If you have severe asthma and your regular medications don’t seem to be providing the relief you need, you may be curious whether there’s anything else you can do to cope with your symptoms.
Some natural remedies may be able to ease your symptoms, reduce the amount of medication you need to take, and generally improve the quality of your life. These remedies work best when taken alongside your usual prescribed asthma medications.
Here are 13 complementary therapies you can try for your asthma.
1. Dietary changes
Although there’s no specific diet for people with severe asthma, there are a few steps you can take that may help with your symptoms.
Being overweight can often worsen severe asthma. It’s important to maintain a healthy and balanced diet, which includes plenty of fruits and vegetables. These are good sources of antioxidants like beta-carotene and vitamins C and E, and they may help to reduce inflammation around your airways.
If you experience a flare-up in asthma symptoms after eating certain foods, try to avoid eating them. It’s possible that you have a food allergy that’s causing your symptoms to worsen. Talk to your doctor to confirm this.
2. Buteyko Breathing Technique
The Buteyko Breathing Technique (BBT) is a system of breathing exercises. It may be able to help reduce your asthma symptoms through slow, gentle breathing.
BBT focuses on breathing out of your nose instead of your mouth. Breathing out of your mouth can dry out your airways and make them more sensitive.
Some people may experience less respiratory infections from using this technique. Others who practice BBT believe that it helps to raise your carbon dioxide levels. Still, there isn’t conclusive evidence to support this theory.
3. Papworth method
The Papworth method is a breathing and relaxation technique that has been used since the 1960s to help people with asthma. It involves using your nose and diaphragm to develop breathing patterns. You can then apply these breathing patterns to various activities that may cause your asthma to flare-up.
A training course is usually recommended before adopting the exercises as part of your daily routine.
4. Garlic
Garlic has several health benefits, including anti-inflammatory properties, according to a 2013 study. Because asthma is an inflammatory disease, garlic may be able to help relieve your symptoms.
Still, there’s no conclusive evidence that garlic is effective against preventing asthma flare-ups.
5. Ginger
Ginger is another herb that contains anti-inflammatory properties and may help with severe asthma. A 2013 study showed that oral ginger supplements were linked to an improvement in asthma symptoms. But it didn’t confirm that ginger leads to an improvement in overall lung function.
