It's the least known discipline in physiotherapy, and also the most underused. The public health system barely offers it, and many people go through colds that never end, sleepless nights and a feeling of breathlessness without knowing there's a real alternative.

In France it's the norm: when someone comes in with pneumonia, or a child with bronchiolitis, they're referred to respiratory physiotherapy instead of being sent home with medication alone. We haven't reached that point here yet.

Mucus that doesn't come out doesn't dissolve. It has to be moved.

The techniques we use are manual, minimally invasive and painless. They help to mobilise mucus and secretions, improve lung ventilation and make breathing easier. No drugs and no complicated machines: just knowledge of the respiratory system and hands that know what they're doing.

Adults: COPD, asthma and breathlessness

This is where we work most. Here the aim isn't so much to clear mucus as to recover breathing capacity and get rid of that feeling that the air isn't getting in. COPD, asthma, after-effects of pneumonia, recovery after a hospital stay, chronic difficulty breathing.

It also helps in neurological conditions such as Parkinson's, dystrophies and myopathies, where the breathing muscles gradually weaken and lung complications appear that can be prevented with consistent work.

Breathing education: the three diaphragms

This is what almost nobody works on, and where we see the most results. There isn't just one diaphragm: there are three, and they work in coordination. When that coordination is lost, breathing becomes harder even if the lungs are perfectly fine.

Getting it back makes a big difference for people with COPD, asthma or chronic difficulty breathing. We give you exercises for home and support you through the process, because this isn't fixed in one session: it's learnt.

Children: bronchiolitis, bronchitis and mucus that won't go away

A cold that turns into weeks of mucus, coughing and bad nights. Bronchiolitis that comes back every winter. Bronchitis, recurrent ear infections, that noise when breathing that never quite goes away.

We work to clear the mucus that the child can't yet bring up, and we also teach you: how to do a nasal wash that really works, when to give inhalers so they take effect, and which signs mean you should go to the paediatrician or A&E.

Athletes, singers and wind musicians

A long-distance runner doesn't breathe like a sprinter, nor a saxophonist like a drummer. Breathing capacity and technique directly affect performance, and they can be trained. It's a profile almost nobody looks after, and one we really enjoy working with.

Before you come in, we tell you whether we can help

Some cases need specific equipment or hospital follow-up, and some cases respond very well to manual work. Knowing how to tell them apart is part of the job.

That's why we prefer you to message us first on WhatsApp and tell us what is going on. If we see that your case is one for us, we start. And if we see that you need another resource, we tell you which one and where. You'll never come in just to try your luck.

I want to know all about my pain→

You'll be treated by Miriam Martí, registered physiotherapist no. 12533.

Respiratory physiotherapy in Barcelona

Respiratory physiotherapy in Barcelona