Asthma is a type of breathing condition that has flare-ups. Even when there isn’t a flare-up present the person affected by this condition creates mucus that is much thicker than for people who do not have the condition. This causes the person to have some difficulty in breathing on a day to day basis. When there is a flare-up it causes the bronchi to constrict, making it nearly impossible for them to breathe without the help of an inhaler. For some, they can use natural foods or drinks that cause the bronchi to open, if they do not have a working inhaler with them at the time of the flare-up, or what is known as an asthma attack.
Other symptoms of this condition vary depending on how severe their case is. These symptoms include wheezing, shortness of breath, being tired, hunching forward, and coughing. Not everyone with asthma always requires an inhaler, whereas others need very strong sympathomimetics and/or corticosteroids in their inhaler and may be required to take it every day whether they have an attack or not.
The reason why an asthma attack happens varies between each person who has the condition. Some people have several triggers, others may only have one. Such things are pollen, weather temperature extremes, smoke, stress, pollution, perfumes or other scents, food allergies, and when doing extreme exercises.
Massage therapy cannot cure asthma, and it also cannot stop an attack once it has started. What massage can do, is work on the breathing muscles to make it easier to breathe, and help with getting any excess mucus or phlegm, out of the lungs, again making it easier for the person to be able to breathe and help with oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange in the lungs. Once the muscles have been treated with trigger points as well as any tightness, it will make it easier for the person to be able to breathe regularly. Sometimes this can decrease the frequency of how many asthma attacks the person has, depending on what their triggers are. As an example, if it is induced by scents or extreme temperatures, nothing can stop you from reacting to that the next time. However sometimes if you can get the muscles working better for you, when you do some types of exercises there will be a slightly less chance that it will induce an attack. It, however, will not guarantee that you will never have an attack again while you are exercising, just minimize that chance.
The techniques used during the massage are trigger point therapy, rib raking (this is where the therapist puts their fingers between the ribs, and muscle strips through the muscle starting at your sides, and moving in towards the spine, this is done only when you are face down), rib springing (this is a joint play technique, where they press onto the ribs and let them go. This technique isn’t done if there are any fractures or dislocations in the ribs), and cupping, like what is done during a bronchitis treatment. These muscles include the diaphragm (underneath the front of the rib cage), scalenes (the neck breathing muscles), intercostals, (the muscles between the ribs), Serratus muscles (there are 3 different types and they span over the ribs) and Quadratus Lumborum (the muscles in the lower back that help bring the rib cage down while breathing). All of these muscles help the ribs to move while you take each breath. Depending on how you breathe, some of these muscles will be more fatigued than others.
When treating these muscles, for one part of the treatment you will be face up. This will be to work on the muscles in the neck and one of the serratus anterior muscles. Another that is worked on when you are face-up in your diaphragm, but for this one, to be able to work on it, you will have to have your hips and knees bent. This is because you need to have your abdominal muscles relaxed as much as possible so the therapist can get to your diaphragm and treat it for any trigger points that you may have. The way that the knees are kept up is with a wedge of pillows underneath them. Then the rest of the treatment will be performed with you being on your stomach. This includes the cupping over the ribs, the therapist will have you in a regular face down position while doing this technique compared to when they are doing the chronic bronchitis treatment as with asthma, it doesn’t have a particular lobe affected more than another.
After the massage session, the therapist will walk you through the proper way of breathing. This is called diaphragmatic breathing. This type of breathing forces you to breath with all three compartments of breathing. This includes the stomach, the ribs and into the top part of the chest. This will help with keeping the shallow breathing to a minimum and help you absorb more oxygen into the body. This technique can also help when you are feeling stressed or anxious, as it can be relaxing once you get the hang of doing this technique.