One-flow spirometer device

You breathe through a mouthpiece connected to the spirometer. After a full breath in, you blow out as hard and as long as instructed. The device displays measurements that help a clinician assess airflow and lung volume. A single reading is interpreted alongside symptoms, examination findings, medicines, and the quality of your effort; it does not by itself name a disease.

Wear clothing that allows your chest to expand and follow the clinic’s instructions about meals, smoking, and inhalers. Sit upright, seal your lips around the mouthpiece, and keep trying until told to stop. Several attempts may be needed because technique affects the result. Tell the clinician about breathlessness, chest pain, recent surgery, or medicines before testing.

Tell the operator immediately if the manoeuvre causes chest pain, severe dizziness, faintness, or distress. Seek urgent help for breathlessness that does not settle, blue lips, confusion, or severe chest pain after the test. A routine spirometry appointment is not a substitute for emergency assessment of sudden breathing difficulty.

Ask which measurements are being assessed, whether you should change any inhaler before testing, and whether the result will be repeated after a prescribed inhaler. Ask when and how the findings will be explained.