A NOTE ON BREATHING EXERCISES FOR ASTHMA STRESSING INSPIRATION

Before the appearance of a paper on the physiotherapy of asthma by Ross, Gandevia and Bolton (1958), I treated asthmatic patients according to the prescribed teachings of the Brompton Hospital, London. These emphasize expiration; although this is not forced at any time, gentle hissing is used to give an indication of the length of expiration. After a critical review of the rationale of breathing exercises, Ross and her colleagues gave reasons for stressing inspiratory movements only, allowing expiration to occur in the normal way as a passive process, and they reported superior results with this method in a carefully controlled clinical trial