The Benefits of Acupressure and Acupuncture in Asthma Sufferers

Individuals with chronic obstructive asthma often become reliant upon the daily use of medications in order to avoid symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing and chest tightness that can have significant negative effects upon quality of life. Understandably, many asthma sufferers dislike long-term medication use and some individuals continue to experience limitation of physical activities despite appropriate medications. For these reasons, asthma patients and health care practitioners often find themselves turning to complementary and alternative medical modalities such as acupuncture and acupressure.

Acupuncture is an ancient healing system based on balancing flow within the meridian system, an energetic network of the body. Needle acupuncture has been shown to provide symptomatic relief to individuals with asthma in several studies. As an alternative method of stimulating acupuncture points, acupressure may also have the potential to provide similar benefits to asthma suffers. Historically, acupressure has been the subject of less scientific inquiry than acupuncture. However, interest in the health benefits of acupressure is increasing as the health care system begins to focus more on preventive medicine, wellness and self-care.

A recent pilot study published in The Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine was designed to investigate the healing potential of acupuncture and self-administered acupressure in asthma patients. In this study, a group of patients received standard care but also performed 8 weeks of daily self-administration of acupressure. This group was compared with a group who underwent 8 weeks of needle acupuncture in addition to receiving standard care, as well as with a group of participants that received only standard care.

The results of this study on asthma and acupressure looked for changes in five health outcomes: the distance walked in 6 minutes, a measurement of difficulty of breathing using two separate a scales, administration of a respiratory questionnaire, and administration of a symptom checklist. Statistically significant improvement was seen in measures that indicate quality of life in both the acupressure and acupuncture groups as compared to the standard care group. In fact, acupressure resulted in an average 6.57-fold improvement in scores from the respiratory questionnaire, while acupuncture resulted in an impressive average18.5-fold improvement.

The acupressure group of chronic asthma patients in this study performed acupressure on 5 meridian points on a daily basis. This daily activity is significantly less expensive and less time consuming than acupuncture treatments and appears to further improve self-reported asthma symptoms in individuals who are already receiving standard asthma medications. However, the significant improvement seen in the acupuncture treatment group seems to suggest that acupuncture may be a more appropriate choice for individuals with severe or refractory asthma. Both acupressure and acupuncture may be useful adjuncts in the treatment in individuals who suffer from chronic asthma.

References:

Maa, Suh-Hwa, et al. Effect of Acupuncture or Acupressure on Quality of Life of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Asthma: A Pilot Study. The Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Volume 9, Number 5, 2003, pp. 659-670.

Yao H, et al. Acupoint sticking therapy for treatment of bronchial asthma: a multicenter controlled randomized clinical trial. Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2009 Aug;29(8):609-12.