Hi c/Running,
I would like some advice on how to overcome/circumvent asthma-induced pain, while running.
I’m an avid runner, but I struggle with asthma for which I do take well-adjusted medication. I have difficulty running more than a couple minutes at a time. Whenever I start running, my lungs quickly begin to hurt (it’s not my sides, my muscles could do so much more, but it’s actually my lungs hurting), the pain becoming so bad, that I have to pause for more than five minutes after just two, three minutes of running. It takes between 20 to 30 minutes of this stop-and-go to finally “acclimate” myself enough to be able to run normally. As you can imagine, this can get very annoying and frustrating and makes running with a group nearly impossible.
On a side-note: When I am running outside, I experience this no matter which season it is or where I am running (forest, urban, field), but when I am running on a treadmill at the gym, I usually don’t experience it so severely. Maybe something with the AC?
-
Do You have similar experiences and can You share what helped you?
-
What can I do to reduce the time it takes me to start-up?
-
What can I do to have no/less asthma-induced pain, when starting to run?
-
What kind of training schedule would you recommend for people with asthma? Are normal training schedules just stretched out regarding the increases in intensity over time or do I need a completely different approach?
Thank You for any advice on the matter!
Disclaimer that I don’t have asthma or have experienced this type of pain, I’m just trying to troubleshoot with you.
Do you do breathing exercises and have you noticed any difference in your routine when you do them?
Does this pain in your lungs also occur when you walk for a duration? Do you ever power walk or anything to work up to running or jogging?
The gym note you mentioned is interesting, ACs are natural dehumidifiers. do you live in a very humid area and have you ever traveled to a drier place and not felt the pain in your lungs when you jogged?
Is the pain specifically occurring when you run or does it happen with any sort of heavy exercise where you have to breathe deeply or strenuously?
If this is too many questions, don’t worry about it. I’m just curious in seeing if we can pinpoint a cause or circumstantial correlations at least.
Is the pain in a specific part of your lungs or is it just all over a general aching in your chest?
Since it does go away when you start breathing and take a break, you really might want to look into different breathing exercises and try them before and while you’re running.
Another factor could be your pace. Maybe you’re just running too fast from the get go for your lungs to catch up, have you tried jogging slower and noticed any difference in the severity or frequency of the onset of your lung pain?
Hi! I too have asthma and recently started running. I did experience some lung pain but only when I wasn’t actually breathing properly or had trouble adjusting my breathing to my running pace. Are you sure your pain is asthma-induced? Have you talked to a doctor about this? Asthma normally would make your bronchi swell up and so you’d feel asphyxiated, and your muscles would give out due to the lack of oxygen. That’s how it manifests when exercising. If your lungs hurt but you don’t really experience any breathing difficulties, and you even feel like your muscles can continue, that doesn’t sound like something asthma would cause. Sorry I don’t really have any advice but as a fellow asthmatic runner, I’d look for another cause for that pain.
I am sorry, I forgot to specify that the pain comes from breathing. It’s not making breathing difficult enough to make me stop running because of that, it really is more the pain from breathing that makes me stop. And I do not experience pain, when holding my breath and running.
Since I have asthma, it’s the first culprit to suspect, but you are right, I should talk with a health professional about this. It just seemed so normal to me by now, that I didn’t consider it a health issue and more a nuisance.
Thank you for your input and making me realize that this might not be normal despite having asthma!
I also have asthma and have run and played sport for many years with it. It’s quite likely my asthma is milder than yours, but still I have to agree that this sounds like no asthma attack or sensation I have ever experienced. Asthma for me is like a warm, itchy crawling feeling up through my chest and neck. I can feel my breathing being restricted in my upper chest as I suck in air, and hear the wheezing intensifying. There has never been any pain, though. I think speaking to a qualified medical professional is definitely a good idea before you try anything else.
You’re welcome, and I hope the pain goes away!
I tend to struggle a lot more when it’s exceptionally humid or dry. I have a pretty small window of “this is great” weather. And my “too humid” is probably a lot lower than most since I live somewhere typically not humid.
Start your runs slower, and see if it stops. I struggle with it too, but I’ve learned if I start my runs, at like 9:00 mile, and then on mile two, speed up a little, then mile 3+ I’m free to run 7:30 (or faster sometimes, when I’m lucky) without issue.
My allergist suggested inhaler 30 min before a run, but obviously that can’t be every day. So if I know it’s going to be exceptionally high in pollen or humidity, I do that. It helps a little.
Also, do you have allergies? Is there a coronation between high pollen days?
It sounds to me like the conditioned air is providing relief from either temp (it takes me a while to acclimate to season changes), pollen or humidity
I have cold induced asthma and allergy induced asthma. I take my rescue inhaler, then walk 5-10 minutes, gradually ramping up the pace, then jog lightly for 5 minutes to acclimate, then I’m good to run. I carry my rescue inhaler with me and usually use it 1-2 times during a run. If I need it a third time it’s time to stop and walk. Good luck!
Wim Hof method.
By the gods… what did I just experience?! This was incredible. Thank You so much!
Noprob.
The method helped me greatly during my Covid recovery, and I prefer to think that it helped me combat it better.
