Should asthma sufferers do airway clearance?

@paxmundi The mechanism of disease is different in asthma than bronchiectasis. Bronchiectasis is characterized by widening and stiffening of the airways, so the cilia cannot effectively move mucus out of the lungs, thus we do airway clearance to help.

Asthma is characterized by inflammation and spasms narrowing the airways, again making it hard to eliminate mucus. However, many of the techniques we use to clear our airways with bronchiectasis COULD cause mucus - especially if it thick, to become stuck in the airways, causing more breathing distress for a person with asthma. I know from personal experience that if I am having an asthma attack (spasms, coughing, shortness of breath) I should not try airway clearance until it is resolved.

Your friend should consult a pulmonologist before trying airway clearance. Getting her airways opened and relaxed using long-term asthma medications and getting the mucus thinned using Mucinex or a similar med are the first lines of defense. Also, since asthma often has a strong allergic component, controlling her allergic responses through avoidance and/or medication is important.

Thank you for responding so thoughtfully. Since I suffer from bronchiectasis I understand that disease but I was cautious because I also knew that asthma constricts the airways, though didn’t understand the details of spasms, etc. Thank you so much for helping me help my friend!

Tagging a few others who may know if you should do airway clearance if you have asthma @wsbme74 @dstella @km6 @scoop @upside @monaj.