Asthma is one of the most common lung diseases and usually occurs in childhood. By the appropriate treatment asthma can be lived with however well and the asthma attacks can be clearly decreased in the adult age. Asthma (or bronchial asthma) is often characterized by a sudden shortness of breath due to a narrowing of the airways.
This manifests itself in an attack that can last for a few minutes. The narrowing of the airways usually disappears completely after each attack. Depending on the severity of the asthma disease, a residual narrowing may remain, which is then treated with medication.
Physiotherapeutic intervention
At the beginning of the treatment of a patient with bronchial asthma, it is important for the physiotherapist to make a detailed diagnosis. He pays attention to the breathing frequency, breathing direction, breathing sounds, shape of the thorax, posture of the patient, tone of the muscles and the general condition. General information is also important, such as frequency of asthma attacks, occurrence in the family, duration and intensity of an attack are important to find an individual, good treatment.
The physiotherapy for asthma can be divided into 2 phases. The acute phase immediately after an asthma attack and the late phase, which describes the time between asthma attacks. In the acute phase of physiotherapy for asthma it is important to educate the patient.
Usually the doctor already has some information about the disease, but this information can be deepened. It is important to take away the fear of an asthma attack and to make the patient aware that he can help himself best by staying calm and following some advice. To ease breathing, directly during an asthma attack, a sitting position is recommended, in which the arms are laid on the knees so that the force that the upper body has to exert to get enough air into the lungs can be transferred to the legs.
In the same way, a standing position should be chosen in which the asthma patient leans with his arms against a wall or, as when sitting, puts his elbows on his knees. It is important to take as deep breaths as possible to reduce the shortness of breath. Furthermore, the asthma patient is encouraged to relax in general, which can be done by the physiotherapist by stroking the extremities, autogenic training, dream journeys or simple exercises from the respiratory therapy, such as contact breathing.
The aim of this application is to give the presumably very tense patient a little rest. During this relaxation phase the patient can be instructed to pay attention to his breathing, which will become important in the further course of the physiotherapy for asthma. Of particular interest is how the chest, stomach, nose and mouth behave during inhalation and exhalation. Normal breathing should be via the nose and the chest rises and falls with each breath. The respiratory rate averages 12 breaths per minute, in an asthma patient shortly after the attack of course significantly increased.
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