Hypnotherapy and Asthma

Before I start, I need to make something very clear – if you are asthmatic and have prescribed medicine for your condition DO NOT STOP USING IT!! Those of you reading who have experienced asthma will know that the medication is life saving, those of you who care for someone, or know someone with the condition – please know that holistic therapies can help but must not ever be used instead of medication.

The facts:  – during an asthma attack the walls of the lower respiratory tract swell and thicken in response to a trigger.  The airways narrow and this is made worse by the increase in mucus, which may block some of the smaller airways. This means that it is difficult to breath out, so the lungs are only partially emptied and this leads to them becoming hyper-inflated. This is why the anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator agents in inhalers are so important. Crystals will not hack it! 

So now that’s out of the way – let’s talk about holistic therapy approaches to help sufferers with their condition, because there is no doubt that there are many ways to help asthma sufferers improve their well-being and manage to live with their disease.

 Obviously, as a hypnotherapist, I’m going to start there! Everyone experiences their own asthma in their own individual manner. For some people there is a fear that as soon as they become aware of the tightening in their chest, they are going to have a full-scale asthma attack. For others, they have a feeling of frustration or anger that they’ve been landed with this difficult condition. Hypnotherapy can be a powerful tool in achieving general relaxation and reducing of stress and underlying anxiety. This will help to reduce the frustration and anger. One of the things that often surprises any hypnotherapy client is that they discover that they only learn what it feels like to be fully relaxed through hypnotherapy, and that they can use that sensation as a reference point in their general life, to help calm themselves when needed. Hypnotherapy can help unpick the fear around an attack – especially for someone who has had a major one that landed them in hospital. Hypnotherapy also is well known for helping with smoking cessation and weight loss – both of which can be factors in helping fitness and improving lung function.

What else? Anything that helps breathing technique is great. Singing and playing blowy musical instruments is good – the British Lung Foundation give these a big thumbs up, but suggests those joining a choir or group ensure the teacher/leader know of their condition. The Buteyko Breathing Mechanism taught as part of yoga has been found to be very useful. Massage therapy and mindfulness have also been found to be relaxing and so help manage stress and general well being.

Blf.org.uk and Asthma.org.uk are both great sources of information and advice

So if this blog feels relevant to you, why not get in touch and have a chat with us about how hypnotherapy may be able to help?