Not an association of terms that one sees in newspapers or specialty health magazines, but here they are together in a title. We all know about stretching. Of course, we all know about the residual cough: that leftover, nagging cough that stays with us even when the cold or flu that caused it has ended. Yes, we all know what they are, but what does stretching have to do with coughing, you wonder.
I decided to write this article because of an experience I had a couple of months ago. After a cold that lasted for a few days, I was left with a dry cough that made it very difficult for me to teach my classes and private sessions in the studio. No cough syrup or drops worked, and the dryness of the indoors air irritated my throat even more. Not being one to go to the doctor for a mere cold or cough I was waiting for the irritation of my air ways to subside. But that did not happen until I decided to stretch!
After more than three weeks of coughing, I was very aware of the tightness in my neck, throat and ribcage. I could feel the pleura of the lungs (the connective tissue surrounding the lungs), the intercostal muscles and their fascia, my neck muscles and tissues impeding my breathing.
Contemplating all these sensations in my body, I decided to stretch in order to ease my discomfort. Using breathing techniques and general stretching exercises to increase the blood flow to my ribcage and neck, I warmed up my body for more specialized methods of stretching: Myofascial Stretching and ELDOA. Both techniques were developed by French osteopath Guy Voyer DO, with whom I have studied for a number of years.
I stretched my neck and ribcage muscles, my diaphragm and abdominal muscles, allowing the tension created by all that coughing to be released. Doing the neck ELDOAs helped balance the tension in the ligaments surrounding the trachea and the bronchi.
After an hour of stretching, the irritation in my throat subsided considerably. I did not cough at all for a few hours and then only occasionally for a couple of days. I continued the stretching until all the effects of my month long cough were gone.
Even though I found this fact to be remarkable, I was not at all surprised. Sixteen years of teaching the human body have taught me that precise physical exercise (including strengthening and stretching techniques) in the comprehensive paradigm of Whole Body Health will offer relief in a multitude of conditions and long or short term discomfort.
>Next time I have a residual cough, I will know what to do. And so will my clients!