Is a condition caused by narrowing of the small airways of the lungs during the first 15 minutes of exercise or physical exertion, leading to sensations of chest tightness, breathlessness, wheezing, and coughing. Though it occurs in 40% to 90% of people with asthma, 20% of the general population without asthma can also experience it as well.
The mechanism of the condition is largely due to a burst of cold and dry air that enters the airways in your lungs when exercising. The lungs generally prefer warm and humid air. Cold and dry air tends to dehydrate the cells in your airways, and this creates a series of reactions which results in the swelling and constriction of the airways making it much more difficult to breathe. It is akin to breathing through a bubble tea straw (normal lungs) versus breathing through the small straw from the Kool-aid (EIB lungs) we drank when we were kids. Quite a difference, right? This narrowing of the airways is what gives the feelings of chest tightness, breathlessness, coughing, and wheezing. Our innovative care strategies at For Health’s Sake will help you find quick relief.
If you think you are experiencing EIB, here’s a few tips to consider:
- Speak to your physician to verify a diagnosis and receive appropriate medication – airways in your lungs can react to a multitude of things and it is important to rule out allergens, pollutants, dusts, and other variables before it is treated as EIB.
- Breath in an out through your nose during exercise – Nasal breathing tends to warm and humidify the air before it reaches the airways compared to breathing through your mouth.
- 10-15 minutes of warm up with vigorous activity – Though symptoms may occur in the first 15 minutes, they tend to resolve within 30-90 minutes, at which point a refractory period is induced where you will not experience symptoms for 1-3 hours with exercise. If you know you will be playing a 90 minute soccer match, arrive 40-50 minutes early to get your warm up (ex. 10 min of interval training) and manage the symptoms so you time the match with the refractory period.
- Assess the environment before exercising – Avoid running in cold and dry environments, as well as environments with pollutants, allergens, pollen, and high levels of chlorine.
- Increase exercise tolerance and endurance – With EIB, it’s easy to avoid exercise altogether. However, exercise can reduce the severity and symptoms of EIB. Try to go for small bouts of exercise and seek to gradually increase the duration of these bouts.
- Caffeine, low salt diet, supplementation with fish oils and vitamin C provide some protection against EIB
- Breathing control – yoga, supervised breathing training, and respiratory muscle training can reduce the symptoms of EIB.
Gerow M, Bruner PJ. Exercise Induced Asthma. [Updated 2020 Aug 10]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan
By: Nirushan Guruparan, Resident Physiotherapist