Where asthma is concerned, there are a myriad of chronic medications that can help keep your condition under control. However, there are also a variety of home-based remedies and solutions that can help to improve your breathing and improve quality of life.
Let’s take a close look at some of these home remedies that can help reduce the symptoms of asthma and even assist you in having to take medication less often:
Changes To Diet
A variety of dietary changes can assist with controlling severe asthma. Try and avoid eating foods that trigger shortness of breath, for some asthmatics this can happen with overly acidic or strong fruits and vegetables, such as tomatoes or guavas. This can also happen with concentrated juice or very artificial foods.
Above all, try eating a healthy and balanced diet full of green vegetables. These are rich in Vitamin E and C which can help reduce any inflammation around the lungs. Also, remember that being overweight can cause your asthmatic symptoms to worsen. Certain foods like garlic and ginger also have natural anti-inflammatory properties that can improve asthmatic symptoms.
Believe it or not, the caffeine in tea and coffee can also act as a bronchodilator, helping to reduce respiratory fatigue while honey can also provide relief.
Breathing Techniques
Try and master your breathing techniques, particularly during exercise or when in anxiety induced situations, so that you maintain control of the air coming in and out of your body. Breathing techniques that include long, slow, gentle breaths like the Buteyko Breathing Technique or Papworth method will help you gain this control. Also focus on breathing in and out of your noise where possible, reducing your reliance on breathing out of your mouth as many asthmatics tend to do. Breathing out of your mouth can dry out your airways, making breathing even more difficult.
Engaging in certain activities where breath control plays an important role can also help with controlling asthma. This includes yoga and Pilates. The stretching and breathing techniques used in both yoga and Pilates will help to increase your fitness and flexibility, also allowing the body to destress which is a common cause of asthma. Breathing based mediation can have a similar effect on the body.
Supplements
There are a range of natural symptoms that you can take to help lessen the symptoms of asthma. These include omega 3 oils. Omega 3 oils help to reduce inflammation of the lungs. These oils can be taken as supplements but are also naturally found in fish and flax seeds that you can snack on while playing pokies for real money.
Other essential oils, like eucalyptus or lavender, can also be added to water and inhaled or added to a steaming bath as a way of reducing respiratory distress. Chest rubs containing camphor, menthol or eucalyptus have also shown to be effective, particularly on small children. Unfortunately, however, many asthmatics have said to have negative reactions to these forms of oils so they should always be used with care and only with the advice of a doctor.