Author: Ian McAllister
Asthma Singing - what on earth is that?! It has been shown that singing helps control your asthma. I'd like to think that it is a brilliant discovery, because I like singing, but I suspect that most of the benefit lies in breath control. Buteyko breath control is more reliable, but also more boring, so if you or your child find that singing treats your asthma effectively, why not continue to use the less boring method?
Maldon & South Chelmsford Primary Care Trust has started a new project to improve the quality of life of local children with asthma.
Sarah Southerby, the PCT's healthy living co-ordinator said "Asthma is a serious condition for many youngsters, The 'Huff and Puff' project holds innovative classes using song and art as mediums for helping children to control their breathing."
The workshops include simple songs, rhythms and breathing techniques, to teach the children not to panic when they suffer shortness of breath.
Adult Singer's Approach
Asthma makes your vocal folds swell, so they feel heavy and need more pressure to sing. That increases throat tension which is a vicious circle.
The kids will love making siren noises all day, but teach them that they'll get best results by singing so quietly that you can't hear them. A singer can appreciate the idea of relaxing the vocal folds. I don't know how you would explain it to a child, but if they sing quietly enough they should get the relaxation needed.
Rest will not relax your breathing. The worse your asthma symptoms, the longer you'll have to vocalise. You can vocalize all day long at work too quietly for anybody else to hear your humming, and that would be an excellent idea. Totally relaxed vocalisation will thin the vocal folds if you keep on long enough.
If you're not a singer already, joining a choir helps to tone up the body, as well as the brain. "Singing exercises the abdominal and intercostal muscles, and stimulates the circulation," said Helen Furness, a professional choir trainer with the "Singing for Health" programme for over-fifties in Midlothian. "I teach the group deep-breathing exercises, which enables them to make full use of their lungs."
"Learning to sing correctly also encourages people to concentrate on improving their posture", says Furness. "And I teach mostly without song sheets. This stimulates choir members to engage their brains and keep their memories sharp."
Many experts believe we are born musical. "The inner part of the ear is the only organ to reach the full adult size at 24 weeks," says Dr Michel Odent, director of the Primal Health Research Centre in London. "Music provides the foetus with sensory stimulation, and singing improves the emotional state of a pregnant woman, which can influence the growth and development of the baby in the womb."
Babies recognise melodies earlier than they do language. That is why a mother traditionally sings a lullaby to a baby at bedtime, as a signal that it's time to sleep. Playing music and singing to a child also promotes language and cognitive development, co-ordination and listening skills."
University of the Pacific Research
Music Therapy Perspectives: Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 31–37.
A Comparison of the Effects of Vocal Exercises/Singing Versus Music-Assisted Relaxation on Peak Expiratory Flow Rates of Children with Asthma
LEANNE M. WADE
ABSTRACT
Nine subjects who were diagnosed with asthma participated in eight sessions of music therapy. Male and female subjects ranged in age from eight to thirteen years of age. Sessions took place at two area public schools over a four-week time span. All subjects participated in two alternating experimental conditions: Singing and progressive muscle relaxation. Both conditions were presented within each session and alternated across sessions. Dependent measures were taken using a peak flow meter for breathing and a mood evaluation form for current mood state. Four expiratory flow rates and four present mood evaluations were recorded before and after the first treatment and before and after the second treatment during each session. Results indicated that subjects showed an increase or maintenance of lung functioning after singing, while results for subjects were not consistent following the relaxation condition.
Shorn of the scientific gobbledegook that means that the youngsters who were singing improved their asthma control, and the ones that weren't singing had inconsistent results. So sing your asthma away.
