subject: Doing Chest And Breathing Exercises For Treatment Asthma [print this page] Exercises play an important role in the treatment of asthma. A clear nasal airway ensures the clearing up of lungs. Following are given some of the chest and breathing exercises that can help you to improve your breathing between or during asthma attacks.
Exercise 1
Lie down on a flat surface fully stretched out with your back facing ground. Place your hands softly on your abdomen so that you can feel the rise and fall of your abdomen with breathing. Breathe normally for sometime and then squeeze your abdominal muscles, try to pull your abdominal muscles towards your back. Repeat this process until you feel comfortable with squeeze and the timing.
Exercise 2
Once you have tightened your abdominal muscles, raise your both knees up to your abdomen, and hence will exhale more air. Repeat this until you feel comfortable with this exercise. Keep lying flat during exercise to get the required results.
You can draw your legs up to your abdomen as well to have a same sort of impact on your abdominal muscles. Drawing up your legs will raise the pressure and eventually help you to release the trapped air.
Exercise 3
Now stand up and repeat whatever you did in exercise one, i.e. squeeze and pull your abdominal muscles towards your back.
Exercise 4
In standing posture, exhale gently and try to contract your abdominal muscles and sit on a chair. Now again exhale gently and try to bend forward until your thighs come in contact with your chest.
Exercise 5
Exhale and contract your abdominal muscles in standing positions and move to squatting position slowly. By putting pressure on diaphragm, Squatting helps to release trapped air.
These exercises are meant to have a proper control on your diaphragm, which is important for proper breathing.
Fine-Tuning Exercises
Exercise 6
This exercise involves pursed lip breathing, which is used to slow the process of exhaling (make for a longer period and greater volume of exhaling). Inhale with open mouth and exhaled with your lips puckered. Keep having a control on diaphragm while exhaling.
Grunt is an opposite of pursed lip breathing. It is meant for quick, forceful breathing.
Exercise 7
Take a stopwatch and note the time for your exhaling in a single breath. Holding your breath is not the idea, this exercise is meant to control exhaling rather than holding.
Exercise 8
To control your exhaling ability, you can make use of a burning candle. In start, keep it an inch or two away from your mouth, make sure the gap is enough to avoid any burn. With time increase the distance between candle flame and mouth, so that to make flame flicker you need to apply more force while exhaling.
Exercise 9
This exercise is for standing and sitting position. Inhale a long breath and start counting while exhaling slowly. In start you may find it difficult, but with practice you will be able to do well.
Exercise 10
Being an asthma patient, keep a record of your expiratory flow before and after the exercise. You will see a healthy improvement over time.
This exercise should be taught to the patient when they are in stable state of health. Never try to teach them between asthma attacks. Being an instructor encourage your patient often to motivate them.
