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HYPERINFLATED LUNG

When diagnosed with "hyperinflation," does the lung ever shrink to normal size?
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Avatar universal
This is a long time after you posted but hyperinflated lungs is not another word for COPD

Hyperinflation is a condition which can occur for several reasons, COPD and asthma being 2 of them.

What it means is that air is trapped in the lungs that either has not been or can not be exhaled by the person

Hyperventilation can be either breathing very quickly or very deep breathing, often caused by anxiety type conditions can also cause hyperinflated lungs.
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Avatar universal
as far as I am aware , hyper inflation , is just another term for copd .It is (I think) unlikely that your lungs will ever go back to 'normal' , but if smoking is the cause and you stop there is a very good chance it will remain the same for some years or even decades to come ..
its kinda like a sliding scale , with age , smoking years and damage ; i.e the more damage done the less likely it is that it will remain stable , but it really is almost impossibe to predict accurately
if you have had a pft, then there is the 'before and after' broncho dilator , this measures the amount of reversibility,  i.e , my pft was 6% reversible
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757137 tn?1347196453
I don't know if this is any help, but I do breathing exercises that stress expelling as much air from the lungs as possible. Every time I finish the exercises I cough up a lot of junk and breathe more easily. Whether or not these exercises affect permanent hyperinflation (is there such a thing?) I don't know. But the exercises themselves are beneficial, at least for me.
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Avatar universal
copd is irreversible change of terminal airways in lung.the normal elasticity of the lungs is lost,so there will always be some amount of air trapping causing hyperinflation.the lung may not return to normal size.
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Avatar universal
Hyperinflation just means that air is trapped in the lungs.  Returning to normal size would mean that the trapped air would have been exhaled.  COPD is irreversible so you would have to ask your dr if the air will be able to escape for you.
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Avatar universal
Thank you bsmsl.  I should have been more clear - I have been diagnosed with COPD (Emphysema) and on the doctor's review of the spirometry test, he indicated hyperinflation of lung and I was wondering if this meant that my lung would never shrink to it's normal size.
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Avatar universal
That would depend on what is causing it.  If you have asthma and are in a flare, then treat the flare so there is a reduction in the inflamation so that the trapped air can then be exhaled, yes.  I am sure there are other disease that this would also happen with.

Feel better.
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