Paralyzed Diaphragm

[fergee]

My best friend found out he has a Paralyzed Diaphragm under one of his lungs.
He has shortness of breath and tires easily.

He wants to know what kinds of medical treatments or surgerys that can help him.
Are their any thing that he can do to get the Paralyzed Diaphragm to work again.

Thanks alot,
Fergee

[Bena1975]

Hello Fergee

My  boyfriend has the same thing and we are looking for the same kind of answers. Has your friend seen a specialist? My boyfriend did and they told us that there is nothing that can be done for him. I am looking for more answers.

[Sunny602]

To the both of you...there are treatments out there that can help especially if there is shortness of breath involved. Usually people with unilateral (one sided) paralysis don't have problems with breathing, in fact it isn't discovered until a chest xray is done in many cases. But, there are a few who have problems....One option that can help is a surgical procedure called plication where the surgeon tacks down the affected side preventing it from migrating up into the chest cavity. This allows for maximal lung expansion. With normal breathing the diaphragm pulls downward and the lungs expand fully. With paralysis of one side (or both), the affected side moves upward into the chest cavity which prevents the lung from fully expanding which contributes to more shortness of breath. This doesn't work for everyone, but it does for some. It is worth looking into...
If you are having problems at night then you might need a little help to breathe correctly using BiPAP which is similar to CPAP for sleep apnea. The difference is that the machine has two settings that allows for easier breathing in and out, giving your muscles a rest and allowing for more expansion of the lungs.
I am sure that there are other options out there...one more thing, nerve grafting of the phrenic nerve. I think that you have to have that done within a certain time frame from when the paralysis occurred but I am not sure, your doc could probably tell you more. I hope that this helps the both of you....Sunny