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5 Breathing Exercises For Asthma Patients

Asthma is a breathing disorder which can cause you to lose your breath or start wheezing. A tight feeling in your chest is also quite prominent in asthma patients. According to allergy doctors, allergic asthma can also cause it. Here are some easy breathing exercises for asthma patients to help with their breathing.

Diaphragmatic Breathing

Diaphragmatic breathing is a very easy and common breathing technique used by asthmatic patients to get a hold on their breath. The exercise is very easy. You can do it when you’re either lying on your back or sitting up straight. Keep a good posture and make sure your back is relaxed and comfortable. Now for the breathing, you should inhale air from your nose. As you’re inhaling, your abdomen should expand and come out. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t fill up your chest with air, so your chest shouldn’t be the one expanding, rather it should be your abdomen or stomach. When exhaling, your abdomen should contract and go right in.

Breathing In Yoga

Yoga is a great way to practice and master your breathing if you’re suffering from asthma. Yoga is all about perfecting your breathing rhythm and style. During yoga or light stretching, you should always inhale and exhale consciously. Your mind should be able to pinpoint exactly when you are inhaling and exhaling. You can also try diaphragmatic breathing in yoga, but the difference here will be that you will inhale from your nose and slowly exhale through your mouth, with your lips in a relaxed O-shape.

Buteyko Breathing

This technique or exercise is for the purpose of clearing your lungs out of all the air. This exercise can be done in a few ways and as you get comfortable with it, you can increase the hardness level. You will need to sit up straight and keep your muscles and body relaxed. Afterwards, you will inhale slowly through your nose and take up all of the air you can in one go.

As you are exhaling, do it from the nose or mouth, whichever feels most comfortable in the beginning, and exhale out all of the air from your lungs until you feel like there is no air in your lungs. This can take some time to get used to, but this is a great exercise to strengthen your airways, bronchial tubes and your lungs.

Breathing With Pursed Lips

This exercise will also help you with mild asthma attacks. If you are experiencing shortness of breath, inhale as much air as you can through your nose, and when you are ready to exhale, shut your lips tightly and exhale through your nose. This will help the trapped air in your lungs to get out easily. You can do this multiple times until you feel like your asthma attack has subsided and you can breathe regularly again.

Another tip to remember is that your exhaling time should be twice as long as compared to your inhaling time. This will improve your breathing pattern and you will breathe more easily.

Nasal Breathing

There are so many advantages to nasal breathing. This will strengthen the nasal muscles inside and you will feel like breathing is easier when you do it through your nose. This exercise is relatively easy to do. You can use any breathing method which is mentioned above, but the main difference here will be that you will inhale and exhale through your nose. Nasal breathing adds that extra humidity and moisture in the air that you are breathing which helps asthma patients a lot.

Also, the small hair like fibers in your nose act as filters and they get rid of small microorganisms and bacteria in the air, purifies the air that you are inhaling and helps the lungs to expand and contract better. Nasal breathing can also alleviate your asthma. It takes some getting used to, but once your nasal muscles are stronger, your breathing pattern will be regular and better.

Conclusion

There you have it! With these breathing exercises, you will find your breathing to be more regular and in rhythm. This will lead to better breathing and you will not lose your breath as much. For severe breathing problems, consult with an asthma doctor Manassas.

Categories:   Health