Learning to play the harmonica is a great skill to have, the instrument is also very portable, easy to carry in your pocket. However, surgeons are now using the Harmonica to strengthen the diaphragm of patients who have undergone lung transplant.
Larry Rawdon, a double-lung transplant recipient who turned to the harmonica to strengthen his diaphragm after surgery tells us how the harmonica helped him rehabilitate his diaphragm after his second lung transplant.
Recently, Larry returned to the Mayo Clinic to teach breathing exercises using the harmonica to a room full of heart and lung transplant patients. Rawdon has been teaching harmonica classes to transplant patients at the Mayo Clinic since 2013. He also teaches private lessons to those in need.
Watch: Pulmonary Rehabilitation with a Harmonica. Rawdon shares the power of music in his harmonica class with patients.
“I say the harmonica is the best piece of exercise equipment for the diaphragm that I’ve ever seen. The pulmonary function gets better, their breathing gets better and overall they feel much better as a result,” Rawdon said.
The diaphragm is the most important muscle used for breathing, and the harmonica, in combination with regular breathing exercises, can strengthen it in the case of transplant recipients.