Shortness Of Breath And No Oxygen, Expert Advice For Sleeping Positions For COVID-19 Patients

Pulmonary specialist from Friendship Hospital Jakarta, Dr. Praseno Hadi Sp.P /Antara

JAKARTA - A lung specialist from the Friendship Hospital in Jakarta, Dr. Praseno Hadi Sp.P, said sleeping on the stomach or prone position can be a therapy for COVID-19 patients who experience shortness of breath when self-isolating at home.

"The trick we can do for patients who are short of breath, don't have oxygen at home, one way is to try to sleep on their stomach periodically for 30 minutes or 60 minutes which is repeated", said Praseno who is also a lung consultant the Knowledge and Innovation Communities Department of Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine FKUI (Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia) on Emergency Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) daily press conference monitored online in Jakarta, reported by Antara, Sunday, July 4.

He said the purpose of this position is for the distribution of oxygen in the lungs to be more even. "If the patient is unable to sleep on his stomach, he can sleep on his right or left side", he added.

Shortness of breath is one of the typical signs experienced by COVID-19 patients because they experience a lack of oxygen due to excessive lung infections. Therefore the need for oxygen becomes important.

While the current conditions, people are queuing everywhere looking for oxygen even oxygen is becoming expensive and scarce. Likewise, many hospitals experience a lack of oxygen.

In addition to sleeping on the stomach, according to Dr. Praseno, it is also important to have an oximeter to detect the saturation or oxygen level in a person's blood.

"It would be nice for the patient or family to have a pulse oximetry device to measure oxygen saturation, if it's less than 90 then immediately give oxygen or sleep on his stomach or sideways. If that doesn't work, you have to give oxygen, if you can't, you have to be referred to the hospital", he said.