SHARES
“My brother with asthma is very active outdoors. He likes hiking and challenging jungle trails. Sometimes, he would take two puffs of his inhaler before exercising.” John, who is also asthmatic, stays indoor more often and exercises less.
Is It Dangerous to Exercise With Asthma?
No. Your activity and fitness level is not limited by your asthma. Only your asthma triggers such as allergens and pollutants can affect your breathing regardless of whether you exercise or not. Having said so, your airway can be more sensitive towards cold and dry air. There are precautions to take when exercising.
On the other hand, having no exercise is dangerous. You are putting both your physical and mental health at risk by doing so. For instance, higher risk of poor weight control, heart problems, stroke, kidney problems, anxiety, depression etc.
Safety Precautions for Exercising with Asthma
1. Know Your Asthma Triggers and Avoid Them
You may keep an asthma diary to note down every single time, place, and possible trigger for your asthma. Over time, you will notice a pattern to you asthma, making it possible to prevent them. Also, if you have an allergy, you may get an “allergy skin test” done to identify your allergens. This can be pollen, animal fur, mould spores etc. For example, you may want to exercise indoor during hay season if pollen is a trigger; or exercise outside your neighbourhood if you are allergic to animal substances and cockroaches.
2. Always Bring Along Your Rescue Inhaler
In case you fail to avoid your asthma trigger, make sure you have your rescue inhaler with you. Keep it somewhere safe where you won’t risk dropping and losing it. You should be able to find and reach for your inhaler easily in time of emergency. This can be in your sweatpants pocket with sturdy and secure zip.
3. Monitor Your Asthma Control
If for some reason your medication is not working well or your asthma has been getting worse, make sure to talk to your doctor! Likewise, give time for your body to recovery from a recent airway infection and start exercising slowly as you see fit.
4. Weather Condition, Humidity and Temperature
Be it indoor or outdoor, pay attention to the air humidity and temperature. Avoid exercising in places with cold and dry air. Low humidity can dry up your protective layer airway mucus, making it more likely for your airway to be irritated. Cold air in turn causes the airway muscles to contract and narrows the airway. You may want to cover up your nose and mouth with a scarf or mask during activity in cold temperate climate.
Photo by Edgar Sjaalman from Flickr
5. Drink Enough Water Before, During and After Exercise
Make sure you are well hydrated all the time. Dehydration leads to less mucus production in your airway.
6. Warm Up Before Exercise
This helps raise our body temperature, making it more efficient to warm up our inhaled air.
7. Watch Your Breathing
Breathing too fast and irregularly can trigger asthma. This is because our inhaled air is not properly moistened and warmed up before reaching our lungs. Always breathe in through your nose as much as possible.
Photo by 陳 仰聖 from Flickr
Conclusion
Exercising and practicing an active healthy benefits our health as a whole. Generally, asthmatic person can have similar activity level like everyone else. Even so, precautions should be taken to protect themselves from asthma triggers. Talk to your doctor today on proper exercise techniques and work out a clear action plan for emergency situation.
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References:
1. Morris MJ. Asthma treatment and management [Medscape]. WebMD LLC. 2020. (Available from: https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/296301-treatment#d21; last updated on 2019 Dec 20; last accessed on 2020 Mar 20)
2. Mustafa SS, Ramsey A, Sheil WC. Best exercises for asthma: yoga, swimming, biking and walking [Internet]. WebMD LLC. 2020 (Available from: https://www.medicinenet.com/best_exercises_for_asthma_yoga_swimming_biking/views.htm; last accessed on 2020 Mar 20)
by Chang Xian
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