Four weeks and 15 minutes a day of training significantly strengthened the lung function of asthma patients

WellO2 is a respiratory training device that can be used to prevent respiratory infections or treat symptoms through home exercises. The WellO2 device does not treat the disease and is not a medical device.

During a viral epidemic that causes respiratory infections, breathing exercises with the WellO2 device may be beneficial prophylactically or during infection. Early breathing training strengthens the respiratory muscles, improves lung ventilation, and may prevent the onset or worsening of a possible lung infection. Inhalation of warm water vapor can improve the defense mechanisms of the airway mucosa against viral infections and reduce cough irritation.

The effects of the use of the WellO2 device on the respiratory system are based on counter-pressure breathing and the inhalation of warm water vapor. Exhalation against pressure opens the airways and warm water vapor on inhalation moisturizes the airway mucous membranes and facilitates clearing mucus from the airways. Regular counter-pressure breathing strengthens the respiratory muscles such as the upper respiratory muscles, diaphragm, abdominal and intercostal muscles, and thus helps to better withstand situations where the respiratory system is exposed to stressful conditions.

Respiratory training with the WellO2 device during mild respiratory infections is usually very safe. If breathing becomes very difficult, respiratory training with the WellO2 or any physical exercise should be avoided. Also, need for the medical care should be considered.  However, light training with the WellO2 device can be of significant benefit in the fever-free recovery phase of an acute lung infection.

Respiratory muscle training relieves breathing difficulties and has sedative effects. Tranquil moment with the respiratory training activates vagal nerve and calms the anxiety caused by the illness.

The WellO2 device has a sanitation program that destroys any viruses, bacteria and microbes that may have entered the device with the help of hot steam. In the sanitation program, the mouthpieces and other loose parts of the device can also be cleaned inside the device.

The WellO2 device has an inbuild cleaning program which heats the device and its parts to almost 100 C. This helps to keep the device and its parts hygienic.

If you have no symptoms of a respiratory infection

 You can use the WellO2 normally on a daily basis.

1. Mucosa on the upper respiratory tract is the body’s first line of defense. Impaired mucous membranes open pathogens a way to our bodies. Functioning and intact mucous membranes help resisting respiratory infection. Moisturizing the airways with the steam restores humidity and activates cilia function, thus assisting clearing mucus and impurities from the airways. This will help keep your airways in good condition.
2. Regular training with the WellO2 device strengthens the respiratory muscles and keeps the airways open. This helps the body to withstand the strain caused by respiratory infections.
3. If you suffer from accumulation of mucus, WellO2 helps remove mucus from the airways. The pressure gradient in airways caused by the counter-pressure breathing and concomitant effect of the steam drives mucus out of the airways. Inoperative mucus transport exposes airways to infections.
4. The use of nasal mask is important in the prevention of diseases! Viruses that cause respiratory infections usually enter our bodies through the upper respiratory tract, i.e. the nose or mouth, and warm moist air may reduce the growth of viruses in the upper respiratory tract and prevent the disease from progressing in our body.

If you have a mild symptomatic respiratory infection

The use of a WellO2 device is recommended on early onset of the infection with the minimum (0) counter-pressure setting.

1. The use of a nasal mask is important! Infection route of the respiratory viruses is commonly a nasal cavity and larynx. Exposing mucous membranes in these infection routes with warm and humid air may impair replication of some viruses and prevent from extensive viremia.
2. Some respiratory infections cause extensive accumulation of mucus in airways restricting airflow. Draining the airways from the accumulated mucus with the WellO2 allows better airflow and lighter breathing.
3. During the infection, strenuous exercise of the respiratory muscles should be avoided. Use only a 0.
4. It is important to use the device's sanitation program after each use when you suffer from any infections.

If you have a severe respiratory infection

1. When your breathing becomes very difficult, contact your doctor.
2. Do not perform training with WellO2.

Recovery after respiratory infection

1. After discharging from the hospital or after otherwise severe respiratory infection when you are feverless, you may use the WellO2 device normally to restore breathing functions.
2. However, before starting the breathing training consultation of your physician is recommended. At this point, the device should only be operated with the lowest 0 resistance.
3. During the rehabilitation phase, training should be regular i.e. 2-6 times a day (gradually increasing the workload and avoiding excessive exertion) and it should continue for a sufficient period i.e. 6-8 weeks.

When not to use the WellO2 device

Do not use the WellO2 device if you have:

• pneumothorx
• pulmonary embolism (pulmonary embolism)
• recent myocardial and pulmonary infarction
• tympanic membrane damage
• fresh surgery or traumatic wounds on the face, chest, or abdomen.

Talk to your doctor about using the device if you have:

• asthma exacerbation
• acute febrile respiratory infection
• unexplained respiratory disease
• final pregnancy
• tendency to epistaxis
• severe heart disease
• arterial bulge (arterial aneurysm)
• very high blood pressure

LIST OF REFERENCE

1. Tyrrell D., et al. Local hyperthermia benefits natural and experimental common colds. 1989, 298:1280-3

2. Conti C., et al. Antiviral effect of hyperthermic treatment in rhinovirus infection. Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 1999;43(4):822-9

3. Sebastian L., et al. The effect of local hyperthermia on allergen-induced nasal congestion and mediator release. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1993, 92:850-6

4. Desrosiers M. et al. Treatment with hot, humid air reduces the nasal response to allergen challenge. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1997, 99:77-86.

5. Foxman et al. Temperature-dependent innate defence against the common cold virus limits viral replication at warm temperature in mouse airway cells. PNAS, 2015, vol 112, no: 3.

6. Jing J.C. et al. Scientific REPORTS | 7: 8522 | DOI: 10.1038 / s41598-017-08968-x. Visualization and Detection of Ciliary Beating Pattern and Frequency in the Upper Airway using Phase Resolved Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography 2017.

7. Vora S.U. et. al. Effect of Steam Inhalation on Mucociliary Activity in Patients of Chronic Pulmonary Disease. Indian J Chest Dis Allied Sci, 1993, 35 (1), 31-4 Jan-Mar .

8. Pick HJ., et al. P25 Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) for adults discharged from hospital with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) – a feasibility study. Thorax, 2018, Vol. 73, Issue Suppl 4.

9. Björkqvist M., et al. Bottle-blowing in Hospital-treated Patients with Community-acquired Pneumonia. J Scand Inf. Dis. 1997, 29/1.

10. Severin R et al: Respiratory muscle performance screening for infectious disease management following COVID-19: A highly Pressurized situation. The American Journal of Medicine, 2020;133(9): 1025-1032.

11. Matson MJ et al: Effect of environmental conditions on SARS-CoV-2 stability in human nasal mucus and sputum. Emerging Infectious Diseases., 2020; 26 (9): 2276-2278.

12. Liu K et al: Respiratory Rehabilitation in elderly patients with COVID-19: A randomized controlled study. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 2020; 39:101166

13. Martijn A. Spruit et al: COVID-19: interim guidance on Rehabilitation in the hospital and post-hospital phase from a European Respiratory Society- and American Thoracic Society-Coordinated international task force. Eur Respir J 2020; 56: 2002197

Contact for more information: 

Katri Lindberg

WellO2 Product manager, nurse

WellO2 Oy

katri.lindberg@wello2.com

tel. +358 40 737 3712

Training with a counter pressure steam breathing device has the potential to improve voice quality, as revealed in a recent pilot study in Finland. A report on the study was published in Journal of Voice, a peer-reviewed publication
regarded as the world's premiere journal for voice medicine and research.

The protocol of another study, now investigating benefits of using WellO2, a unique counter pressure steam breathing device, with patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary symptoms, has been approved by the ethical committee of the University of Tampere. Both studies focus on the effects of the combination of the inspiratory and expiratory muscle training with warm steam.

Voice professionals have found help

Even before the Finnish study came out, various renown voice professionals have been using WellO2 to help with their voice problems. Among the artists is Uriah Heep’s lead singer Bernie Shaw, who has warmly endorsed WellO2 (see links, below).

The aim of the Finnish pilot study was to determine the efficacy of the 4-week breathing exercise intervention on participants with voice symptoms. Six non-smoking women, mean age 49, experiencing voice symptoms made respiratory muscle exercises for a month with counter pressure on both inspiration and expiration and with warm steam. Speech samples were acoustically measured and perceptually analyzed using the GRBAS, the grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia and strain scale. Afterwards, perceived voice symptoms and self-reported effort in breathing and phonation were analyzed.

Participants: Breathing was significantly less effortful
The total score of the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) and some of its subcomponents, namely shimmer and harmonic-to-noise ratio, and the perceptually evaluated grade, roughness, and strain indicated significantly improved voice quality. However, neither the nature or frequency of the experienced voice symptoms nor the perceived phonatory effort changed as the function of intervention. According to the participants, their breathing was significantly less effortful after the intervention, although no significant changes were observed in the objective respiratory measurements with a spirometer.

According to the study, training with the WellO2 device has the potential to improve voice quality. However, the effects of using WellO2 need to be confirmed by further studies with a larger number of participants, the pilot study concluded.      

New studies with WellO2 and chronic obstructive pulmonary symptoms

The ethical committee of the University of Tampere recently gave a positive statement for the clinical study of WellO2 with patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary symptoms. The team is testing the effect of WellO2 device for the respiratory muscle exercises that provides counter pressure. There are several hundreds of referred studies on steam inhalation and counter pressure breathing. None have found any severe side effects for using such devices.

Patented WellO₂ counter pressure steam breathing device was developed by Hapella Oy, Finland. The device has been available since 2016 as a non-medical device. Over 35 000 devices have been sold in Finland, alone. It is sold both in pharmacies and other stores, like electric commodity store chain of Elgiganten in Sweden and Elkjøp in Norway. Wello2 is available on e-commerce, also at various Amazon e-stores, e.g. in Italy and Germany.

Medical references, links & more info:
www.wello2.com

Contact information:

Tuomas Mattelmäki CEO, Hapella Oy

Tuomas.mattelmaki@wello2.com

+358 400 640403

More:
Why respiratory training is important - interview with professor Sovijärvi (podcast)
https://soundcloud.com/wello2podcast/why-respiratory-training-is-important-interview-with-professor-sovijarvi

Pictures:
1) A screenshot of Bernie Shaw’s Youtube video
2) WellO2 device

Links and references

Effects of Humidification of the Vocal Tract and Respiratory Muscle Training in Women With Voice Symptoms—A Pilot study; Huttunen, K. and Rantala, L., Journal of Voice 2019 (in press).
https://www.jvoice.org/article/S0892-1997(19)30212-7/abstract
University of Oulu repository
http://jultika.oulu.fi/Record/nbnfi-fe2019090526947
The lead singer of Uriah Heep, Bernie Shaw, on using WellO2
https://youtu.be/G3tyvI408ho

LIST OF OTHER REFERENCES

1. Tyrrell D., et al. Local hyperthermia benefits natural and experimental common colds. 1989, 298:1280-3
2. Conti C., et al. Antiviral effect of hyperthermic treatment in rhinovirus infection. Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 1999;43(4):822-9.
3. Sebastian L., et al. The effect of local hyperthermia on allergen-induced nasal congestion and mediator release. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1993, 92:850-6.
4. Desrosiers M. et al. Treatment with hot, humid air reduces the nasal response to allergen challenge. J Allergy Clin Immunol 1997, 99:77-86.
5. Foxman et al. Temperature-dependent innate defence against the common cold virus limits viral replication at warm temperature in mouse airway cells. PNAS, 2015, vol 112, no: 3.
6. Jing J.C. et al. Scientific REPORTS | 7: 8522 | DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-08968-x. Visualization and Detection of Ciliary Beating Pattern and Frequency in the Upper Airway using Phase Resolved Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography 2017.
7. Vora S.U. et. al. Effect of Steam Inhalation on Mucociliary Activity in Patients of Chronic Pulmonary Disease. Indian J Chest Dis Allied Sci, 1993, 35 (1), 31-4 Jan-Mar.
8. Pick HJ., et al. P25 Inspiratory muscle training (IMT) for adults discharged from hospital with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) – a feasibility study. Thorax, 2018, Vol. 73, Issue Suppl 4.
9. Björkqvist M., et al. Bottle-blowing in Hospital-treated Patients with Community-acquired Pneumonia. J Scand Inf. Dis. 1997, 29/1.

As of April 6^th , 2020, Hapella Oy's Board of Directors has appointed Tuomas Mattelmäki, M.Sc.(Econ.) as a new CEO. Mattelmäki has previously served as Hapella Oy's business director, preparing for the company's internationalization. Hapella Oy's former CEO Arja Ahvenniemi, M.Sc. (Tech.) has been appointed as Partnership and Administrative Manager

During Ahvenniemi's time as a CEO, the company has achieved a good growth rate in Finland. Hapella Oy's net sales increased from EUR 0.64 million in the previous year to EUR 2.1 million in 2019. The company is now shifting strongly to internationalization phase. Launch in the Nordic countries has begun and there is strong demand for the WellO2 devices worldwide. The company will also continue to grow in Finland, at the same time taking forward the WellO2 device's clinical research program and product development projects.

Tuomas Mattelmäki has extensive experience in managing business and marketing in both international and domestic companies with health-related products and pharmaceuticals. “WellO2 is a unique Finnish innovation. Being part of WellO2’s internationalization is a particularly great task. Breathing problems affects hundreds of millions of people and WellO2 can significantly help people with those problems. According to the WHO, 90% of the world's population breathes polluted air, which exacerbates the situation. " Mattelmäki sums up.

Hapella Oy Board of Directors

More information:

Aulis kärkkänen

Chairman of the Board, Hapella Oy

+358 50 057 3105

aulis.karkkainen@wello2.com

Tuomas Mattelmäki

Managing Director, Hapella Oy

+ 358 400 640 403

tuomas.mattelmäki@wello2.com

Arja Ahvenniemi

Partnership and Administrative Manager

+ 358 50 599 7760

arja.ahvenniemi@wello2.com

We want to make sure that as many people in the world as possible could breathe better. Therefore, now it is possible to order WellO2 from our webshop to following countries: Finland, Norway, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. 

We offer free delivery to all of these countries! 

Go to https://wello2.com/collections/all-products/products/wello2 to read more and order WellO2.