If you struggle to breathe comfortably in the fall season, it can make the cold months much more difficult to enjoy. Learn some useful home remedies for asthma that can help make those seasons a little easier!
My Love-Hate Relationship with Fall
I really love fall and all the activities it brings with it. The temperature is comfortable, the nature is so beautiful, and the seasonal food and drinks are some of my favourite flavours!
But my body doesn’t always agree with me.
Especially my lungs.
When the weather starts turning cold, I tend to be much more prone to breathing problems, sinus infections, and sore throats.
Related Post: Your Perfect Fall Morning Routine For A Better Season
My worst experience with asthma lasted five weeks.
I spent those five weeks in a fall-weather town in Quebec for a French-Immersion program.
It stays in my memory as one of my favourite places, but wow, did my body struggle!
I had a painfully sore throat that would come and go for the entire five weeks.
I had a very difficult time breathing at all hours of the day.
It didn’t take long for me to develop a dry cough.
It got especially bad at night. I had to suck on a lozenge and then keep my face covered by blankets so I could breathe moist air to fall asleep every night.
I was practically drinking cough medicine.
One of my favourite times of the day was my shower time. Because, you know, I could actually breathe comfortably.
Related Post: 73 Magical Self-Care Sunday Ideas For A Better Week
The good news? I soon started to discover natural remedies for asthma.
I had a friend there who was concerned by my cough.
She had asthma, too, and knew how bad it could be. She offered me some ginger tea and suggested I have some every day just to help my body a little bit.
It was one small gesture that made a big difference, and that was when I first started to realize that I was not a helpless victim when the cold came.
I could actually do things that could help my asthma!
Later on, while living in China, I picked up a lot of other simple tips for asthma relief.
My co-workers were more than happy to suggest their own home remedies for asthma, cough, and cold.
The most common suggestion I received was always, “Stay warm and drink lots of warm water.”
Yes, warm water.
Not tea, not medicine, just water warmed up. I loved the simplicity of their suggestions, and honestly, it always worked!
Today, I want to share with you all of the natural remedies for asthma that I’ve learned throughout the years.
No over-the-counter medication is required.
These home remedies for asthma are all tried and true. I personally use these strategies to improve my own health when trying to treat asthma in cold weather.
I hope that some of these will work for you, too!
Related Post: 13 Amazing Ideas for a Comfy, Cozy Fall Night Routine
Home remedies for asthma that will help you survive the cold weather
1. Tend to Your Overall Health
You’re probably thinking this is SUPER obvious, but I still think it’s worth mentioning because of just how important it is.
You can try all of the things on this list, but if you are not eating well, or if you only get 2 hours of sleep a night, then these remedies won’t help you AT ALL.
Your body needs to be in a stable state before you can treat the more complicated issues.
These natural remedies should help, but if your body is mistreated in other ways, it’s just not going to have the same benefits.
Related Posts: How to Drink More Water- Even When You Hate It | 30 Helpful Strategies to Sleep Better at Night | Your Perfect Fall Morning Routine for a Better Season
2. Make Steam Your Best Friend
I cannot stress this enough!
Steam is going to make a HUGE difference for your asthma, so take advantage of it whenever possible.
The fall weather brings a lot of mould and ragweed with it, and it also removes a lot of the humidity in the air. Everything feels drier, and this is what gives our lungs a harder time breathing as the weather gets colder.
Steam is FULL of moisture, so taking more opportunities to drink it in will help your lungs A LOT.
But how do you get access to steam?
There are a few different things you can do that are easy and free that will help you take in steam a little more often.
Take a hot shower
I remember when I was a kid, I would often have asthma attacks at night.
When my parents heard me gasping for air, they would rush me to the bathroom, open up the shower curtains, and blast the hot water.
The bathroom would fill with steam and I would instantly breathe easier. This strategy is a quick and easy one that I carried with me into adulthood.
Obviously, the water is too hot to put your skin under, so I have a little routine I do every time I take a shower in the colder months.
First, I blast the hot water without getting into the shower.
As the heat builds up, I sit on the side of the tub and just breathe in all the steam that rises out of the shower.
I sit and breathe for a couple of minutes, and then I turn the shower down to a more reasonable temperature and get in myself.
A lot of the steam will still be there, so you can enjoy some of the residual steam without burning yourself.
This is one simple thing you can add to your seasonal routine that will make a big difference.
Related Post: How to Make Your Shower Routine a Restorative Practice
Breathe in the steam from hot beverages
You’re already going to get an earful from me about the benefits of hot drinks for asthma later on, but I’ll just make a quick note here, too.
The little bit of steam that comes off of your drink can be a nice quick hit for your body.
I like to nurse my warm drinks (they double as hand-warmers for this eternally cold girl!) When I do, I sometimes try to keep my face resting close to the opening of the mug.
Imagine you are about to take a drink from your cup. Your lips are touching the rim, and your nose is sort of in the cup itself.
Now, instead of drinking, just stay there and breathe in the steam.
If you had glasses, this would be the part where they fog up. That’s where you should be.
It’s an easy way to get a little more steam into your system throughout the day.
Related Post: 17 of the Best Hot Beverages You’ll Absolutely Love
Make your own steam with a pot of boiling water once a week
This is one of my favourite home remedies for asthma. Not only is it wonderful for my lungs, but it feels SO GOOD on my skin, too.
It’s basically a mini-steam room for your face, and all you need is a towel and a pot of steaming water!
First, put the pot of water on the stove and boil it. If you have a kettle, you can boil the water in there, too.
Once the water boils, remove it from the heat and set it on the table (or move the water to another bowl that’s not burning hot.
Next, grab a towel and rest it above your head while you put your face over the water.
The idea is that the towel will seal in all of the moisture to allow you to take in a concentrated amount of steam.
Careful, though!
Steam can burn, so be careful not to put your face too close to it.
You want it close enough that your face is dripping with moisture, but not so close that you feel a burning pain.
I’ve been doing this for years and have never burned myself, so you don’t need to be afraid of it. Just be aware of the potential of burning if you’re not careful.
If your asthma is really bad, you will probably cough A LOT for the first minute that your face is taking in the steam.
But hold on, because, after that minute, it will feel like someone just installed a third lung into your body.
I mean you will take full breaths in absolute comfort.
I like to stay here for 15 minutes, but it’s fine to stay there as long as you want!
If you don’t want the risk of burning yourself or don’t want to set things up manually, you can buy this product that creates steam for your face. Though it is not necessary, it is quite a bit safer!
Keep a humidifier by your bed at night
So we’ve learned ways to provide more steam throughout your day, but what about nighttime? Is there anything we can do while we sleep to help? Yes!
Keep a pot of hot water beside your bed at night to add a little moisture to the room.
If you’re in a pinch and don’t have any option to do this, you can try putting the covers over your nose and mouth.
It doesn’t solve everything, but your breath will create a little moisture beneath the blankets that will make breathing a little easier.
If you’ve got money to spare, you can also invest in an actual humidifier. Basically, they are little devices that add humidity to the room while you sleep.
You can buy a great cool mist humidifier on Amazon that works great!
Related Post: 30 Helpful Strategies to Sleep Better at Night
3. Keep Your Body Warm
I’m not a doctor, and I can’t prove that this tip works, but for me, I find that it is helpful.
I mean, when you get cold and shivery, your muscles are working double-time to heat themselves up, and your body is going to get tired faster. It doesn’t have the energy to bother with any extra upkeep, and that includes your breathing!
I find that it helps to try to maintain a comfortable body temperature throughout the day.
You can regulate your body temperature in a few different ways:
Drink warm beverages
You don’t need to be guzzling tea and coffee all day to have constant warm beverages.
Honestly, I have grown fond of plain hot water ever since living in China.
We’ll cover warm beverages a little later still, so let’s move on…
Add spices to your meals
Take advantage of the way spices can warm your body and add them to your regular meals.
It’ll taste good AND it’ll help regulate your temperature in the cold weather.
Wear warm clothes and accessories
Forget what’s in fashion- if it leaves you shivering, it’s time to reconsider your wardrobe.
Wear things that can keep you warm and comfortable all day.
And while we’re on the topic of warm clothes, try to use a scarf when you go outside.
If it’s especially cold, wear the scarf around your mouth and nose so that you can breathe in moisture instead of dry air.
Use a heating pad
If I’m really struggling to get warm, I like to use a heating pad to speed up the heating process.
I like to put it close to my core, as this will get everything warm faster.
Get moving!
This is another great strategy if you are struggling to get warm. All you need is five minutes of intense activity, and you will warm right up!
Run up and down the stairs, do some push-ups or jumping jacks, or dance to a song you love.
All of these things will help get the blood pumping through your body and should get you pretty warm.
4. Switch any Strenuous Exercise to Restorative Activity
Of all of the natural ways to survive autumn when you are an asthmatic, this one is the easiest to implement!
I mean, I’m basically telling you to do less with your exercise routine.
Who doesn’t want a good excuse to do that!?
The two exercises that might be doing more harm than good in this season are running and swimming.
They’re both really strenuous on the lungs.
The main idea is to do something that focuses on healing your body rather than working it.
This will keep you moving and strengthening those lungs without the risk of hurting them.
For me, I’ve always found a good metric to be how I feel afterwards. There are certain exercise sessions that make it hurt to breathe for hours after I finish, and others that make me feel like I’ve just expanded my lungs.
You should be opting for the ones that expand your lungs.
Simple mat workouts, yin yoga (a style of yoga that focuses primarily on breath), and tai chi are all great options.
You can also do a series of breathing routines that will help ‘exercise’ your lungs.
5. Get Assistance From What You Eat and Drink
There are a few really helpful ingredients that you can easily add to your daily routine that will help treat asthma in cold weather.
They are all things that I use on a daily basis once fall arrives.
Drink medicinal tea
All tea is going to be helpful (remember the importance of steam and warm beverages?), but some teas are going to do more than others.
Look for medicinal teas that have immune-system support or that help with things like sore throats or dry cough.
Echinacea tea is my personal favourite, but you can also look for teas that have ginger, eucalyptus, peppermint, fennel, licorice root, or oregano.
Play around with the tastes you like and treat them as medicine in the fall months.
Take Oil of Oregano Daily
This stuff comes in a lot of forms, but I have three main suggestions.
First, you can put oregano spice on your food or in your drinks.
Second, you can put that spice in your boiled water for steaming your face.
Third, you can take 4 drops of oregano oil every day (or only when your throat is getting sore).
I’ll tell you right now, that stuff burns.
You’ll take a few drops and think, hmm, this tastes just like a drop of olive oil. And then all of a sudden, BAM! You won’t be thinking it’s such a soft flavour anymore.
If you already have a dry cough, it will also make you cough a lot initially.
But boy, is it effective!
Oil of oregano is the sole reason why I don’t get sore throats anymore.
Try Oil Pulling or Gargling Salt Water
Both of these natural remedies for asthma are helpful.
Both ingredients have antibacterial properties that can help keep your throat clear of problems.
Oil Pulling takes more time and effort, but it also leaves a really nice feeling in your mouth when you’re done.
The warm saltwater gargle tastes pretty nasty, but it’s a lot faster and easier.
Both are effective, though.
Related Post: 14 Reasons to Love Coconut Oil as a Minimalist
Use Ginger, Honey, and Lemon Often
Get creative with these three asthma superfoods!
You can make ginger or lemon tea and sweeten it with honey.
Try foods that are flavoured with ginger or lemon.
If you are really struggling, have little doses of honey throughout the day to help your throat.
There are lots of options when it comes to these foods, and they all taste incredible, so have at it!
I know there are a lot more simple tips for asthma relief out there, but I really wanted to restrict myself to sharing the things that I actually do on a daily basis to treat my own asthma in cold weather.
My favourite part about these tricks is that there isn’t anything complex about it.
The In Its Season lifestyle is not about piling on tasks or material items to create a better life.
Instead, I encourage simplifying our routines and our belongings to make time for the stuff that really matters.
The fall season is a great time to simplify the rest of your routine and take time to nourish your body as it works to keep you healthy in the colder months.
Do you have any home remedies for asthma that work well for you?
0 Comments