Question:
Does anyone have any good breathing exercises for Asthma?
I would gratefully appreciate any info you might have.
Answer:
The alternative medicine book 'Reversing Asthma', Richard Firshein, DO,
describes a number of breathing exercises that he believes would be
helpful. They include deep diaphragmatic and pursed lip breathing
exercises. However the 1997 Expert Panel Report II: Asthma Guidelines from NIH,
says on page 3c-4
"The Expert Panel also notes that although pursed-lip and other forms of
controlled breathing may help to maintain calm during respiratory
distress, they do not bring about improvement in lung function."
I prefer to do my breathing exercises as a result of normal exercise.
(hiking in hills, biking, swimming, etc.)
Paul Sorvino wrote *Becoming a Former Asthmatic* and I think the book
focused on breathing exercises. The book was published approximately
1986/1987 in hardcover and paperback and is currently out of print --
but may be it is still in circulation at libraries. (I read the book
but never did the exercises, so I can't give a personal
recommendation.)
I'm a clarinetist with adult-onset asthma, and the
breathing exercises that I do for wind control in my playing have, I
believe, stood me in very good stead. They're quite simple. Get a
metronome, and set it at a speed at which you can inhale for four
counts, hold for four counts, and exhale for four counts without
killing yourself or turning blue. Then inch the tempo down a notch.
When you get comfortable at each speed, move it to the next slowest
speed. Over time this builds good lung capacity and exercises the
breathing muscles.
