'Functional relaxation' reduces acute airway obstruction in asthmatics as effectively as inhaled terbutaline

Abstract

Background: 'Functional relaxation' (German: 'Funktionelle Entspannung') has been developed since 1944 by the German physiotherapist M. Fuchs. It is based on concentrating on body perception while moving the joints of the skeleton smoothly and at the same time breathing out. This procedure induces a physical and emotional relaxation in many cases. The aim of the study was to compare the efficiency of standardized elements of a somatopsychotherapy (eFE) and a standardized bronchodilatative test using terbutaline (IT).

Methods: Seventeen asthmatic patients with acute airway obstruction had either IT or eFE on 2 consecutive days. Airway resistance (R(aw)) was measured before and after IT and eFE. It was used for statistical evaluation as it is independent of the patient's will.

Results: Although both therapies lead to a significant mean decrease in R(aw) (p < 0.01), the comparison revealed no superiority of one over the other (ANOVA on repeated measurements, p > 0.78).

Conclusions: This study supports the benefit of psychosomatic therapy in the relief of asthma and the procedure can be used as an easy-to-learn relaxation technique to be used during acute asthmatic airway obstruction.