What should you know about using an incentive spirometer?

An incentive spirometer gives visual feedback while you inhale. It may be recommended when illness, pain, surgery, or bed rest makes deep breathing less comfortable. The device supports breathing practice; it does not remove mucus by itself and does not diagnose or cure a lung condition.

The moving marker shows how steadily you breathe in, while a volume scale may show the amount reached. Targets differ between people. Aiming too forcefully can cause coughing or light-headedness, so controlled effort is more useful than chasing a number.

Sit upright with your shoulders relaxed. Hold the device level, place your lips tightly around the mouthpiece, and breathe out normally. Then inhale slowly through the mouthpiece so the indicator rises smoothly. Hold briefly only if instructed, remove the mouthpiece, and breathe out. Pause between breaths if needed.

Use the schedule given by your clinician and keep the equipment clean according to its instructions. Do not share the mouthpiece. Stop if you feel faint, develop chest pain, or become significantly more breathless; recover in a safe seated position and tell your care team if this happens again.

Get emergency help for severe breathing difficulty, blue or grey lips, collapse, new confusion, or severe chest pain. Contact a clinician promptly for worsening breathlessness, coughing blood, a returning fever, or a clear decline in energy or ability to move around.

A spirometer exercise cannot confirm that your lungs are recovering. Your clinician may need to assess your breathing, oxygen level, pain, medicines, or infection. Read about the [Spirometer](/technology/spirometer/) and related [Spirometry](/treatments/diagnostics-and-screening/spirometry/).

Ask what target and schedule suit you, whether to cough after the exercise, how to clean the device, and when to stop. Ask which symptoms should trigger a same-day review and whether another breathing exercise would be more appropriate.