Can other approaches help control my asthma?

You may wish to think about other ways to manage your asthma alongside your medicines.

Breathing-exercise programmes

Recommendation based on the research evidence

Breathing-exercise programmes, including face-to-face methods taught by physiotherapists and audio-visual programmes, can be offered to people with asthma as an extra form of treatment to be used alongside their medicines. Some people with asthma may think about trying this to control their symptoms.

Complementary therapies

You should not use complementary therapies instead of the treatments your healthcare professional recommends, but they can be used alongside them. If you are thinking about using them, discuss it with your healthcare professional first.

There is not enough evidence from scientific research to suggest that the complementary therapies and devices listed below can help control your symptoms:

acupuncture
herbal and traditional Chinese medicine
homeopathy
hypnosis and relaxation therapies
massage