Breathing Exercises For Asthma Patients.

Asthma is a disease that was for a long time considered to be governed by the malfunctioning of the nervous system. For this reason in the old texts this disease is mentioned as Asthma nervosa. Only when it was completely established that this was not entirely true, this practice was discontinued.

In the normal breathing pattern the diaphragm moves downward when the person inhales and moves upward when the person exhales. An asthma patient breathes in an unnatural way by using only the upper portion of the chest. This is very unnatural for the system as the full chest is not used in this way.

However it is still considered to be a disease that has some connection with the emotional state of the patient. Many patients do show marked changes in their psychological behaviour once they are diagnosed with asthma. Also some studies have established that people with certain temperaments and personality traits are more likely to catch asthma.

Over the period of time the patient develops weakness of chest muscles as the muscles are not being used properly. At the time of an attack the chest muscles work extra hard as they work against constricted air passages. It is advisable for the asthma patients to do breathing exercises as they can really help build up the chest muscles involved in respiration and can contribute towards saving a person’s life at the time of an attack.

The studies by Dr. Bastiaans and Dr. Groen in 1955 and Dr. S. B. Singh in 1977 highlight the personality traits of the people who are most likely to develop asthma. These traits are classified as:

• Excessive egocentric behaviour.
• Marked tendency for dominating behaviour.
• Marked tendency for impatient and impulsive behaviour.
• Reduced capacity for adapting and adjusting to unfavourable circumstances in life.
• High emotional sensitivity.
• Excessive need for love and affection.
• Very stubborn attitude.
• Very strong reactions to rivalry and jealousy.
• Lack of communication with other people.
• Over anxious nature.
• Lack of self confidence.
• Deep rooted dependency.
• High incidence of behavioural problems.

The aim of breathing exercises is to relax the chest muscles that are overworked. And to teach a person to get out of the habit of using the chest muscles for breathing and start using the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm. For learning the proper use of diaphragm and lower chest the asthma patient has to start concentrating on breathing out rather than breathing in.

The chest has to be completely emptied by raising the diaphragm by voluntary contraction of the abdominal muscles and lower chest. This process if practiced regularly is actually against the situation that happens during an attack. By doing this exercise a person tries to achieve the reversal of the condition of asthmatic attack. By regular practice the body learns to imitate this condition and the muscles try to come in this situation by involuntary action.

Care should be taken that the breathing out process has to be a slow process and not a hasty one otherwise it may lead to wheezing and discomfort.

It was also observed that the attitude of parents whose children develop asthma is also to be blamed to a certain degree. Generally it is seen that the attitude of the mother has greater influence than the attitude of the father. As opposed to the popular belief of rejection from the parents, it is seen that the kids who develop asthma have overprotective mothers who encourage very high dependence from the children.

For doing the breathing exercises correctly the person may need to be retrained to push out the abdomen and concentrate the mental energies on doing this. This initiates the lower chest breathing and the muscles get used to it after a while.

In the ancient practice of yoga there is a system of breathing exercises which is known as pranayama. The word pranayama is derived from the word ‘prana’, which means vital oxygen.

This is done in order to satisfy some hidden emotional desires of dependence and emotional connectivity on the part of the parent. The parents also showed development of superegos and excessive anxieties and transferred these traits to their children subconsciously through faulty parenting practices.

In broader terms the word prana indicates towards the life that is visible in all the vital activities of a living being. Prana is the life force that remains in action till the time a living being is alive.

It is of utmost importance for the human being to keep the vital prana active and rejuvenated at any point in time for complete health, vitality and longevity.

Since the above mentioned inclinations are more or less indicative of clear tendencies there are specific situations of aggravation arising from patients who have been diagnosed with asthma. There are indications that the disease aggravates with anxiety, tension and emotional disturbances the management of asthmatic condition on a psychological level becomes very necessary for the wellbeing of the patients.

Pranayama is a science for keeping this vital life force hail and hearty. Pranayama involves a lot of breathing exercises.

There are many different types of exercises and this is a science that can be learnt either by the help of a guru, which is most preferable, or alternately in the occasion of non – availability of a guru, it can also be learnt by the help of books and literature available on the subject.

The levels of increase of anxiety can itself trigger off another attack. And till the time the patient remains anxious and tense all sorts of medication fail despite best of efforts. So it becomes very necessary for the patients to be given some kind of sedative for his own betterment. But it is also important to take care and administer all the drugs along with anti-asthmatic drugs under constant monitoring by competent doctors.

Pranayama is a form of exercises that can give immense vitality to the system and is known to practically recover and rejuvenate a person from any kind of ailment. This goes to prove the power of these forms of exercises.

Yoga in itself is a very powerful science and it should not be considered to be just simple exercises. Similarly pranayama should not be considered simple breathing exercises. Anything that has the power to cure even strong ailments should be done in a proper way.

It is extremely important for the asthma patient to remain calm under all situations and conditions, even during an attack. The body and the mind should both be kept completely relaxed. It is very necessary for the patient to not panic. For this he should have a very objective view of his situation. It is extremely important to educate oneself in order to achieve a state of relaxed mind and body.

Although the procedure for pranayama looks very simple, considering the power of this form of science it is advisable for the patients suffering from any kind of ailments to take an opinion from one’s doctor before trying out the pranayama exercises. Also a person should not get too excited and start doing all exercises together. There should be given considerable gap between mastering one exercise and starting another.

For this purpose it is important to read some self-help material as well as have free communication with one’s doctors to have a complete picture of the situation. It is also important to know that it is extremely rare for people to die as a result of an attack. Most attacks can be very well managed if a person is aware of his situation and is well versed with knowledge about tackling an emergency. The adage “knowledge is power” is perhaps most adequately applicable to an asthmatic person’s situation.

In the case of the asthma patients the main aim of the breathing exercises is to relax the chest muscles. Chest muscles are normally under tremendous exertion in asthma patients. The patients are constantly advised to consciously relax the chest muscles while indulging in any activity that causes exertion to their system like walking up a slope, or walking upstairs, or indulging in any sporting or sexual activity. The patient is taught to relax his arms, legs and thorax. The patients are also taught to sleep in a way that is relaxing to the chest muscles.

It is important to make certain changes in one’s lifestyle in order to avoid an emergency situation.
• Having some discipline in one’s life is extremely necessary.
• It is important to accommodate exercise, morning walks, simplicity in diets, eating well balanced diet, regularising the working and sleeping times.
• Following disciplined habits at workplace so as to avoid piling up of work as this may lead to undue tensions.
• To develop a habit of complete relaxation and avoidance of anger. Most people benefit tremendously by the practice of yoga and meditation.
• The habit of unnecessarily worrying over trivial matters is known to cause aggravation so it should be stopped immediately...

The patient is made to learn to lie down on one side with two pillows under the head, the upper arm and legs should be flexed forward. The upper arm should be facing backyard and the whole body should be turned forward. The patients who are slightly aging or suffering with emphysema find it very relaxing to lie down with higher pillows. Also head of the bed can be raised slightly for more comfortable lying position while sleeping and to relax respiratory muscles while sleeping. Regularly doing a few toe touching exercises and sit-ups everyday is important as it makes the abdominal muscles strong. But care should be taken to not overdo the exercises as they may exert the system and even cause damage.