Asthma and Martial Arts

Moves are frequently the trigger for things like this. New allergens you've not had a chance to get used to. Different climate. Etc.

Hell, I've been advised to move to Arizona because the environment is better for me. So clearly the medical professionals think environment is a big factor.

 

Yea I would agree.

 

I moved down two years ago, but the asthma only developed in the last three months or so. Nothing else is really new, just the same old stuff that I have always done.
When its associated with my allergies, I start coughing but there's no phlem. I just can't stop coughing though. If I don't take my inhaler, I can keep this up for a week or so, with the coughing gradually getting worse. Then I start to feel my brachia when I am coughing. Its like my whole chest tightens up and I can't get enough breath but I can't stop coughing either. Sometimes I become really short of breath during sparring. Sparring seems to be the only thing that triggers it other then allergies. All that happens then is that I just can't seem to catch my breath after the fight, but then if I stand still and quite for a few minutes after the round is over, I get my normal breath back.
And out of sheer curiosity as to how it affects asthma, I will answer the last question. No, I am not and haven't been for a while. No one I would bother with in South Texas.

 

well, you could carry your inhaler, and train harder. my asthma nearly dissappeared when i started tkd, came back when i quit, and is still fading since i started ninjutsu. dont let yourself overheat, and if you start coughing, dont try to stop, but dont try to continue. if you can just relax and allow it to happen without you actually starting it, it'll usually stop. if you get phlegm, dont let it settle, and blow your nose often.

 

I was diagnosed with atshma around 10 years ago and it was pretty bad but then I started excersising, jogging a few miles everday and it just went away, its like im cured or something-pretty odd. Also when humidity levels are high its harder for everyone to breath, i dont know the reason behind it but it just happens.

 

Old asthmatic taking on MA in later life. My attacks are usually chemically triggered - paint / cleaning fluid / etc. I've posted on the 'hay fever' question as well, but that seems to vary from year to year.

(When asthma and hay fever combine - curl up and wheeze... :cry: )

I find a blast of Ventolin before exercise is more effective than running into problems and then trying to fix them. What I have found is that my wife is far more worried than I am when I have difficulty breathing.

Within MA classes - because I am more concious of breath in general, I seem to have a better feel for controlled breathing techniques that we discuss.

 

I also noticed you've posted this on the "Disabled" forum. Not chastizing, but please don't consider yourself disabled if you have asthma. Your only disabled if you believe so. Don't hold yourself back.

 

The same could be said for most disabilities. As we've seen from this forum, people with all kinds of conditions are training in martial arts, and not letting their condition hold them back. Some folks might have to do things a little differently, but they still train.

It's sort of a cliche, but just consider yourself "differently abled".

 

Exactly KT i see this as a place for people to talk about the challenges that they face because of physical or mental problems not just the percieved disabled tag

 

I, too, have asthma and used to have the attacks quite often. Funny, but when I started training again (after several years absence) with Kenpo, I haven't had to use my inhaler. It is the return to training that helped me be in physically better health to the point asthma has almost disappeared.

- Ceicei

 

i've had asthma since i was a kid, never serious like some of the previous posts. all the advice posted is good for the physical, but there is a mental side to the condition.

i almost always carry an inhaler and rarely need it. Unless i realise its not there!!

once the breathing gets difficult, this panics the mind and it tries to breathe harder, agrivating the problem. I find that if I make a conscious effort to breathe more gently then this relaxes the muscles in the chest and the breathing becomes easier in a few minutes. Taking calm shallow breaths which don't sound 'wheezy' work best for me, but they must be slow and calm.

hope you soon get used to it and you carry on enjoying life

 

Someone mentioned advair as one form of medication to deal with the problem. I can say from personal experience that I was using three forms of asthma inhalers and after using advair I was able to reduce it to just one. However that was nearly two years ago. Since than I have not had to use any asthma medication whatsoever and I have been training harder than I was at that point. Some changes I made included my diet, how I kept my personal sourroundings, and the places I went. Although my astma was allergy induced I found that eliminating much of the diary products from diet helped a lot. Also frequently dusting my home has helped. And not attending places were there was a great deal of smoking. Also consuming certain products such as Eucalyptus herbal teas has helped to clear my chest and make breathing a lot better. Also swimming, I can now swim for 45min continously and that has helped tremendously. After talking to several lifeguards two who had asthma I have found that swimming can expand the lung capacity of an individual. You are basically teaching your body how to breathe in a manner you were not accustomed to. Even if you began swimming and have trouble at first don't worry. I'm in my mid twenties and had never spent a great deal of time in a pool. I struggled at first but was able to get the technique and improve. Also Reversing Asthma by Richard N. Firshein, D.O. was very informative, reading medical information is also important. I hope this helps, and don't forget as someone mentioned previously it isn't just about physical efforts, meditation is also very helpful.

 

I think I mentioned Advair. And I've had a really good experience with it as well.

The only thing I'd mention at this point, though, is that Serevent has been named by a representative of the FDA as needing a lot more scrutiny. I don't know how many of you have been following that story. But Serevent was mentioned along with various other medications in recent controversies surrounding the FDA.

I mention it because Serevent is one of the active ingredients in Advair. I'm not dissuading anyone from looking into Advair. Just go in with all the facts. (I'm feeling a little guilty about mentioning the medication in the first place. If it all turns out to be okay, then game on. But if it does indeed turn out to be problematic, I don't want anyone else suffering because I advocated its use.)


Stuart

 

I have been doing really well since I moved bank to the desert.
Just every once and again, I wake up and my lungs hurt. They feel tight until I "stretch" them by having a massive caughing fit then they are fine. Am I the only one this happens to?

 

Maybe you should cut down to 5 cigars before going to bed

No, I've never had that, they do get real tight when I'm out running, it may be my asthma but more likely it's because I'm not breathing properly. Do you take a preventer like Beclomethasone Dipropionate?

 

I haven't taken anything since I moved back to the desert. I even lost the one inhaler that I had. I think its in my car somewhere.
I quit smoking about 4 years ago or so, so that shouldn't be causing the weirdness in my lungs in the morning. I had it again this morning, though not as bas as usual. I ran last night before class and never had any trouble with my lungs last night. I think it has something to do with humidity changes.

 

Humidity and extremes of temperature also affects my breathing, I think heat affects it the most. I'm pretty much ok running in the rain but during the height of summer I'm a wheezing mad man especially as I have allergies too. :cry:

Learning to breathe properly is important. Something I've yet to master...

 

I'd say go to the doctor and get a preventer, from what I've heard I think once you get asthma, your pretty much stuck with it.
I had something similar last year, where I kept coughing and often had sore lungs, and after being on a preventer and decongestant for a month or so it got a lot better.

 

You might be right, I might have to go and check things out with a doctor. If only my new providor would send me an insurance card.

 

Actually, a lot of people who have childhood asthma 'grow out' of it. I did for a number of years but it came back with a vengeance. Most exciting of all is that I've been hospitalised many times because of it and I nearly died twice!!

Mmmm nebulizers...