Asthma can cause severe symptoms. One way to relieve it is to do asthma breathing exercises. What are the steps like? Come on, find out!
Patients with severe asthma can experience uncontrolled symptoms, even triggering status asthmaticus or respiratory failure. This condition must be addressed immediately so as not to threaten safety.
Launching Healthline, doctors will usually give inhaled or oral corticosteroid drugs to be consumed in the long term in cases of severe asthma.
After complaints improve, severe asthma sufferers who do not want to experience a similar condition in the future need to adopt a healthy lifestyle.
They are also advised to do asthma breathing exercises to reduce the risk of severe symptoms.
In fact, preventing severe asthma symptoms needs to be done with regular check-ups with the doctor, taking medication as recommended, and avoiding triggers.
In addition, according to dr. Reza, asthma breathing exercises can also be done regularly and regularly as an action to reduce the risk of severe symptoms. According to Airofit How to ease asthma symptoms – 3 effective breathing exercises
Some of the asthma breathing exercises in question include:
1. Diaphragmatic Breathing
The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle under the lungs that helps humans breathe.
In this exercise, you must learn how to breathe from the area around the diaphragm; not from the chest.
Diaphragmatic breathing exercises can help strengthen this organ. This exercise has also been shown to slow the rate of breathing, reduce the body’s oxygen demand, and reduce the risk of asthma attacks.
To practice diaphragmatic breathing, here are the steps you can follow:
- Lie on your back with your knees bent and a pillow under your knees, or sit up straight in a chair.
- Place one hand on your upper chest, and the other on your stomach.
- Inhale slowly through your nose. Make sure the hand that is placed on the stomach moves, while the one on the chest remains still.
- Exhale slowly through pursed lips.
- Do it repeatedly and slowly until you can breathe without moving the chest.
2. Nose Breathing
Based on dr. Reza, nasal breathing exercises are quite effective in reducing the severity of asthma symptoms. This exercise can even reduce the potential for severe asthma symptoms.
The advantage of breathing through your nose is that it adds warmth and humidity to the air, which can help reduce asthma symptoms.
“The principle of breathing exercises is to take a deep breath through the nose, then exhale until it runs out,” suggested dr. Reza.
“So you can maximize lung function; from the maximum volume that can be inhaled to the volume that can be exhaled,” he continued.
3. Method Papworth
The Papworth method is commonly used by physiotherapists to control and improve their patients’ breathing.
The Papworth method encourages gentler, relaxed breathing, using the abdomen rather than the chest.
This technique is most effective when used in conjunction with taking asthma medications as directed by a doctor.
Papworth’s method is similar to diaphragmatic breathing. The reason is, this method involves inhaling slowly through the nose, and exhaling through pursed lips as if blowing out a candle.
When performing the Papworth method, the rate of inhalation and exhalation should be twice as long (slow) as usual.
Research has found that the Papworth method can help relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life for people with asthma.
4. Buteyko Breathing
The Buteyko breathing technique was developed by Ukrainian physician Konstantin Buteyko in the 1950s.
This asthma breathing technique teaches you how to breathe more slowly to reduce the symptoms of chest tightness.
Several studies have found that the Buteyko breathing technique can improve symptoms, and reduce the need for asthmatic medications. Unfortunately, this technique cannot improve lung function.
Want to try the Buteyko asthma breathing technique? Here are the steps:
- Sit back in a chair, take a deep breath and exhale while holding it in so it doesn’t come out too much.
- Use your index finger and thumb to cover your nose to help prevent excessive exhalation.
- Maintain the breath rate until you feel the urge to do so. It is usually characterized by involuntary movements of the diaphragm.
- After that, breathe normally for at least 10 seconds.
- Repeat as before, at least a few times.
5. Pursed Lip Breathing
In doing the pursed-lip breathing technique, you can first inhale slowly through your nose with your mouth closed.
After that, start to purse your lips as if you were going to whistle and exhale slowly. Repeat several times until it is enough.
6. Breathing Yoga Practice
Yoga is a sport that is done with the aim of relaxation. This type of exercise is not only healthy but also helps optimize respiratory function.
Citing Healthline, yoga is a type of breathing exercise that can help relieve asthma symptoms and improve lung function.
Which asthma breathing exercise is your favourite? Do it regularly and regularly, to help reduce the risk of severe asthma attacks. Also, remember to adopt a healthy lifestyle and take medication from the doctor as recommended.