Osteopaths for Asthma

There is currently no cure for asthma and we are not sure why it occurs however, osteopathic treatments can act to relieve asthmatic symptoms and thus increase your quality of life it you suffer from asthma.

Causes of Asthma

Asthma is caused when your airways become inflamed. This inflammation irritates the muscles that surround your trachea (the windpipe that connects your mouth to your lungs) and causes them to constrict (tighten). This reduces the amount of room that exists for air to move down your trachea into your lungs and produces the characteristic wheezing sounds of an asthma attack. In addition to this narrowing of the trachea by the muscles, the inflammation causes your body to produce more mucus which further reduces the amount of room for air to move to and from your lungs.


Asthmatic Symptoms

Asthmatic symptoms include wheezing and coughing, where coughing is your body’s attempt to clear some of the excess mucus in your airways. You may also feel very tight chested and find it very difficult to breath and/or talk. Asthma “attacks” describe the periods when these symptoms occur to the point that you struggle to breath. However asthmatic symptoms can range in both severity and longevity.

Osteopathic Treatment for Asthma

If you are an asthmatic it is likely that you carry an inhaler to help you manage your airway, but you may also be undertaking other treatment or taking other forms of medication (such as steroids) depending on the severity of your asthma and your medical history. It is important that you tell your osteopath about all the medication and treatments you are currently taking. Your osteopath will also want to know the details of the severity and regularity of your asthma attacks so they can build up a picture of your asthmatic symptoms and how much it is affecting your lifestyle. This is important as osteopathy aims to treat your body as a whole and will want to incorporate all of your symptoms in your treatment in a way that will help you to enhance and manage your chosen lifestyle. 

Your asthmatic symptoms can be greatly improved by osteopathy as your osteopath will be able to reduce the tension around your rib cage which will make your breathing easier. Osteopathic treatment will also increase the efficiency of the nervous system that controls the size of your airways and the amount of mucus that your body produces. In addition to this, your osteopath may want to advise you on your posture because poor posture can exacerbate asthmatic symptoms. This is because stiffness in the region around the ribs and shoulders could make breathing even more difficult which would encourage breathing difficulties initiated by your asthma.

Reducing asthmatic symptoms using osteopathic treatment will give you a better quality of life. The overall goal in using osteopathy is to reduce the frequency of your asthma attacks and your need to use medication.

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