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You blow into a tube, several times, and it produces a picture of how your lungs are working. What we use it for, how to prepare, and why the effort matters.
Spirometry is the standard test of how well your lungs move air. It is used to help diagnose asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, to track them over time, and to monitor people whose work exposes them to dust — which, in this part of the state, is a great many people.
It is also the test people most often feel they have done badly, because unlike most tests, this one asks something of you.
You take the deepest breath you can, seal your lips around a mouthpiece, and blow out as hard and as fast as you possibly can, then keep going until there is nothing left. The machine records the volume and the speed.
Three numbers do most of the work:
Your results are compared with predicted values for someone of your age, height, sex and ethnicity, because a healthy 25-year-old and a healthy 65-year-old should not be expected to produce the same figures.
Spirometry is effort-dependent. If you do not take a full breath in, or you do not blow hard from the very start, or you stop early, the numbers come out low — and low numbers that are caused by technique look uncomfortably like low numbers caused by disease.
So you will be coached loudly and enthusiastically, and asked to repeat it until several attempts agree. Usually that is three good efforts. It is tiring and slightly undignified, and it is the only way to get a result worth acting on.
Some people feel lightheaded or cough afterwards. Both settle quickly.
Sometimes the test is done, then a reliever inhaler is given, and after about fifteen minutes the test is repeated. If the numbers improve substantially, that tells us the narrowing is reversible — a pattern typical of asthma. If they do not shift much, that points more towards fixed obstruction, as in COPD.
This is why the appointment can take longer than people expect. Allow the time.
Tell us beforehand if you have had recent chest, abdominal or eye surgery, a recent heart attack or a collapsed lung — spirometry involves real pressure and there are times it should be deferred. Tell us if you are pregnant as well, so the test can be tailored.
A single spirometry result is not a diagnosis on its own. It is read alongside your symptoms, your history, your exposures and your examination. A normal result in someone with a convincing story may simply mean their airways were behaving on the day, which is common in asthma.
Where it becomes most valuable is over time. A series of results across years shows the direction of travel far more clearly than any one test — which is exactly why dust-exposed workers are monitored with it rather than tested once.
If you work around dust or smoke, it is worth reading about smoke, dust and your lungs as well.
The test cannot measure a lung. It can only measure a lung plus the effort of the person attached to it.
That is why you get asked to do it again, and again.General information only. This article is general health information for anyone who finds it useful. It is not advice about your own situation and it does not replace a consultation with a doctor who knows you. If you are worried about a symptom, book an appointment or call us on (02) 6530 7404. Last reviewed 7 July 2026.
Spirometry is done here in our treatment room. Book an appointment to talk it through — and mention any dust or smoke exposure at work, because it changes what we look for.
Bulk billed with a valid Medicare card · Mon–Fri 8:00am–5:00pm · Muswellbrook Fair, Rutherford Road.
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