struggle with walking, have uncontrolled heart problems or have recently had a heart attack, PR might not be suitable for you at the moment. Ask your GP or cardiologist about cardiac rehabilitation.

People who use oxygen to help manage their condition will be assessed to see if a portable oxygen cylinder is needed during the class. If you’ve been prescribed oxygen and told that your oxygen levels drop when you exercise, portable oxygen treatment may increase how much exercise you can do.

Everyone should be referred for PR if they need it. Your GP, practice nurse or respiratory team should refer you. Ask them if PR is right for you and what’s available in your area. You may be able to bring a family member or carer with you.

Some programmes will have waiting lists, so the sooner you act, the sooner you can start. If you’re told you’re not eligible for PR, you could try other ways of being active.