Difficulty in breathing, pain in chest etc; are the common symptoms of asthma. Asthma is a respiratory problem which can be caused due to allergy or it may be inherited from parents. Read on to find more about the symptoms of asthma, causes of asthma and how to treat asthma with yoga therapy.Asthma is one of the most discomforting respiratory problems in humans. The person suffers from periodic attacks of asthma which leads to breathlessness which can be normally controllable to severe condition when the person needs to get hospitalised. Although today the inhalers are the life saviors, it is better to treat asthma in a natural way so that the attacks get reduced and eventually the person feels healthy.
Symptoms of Asthma
A person coping with asthma may experience following symptoms.
- Difficulty in breathing
- Shortness of breath
- Dry coughing
- Whistling or hissing sound at the time of exhaling
- Running nose or itchy throat is accompanied by the attack
- Heaviness in the chest
- More difficulty in exhaling than inhaling
Causes of Asthma
A person may get affected with asthma due to the following causes.
Allergy – The most common cause of asthma is allergy. It can be allergy from food, dust, body sprays, perfumes, weather, drugs and many more. Dust allergy is the commonest of all.
Heredity – Researches have proved that almost 75% of the asthma patients have inherited the problem. It can be from one or both the parents suffering from this disease.
Combination of Different Reasons – Some of the asthmatic patients get attacks due to combination of factors like allergy, pollution, infections etc. Smokes and chemical fumes also trigger the attacks of asthma in many people.
Treating Asthma with Yoga Therapy
Various tests have proved that yoga is the best way to treat asthma as this has no side effects and only positive impact on the overall health of the patient. Although there are drugs and medicines, but it is advisable that these should be taken in severe conditions only. If you are suffering from asthmatic symptoms or anyone in your family suffers from this, you should take complete precautionary measures.
Practicing yoga asanas and pranayamas have proved that asthmatic people had fewer attacks than they used to have before. After a considerable amount of time, these patients depicted more positive results. Simple breathing exercises and pranayamas help a lot. It is always good to practice yoga in empty stomach and have some patience to get complete recovery.
Yoga Asanas Beneficial for Asthma Patients
Have a quick look at the yoga asanas which are beneficial for coping with asthma. However, consult your doctor and yoga expert before practicing these yoga asanas.
- Sukhasana
- Ardha matsyendrasana
- Pawanmuktasana
- Savasana
- Shoulder lifts
- Anulom vilom pranayama
- Kapalbhati pranayama
- Ujjayi pranayama
The best thing about yoga asanas is that it helps cure and prevent the disease from occurring. Yoga asanas and pranayamas reduce the attacks of asthma in the patients. The regular practice of yoga open up lungs and more fresh air is inhaled. It helps relax and strengthen the muscles of the lungs.
Pranayama specially has dramatic effect on asthma. Deep and relaxed breathing is associated with pranayama and this helps the person get more oxygen which further improves the cells in the body. It relaxes the muscles and soothes the person as well. It cleans the air passage and makes breathing easy and normal for the patient. Kapalabhati pranayama helps in dropping mucus clogging.
Asthma causes discomfort but it is known to take the death toll provided timely care is not taken of the patient. Pollution and heredity are two main causes of asthma and therefore the increase in the number of patients has been observed in past 3 – 4 decades throughout the world. Yoga helps you get relief from stress and any kind of emotional turmoil also that is too one of the causes behind asthma attacks.