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While there currently are no asthma medicines that can replace relievers and preventers, some people may want to explore alternative medicines for asthma.
Keep in mind, not following your doctor’s directions may leave you at risk of a flare-up and needing oral steroids. Oral steroids can cause unpleasant side effects especially when used repeatedly.
What are alternative therapies?
Alternative or complementary therapies are any practices or products that are not treatments offered by mainstream medicine. An alternative therapy can include treatments, medicines and different ideas about why disease occurs and how it should be treated.
What is the difference between alternative therapies and mainstream medicine?
Some complementary therapies for asthma have been well researched, while others require more investigation before we know if they are effective or not.
Mainstream medicines must go through rigorous clinical testing before they are able to be used as treatments. On the other hand, there is less scientific research and testing for complementary therapies.
There are many alternative treatments for asthma advertised to reduce asthma causes or triggers, but most of these have not been proven to make any difference to asthma symptoms or flare-ups.
Before trying alternative asthma therapies
If you want to try an alternative therapy, it’s best to talk with your doctor about it first. Some of the alternative medicines for asthma can be harmful or dangerous. Your doctor should be open to discussing your interest and options in this area. You can also talk to our Asthma Educators about your asthma management for free by calling 1800 ASTHMA (1800 278 462).
Book a call with an asthma educator
Most importantly, don’t change or stop your prescribed asthma medicines without talking with your doctor.
Types of alternative therapies
Breathing therapies (breath retraining)
Breathing therapies (also known as breath retraining) involve breathing slowly through your nose, using your diaphragm (the muscles under the ribs). Some breathing therapies might also teach people to limit “over-breathing habits”, such as yawning and sighing. For some people, these techniques can help with asthma symptoms. People with asthma still need to take their preventer medicine as prescribed by their doctor and use their reliever when symptoms start.
It can take time to learn and practice the techniques of breath retraining. Asthma Australia has step by step information on research-based breathing therapies here. We explain the different types of breath-retraining techniques with video demonstrations. We also recommend you speak with your doctor about breath retraining and ask if breath retraining physiotherapy is available near you.
Breath Retraining – Learn More
Vitamin D
Low blood levels of vitamin D (the sunshine vitamin) have been linked to a higher chance of asthma flare-ups and attacks. Our body naturally makes vitamin D when we’re outside in the sun – but we also need to remember to be SunSmart when outdoors.
But taking vitamin D supplements may not benefit everyone with asthma. At this stage there isn’t enough evidence to advise taking vitamin D supplements as part of your asthma management.
There is a need for more research to understand if vitamin D supplements could benefit most people with asthma, or maybe only those people with severe asthma, or only those with low vitamin D levels to start with.
At Asthma Australia, we are proud to be funding research investigating vitamin D levels during pregnancy and the impact on the respiratory outcomes of the infants. This project will hopefully inform future clinical trials by finding out the ideal time to supplement during pregnancy and what blood vitamin D level to target, to improve the early life respiratory health of high-risk infants.
Donate to support asthma research
Air purifiers
Air purifiers can help clean your indoor air. They can remove nasty asthma triggers from the air like fine particulate matter found in smoke (PM2.5), dust, microbes and other volatile organic compounds.
Whilst Asthma Australia does not recommend or endorse particular brands, we do advise that if selecting an air purifier, you select one with a HEPA filter. That is an extremely densely woven material. When air containing dust or smoke is blown through it, it’s almost impossible for those particles to make it through. HEPA filters catch about 99.95% of particles sized down to smaller than a micron.
Learn more about air purifiers
De-humidifiers
As well as ventilating rooms by opening windows when it isn’t raining, dehumidifier machines can help to dry out problem areas in your home. This can help prevent the growth of mould, which can be an asthma trigger for some people.
Please note that refrigerant dehumidifiers are best for hot, humid conditions, while desiccant dehumidifiers are best for cold, damp conditions.
Saline (salt) rinses
Hay fever (also known as allergic rhinitis) is an allergic reaction to particles found in the air that you breathe. These particles are breathed in through your nose or mouth. Because your nose and lungs are connected, hay fever can trigger your asthma.
Saline rinses or saltwater nasal sprays can help reduce hay fever symptoms. Treating your hay fever well is one of the best ways to improve your asthma control.
Learn more about treating hay fever
Therapies that do not have good evidence
Salt therapy
Salt therapy (also known as halotherapy) is an alternative treatment that uses salt. Salt particles are dispersed in a room while a person relaxes. Salt can also be breathed through salt pipes. Sometimes, salt therapies can even take place in underground caves containing salt. This type of salt therapy is called speleotherapy.
There is very little evidence supporting the use of salt therapy to manage asthma.
At Asthma Australia, we strongly advise caution for people with asthma using salt therapy. Based on the lack of evidence, we do not believe people with asthma will be helped by using salt rooms or salt inhalation. In fact, breathing in salt could irritate your airways and trigger an asthma flare-up or attack. Please also note, there is also no quality research showing salt lamps help with asthma symptoms.
Vapourisers or humidifiers
Some people may choose to use a humidifier if they are experiencing dry nose, throat, lips or skin, in times of low humidity.
They are not recommended for asthma especially if a room has poor air flow, as they can cause mould to grow. A dirty humidifier can also emit germs into the air. You can find out more here.
Any complimentary/alternative therapies should be discussed with your doctor.