subject: Asthma Wheezing Treatment Through Controlled Breathing [print this page] In the first "Terminator" film, there was a scene where lead actor's character seemed to have been badly wounded. The leading lady was quick to point it out, to which the leading man replied "Pain can be controlled". For some, it provoked some thought. Maybe pain CAN be controlled. Maybe, if we just have the will, we can shut away feelings of pain. Maybe we can will our illnesses, our asthma, away just like a placebo. But alas, it cannot be done by sheer will alone. There is one method, though, that came really close.
The Buteyko method is a breathing technique developed by a Russian doctor of the same name. The late Doctor Buteyko noticed that people who were sick were breathing in a different manner than people who were not sick. He then thought that if we can consciously do correct breathing, we can reverse the illness we have in the process. Buteyko then started looking to breathing techniques in yoga, and developed his own. The Buteyko breathing technique was then implemented in hospitals. Rumor has it that the method was recognized after a foreigner who was successfully treated with the Buteyko technique spread the good news back in his homeland.
The breathing technique that Buteyko developed is now accepted in the medical community as a valid treatment for asthma. It is still considered as an alternative treatment, however, since it does not make use of any pharmaceutical products as conventional medicine does. Modern people that have asthma may find the Buteyko method a little confusing, though. This is because the technique has shifted and changed, and there are a lot of styles for it; even if the core principles are the same.
The Buteyko method is very useful for asthmatics even if it is not technically considered a medicine. If this is mastered, it helps minimize, if not relieve, asthma attacks. Even if the Buteyko breathing method is approved for use in asthma, asthmatics should never rely on it alone. Alternative medicines or treatments are best used in tandem with medicines prescribed by your doctor. For example, when you start wheezing slightly, it signals an asthma attack. You can use the Buteyko Method. If it works, then you just saved a small amount of medication in your inhaler. If it doesn't work, then use the inhaler.
There are other breathing techniques that were developed for treating asthma. Some of them are also to induce a state of relaxation, such as Pranayama. Pranayama is also a yoga derivative. But at the moment, Buteyko is a tested and proven method to help keep asthma and its symptoms under control.
