It’s happening again. Michelle can’t breathe and her parents have to take her to the emergency room at 4:00 am on a school night. She is only seven years old and a chronic asthma sufferer. She uses her inhaler several times a day, and her parents never go anywhere without her nebulizer, inhaler, and medication. She misses a few days of school every month and can’t always play outside with her friends. Asthma has taken over their lives.

Asthma

Michelle is one of the millions of children who suffer from asthma, allergies, and chronic colds. It is estimated that 10-12% of children suffer from asthma in the United States, and it is the most prevalent cause of chronic illness in children. Asthma is caused by an inflammation in the bronchioles of the lungs, which causes the airways to fill with mucous, become inflamed or tighten up. There is a rise in asthma cases in children in the United States and the cause for this increase is unknown.

Common Symptoms of Asthma:

  • coughing at night
  • difficulty breathing, shortness of breath
  • wheezing
  • pain, pressure, or tightness in the chest

Chiropractic and Asthma

Some children and adults suffer from asthma for many years with little relief. However, there are many well-documented case studies showing the benefits of chiropractic for children and adults with asthma. After a few weeks of care, it has been documented that many of the patients in these studies no longer needed to use medications and inhalers, and within a few months, the patients resume sports and other physical activities. While maintaining wellness chiropractic care (once a month or as recommended by the chiropractor), the asthma has not been shown to return years later.

The chiropractors in these studies used a variety of techniques, low force, activator, and manual adjusting. Initial visits were 2 or more times per week and the full spine was examined and adjusted. Asthma sufferers typically had subluxations in the cervical region at C1 and in the thoracic region T3-4 of the spine. The overall well being of the children in these studies improved to normal function, allowing them to no longer miss school and enjoy social and physical activities.

Asthma doesn’t have to take over your life as in Michelle’s case. Chiropractic care is known to increase the body’s immunity, which greatly helps asthma sufferers by reducing inflammation to allow the body to heal itself. With the help of chiropractic care, asthma sufferers may experience relief of symptoms and even the disappearance of asthma altogether, leading to a better quality of life.

For Chiropractors

Even though chiropractic adjustments may have a dramatic effect on asthma sufferers’ symptoms, it’s still good to educated patients on factors which are possible triggers and ways to avoid exacerbating an asthma patients condition. Having one or more air quality monitors in a patient’s home can help the patient and their family determine the effectiveness of the measures which they are taking to improve their living space air quality. Carpeting can be a major source of allergens which can trigger asthma. This is especially true of carpeting in the patient’s bedroom. Because it continually exposes them to carpet dust throughout their entire night’s sleep. Whether the patient is in a position which allows them to remove the carpeting or not, high-quality HEPA Air Purifier and HEPA filter vacuums are advisable. For more frequent automatic vacuuming which can take place when no one is home, robotic vacuums can be used. This can also allow any dust which may possibly be ejected into the air during the vacuuming to be removed by the home’s air purifiers while the inhabitants are out.