Nobody really teaches us how to breathe, which sounds a little strange when we say it out loud, but the statement holds true. Breathing is literally the first thing we do after we’re born, yet it takes us years of schooling to know how we breathe. We always assume that we know how to unless something comes along and changes that for us. For many people in the world, asthma is that something.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 260 million people around the world are affected by asthma, and it has also led to thousands of deaths each year. There are certainly a number of medications and inhalers like Foracort or Duolin available in the market. There’s something that we keep missing though, and that is breathing properly. In the bid to get relief from the symptoms of asthma, we may end up breathing harder and faster, which will only let us take in shallow breaths.
Several people end up panicking when they’re faced with an asthma attack, which just makes them take in shallow breaths, doing nothing to actually get relief from the symptoms. In fact, some people’s asthma attacks can quickly progress into a panic attack due to the sheer urgency the situation brings. This is why learning effective breathing techniques for asthma can really help in getting in more airflow into the airway passages, reducing panic when flare-ups happen, and supporting an individual’s overall respiratory health.
That’s what we get into in this article, we elaborate more on how to breathe with asthma. Our aim is to equip any patient with the adequate knowledge on asthma relief techniques so that they can apply that in their real life and be capable of helping anyone who’s struggling with it too.
Pursed-lip Breathing
When you look for breathing techniques for asthma, pursed-lip breathing comes up. It’s one of the most effective techniques, simply because of how simple it is to follow. In pursed-lip breathing, you have to first inhale slowly through your nose and then exhale slowly through your mouth. The catch is that your lips have to be pursed, as if you’re blowing out a candle. Exhaling this way helps in keeping your airways open for a longer time and allows any trapped air to leave the lungs properly.
Pursed-lip breathing can reduce any shortness of breath that individuals may face and improve the efficiency of their breathing. When obstructive airway conditions have been studied, it’s seen that this technique can have a calming effect on people and encourage them to take slower and deeper breaths.
Practicing pursed-lip breathing just for a few minutes but on a daily basis can really help improve an individual’s awareness of their own breathing and help in providing asthma symptoms relief.
While this technique can help you manage your symptoms, there are also fast-acting medications to help you out during any asthmatic flare-ups, like the Asthalin inhaler, which is a rescue inhaler and works by quickly relaxing the airway muscles and improving the airflow.
Diaphragmatic breathing
Most people, when they breathe, rely a lot on their chest muscles without realizing. What they’re doing is chest breathing, and chest breathing doesn’t involve the diaphragm. This type of breathing is not necessarily helpful when you’re having an asthma attack and makes you panic more.
This is why diaphragmatic breathing, also known as belly breathing, is one of the popular breathing techniques for asthma that is suggested by most medical professionals to their patients. As the name suggests, diaphragmatic breathing works towards using the diaphragm, which is the primary muscle that’s involved in the process of breathing. Individuals are supposed to take deep breaths in and involve their abdomen as much as possible during inhalation, so much that their abdomen should expand. When they exhale, their abdomen should contract and they should try to get as much air out of it as possible.
Doing so can encourage their body to take deeper breaths and make deep breathing a normal breathing pattern for the body. This kind of breathing improves the functioning of your respiratory muscles and reduces any unnecessary strain on other less important muscles. Diaphragmatic breathing also helps your body relax better, which is very helpful during asthma attacks since they can bring a lot of stress to the person.
This is why diaphragmatic breathing is one of the popular breathing techniques for asthma that’s recommended heavily in respiratory rehabilitation programs.
The Buteyko Breathing Method
The Buteyko method has gained a lot of traction globally as a popular structured training that helps asthmatic patients breathe better.
This technique was formulated by the Ukrainian physician Konstantin Buteyko. The Buteyko breathing method places a lot of importance on slow and controlled nasal breathing and has the main goal of reducing chronic hypertension. Multiple studies have reported that practicing this method has been helpful in reducing asthma symptoms. People who practiced the Buteyko exercises reported that they relied less and less on rescue medications.
A review published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews found that breathing techniques for asthma, which included the Buteyko technique, can improve an asthmatic patient’s quality of life and reduce their symptoms.
Although along with this, it’s important to note that medical professionals suggest that Buteyko can be a complementary technique used with other asthma medications. It can be a great companion for them.
Coordinated Breathing during Physical exercise
Exercising regularly is an important part of an individual’s life. It nourishes the body and helps a great deal in the long run. When you exercise regularly, your hormones are regulated, your mood is stable, and your heart health also improves. Although several asthmatic patients avoid exercising because they fear an asthma attack would cut their activity short, most of them also experience a kind of panic around that situation. It’s understandable, no one wants to be caught off guard by their breathing problems.
But, if they practice the breathing techniques for asthma and regulate their breathing, it can make exercising a comfortable and even enjoyable experience for them. Coordinated breathing is when you match your inhalation and exhalation to the movements of your body. For instance, when you’re walking, you can inhale for two steps and then exhale for two steps. That helps in creating a breathing rhythm that’s pretty steady with fewer irregularities.
Along with practicing breathing techniques for asthma, asthmatic patients can try out this method as well. Along with this, your healthcare provider can also recommend a combination inhaler like the Duolin inhaler, which contains two bronchodilators that work together to improve the airflow and make breathing an easier process for people.
Final Thoughts
Life can feel a little unpredictable when you live with asthma. You may not know when you can get an attack, and there might be a certain panic behind the scenes about these attacks and how to deal with them. Practicing these breathing techniques for asthma can take some of that burden off your shoulders.
Whether it is through pursed-lip breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, or even using the Buteyko breathing method as a complementary technique to your medication. These breathing techniques for asthma have been made popular to help you better manage the condition. These methods may not be direct substitutes for medications or inhalers like the Foracort, Duolin, or Asthalin inhalers, but they’re equally important to help you take control of your respiratory health.
FAQs
1. Can breathing techniques for asthma cure it?
Not really, breathing techniques will help you in managing your symptoms of asthma better.
2. Which inhalers can help me manage my symptoms?
Inhalers like the Duolin, Foracort, or Asthalin have been designed to help open up the airways, relax the airway muscles, and help individuals deal with their asthmatic symptoms in a better way.
3. Can I stop using my inhaler if my breathing improves?
That decision completely depends on what your healthcare provider suggests you to do. Inhalers also deliver medication to your lungs, so before stopping any kind of medication, you should discuss it with your healthcare provider.
4. Is nasal breathing better than mouth breathing for asthma?
Yes, absolutely. Nasal breathing in general is better than mouth breathing for general people as well. When you nasal breathe, it helps filter and humidify the air.