Are soft tissue interventions more effective than breathing retraining interventions in decreasing asthmatic symptoms

Abstract

Asthma affects 5-10% of the global population and the mainstream treatment for patients involve medication’s which can cause side effects. Currently, there are many alternative approaches such as breathing retraining and soft tissue interventions, however, comparative studies are lacking. This thesis reviewed the role of soft tissue manipulation and breathing retraining techniques on asthma patients to compare their effects and to understand their viability in the reduction of symptoms. These techniques are commonly utilized by Osteopaths and manual therapeutic branches. 8 studies were included with 7 articles which were randomized control trial studies and 1 pilot study with randomization Breathing retraining was found to benefit asthmatic patients in psychological measures (e.g., QoL, AQLQ) and had no effect on the ventilatory measure of the lungs. The soft tissue interventions had a beneficial impact on both ventilatory and psychological measures, but this outcome was not exclusive to all articles related to soft tissue interventions. Not enough research currently exists to give a clear answer to the research question; therefore, it cannot be stated that soft tissue techniques are superior to breathing retraining for asthmatic patients. Further research is needed to compare these mainstream alternative interventions with all appropriate measures typically associated with asthma symptoms (e.g., Spirometry, QoL, AQLQ, ).