Immediate effect of fomentation on pulmonary function in patient with bronchial asthma:a case series

Background:Asthma is a major non-communicable disease affecting both children and adult populations,characterized by inflammation and narrowing of airways.Hydrotherapy is a naturopathy treatment modality effectively used to manage bronchial asthma.This case series presents the immediate effect of one such hydrotherapy treatment hot fomentation on pulmonary function in bronchial asthma.Case presentation:Three women who had chief complaints of wheezing,sneeze and breathlessness due to chronic bronchial asthma.Hot fomentation over the inter-scapular region was given to the patient for a duration of 20 minutes.Pulmonary function test was performed using Recorders&Medicine Systems Pvt Ltd.Helios 401 before and immediately after the intervention to assess the efficacy of hot fomentation.Result:When compared to baseline,the pulmonary function’s parameters,such as forced vital capacity,forced expiratory volume in the first second,forced expiratory volume in the first second/forced vital capacity ratio,forced expiratory flow(25–75%)and peak expiratory flow showed significant improvement immediately after the fomentation.Conclusion:After 20 minutes of hot fomentation,significant improvement in pulmonary function was observed.Hot fomentation over the interscapular region,could thus be used to improve clinical outcomes in the management of bronchial asthma by improving pulmonary function and relieving acute symptoms.

Observation on the clinical effect of abdominal massage combined with fomentation in the treatment of constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome

Objective:To investigate the clinical effect of abdominal massage combined with fomentation of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of constipation-predominantirritable bowel syndrome.Methods:A total of 90 patients with irritable bowel syndrome were selected and randomly divided into a control group and an observation group,with 45 cases in each group.The control group received abdominal massage therapy,and the observation group received abdominal massage combined with traditional Chinese medicine fomentation.The clinical efficacy of the two groups of patients on constipation-predominantirritable bowel syndrome was compared.Results:The total effective rate of the observation group in the treatment of constipation-predominantirritable bowel syndrome was 95.6%(43/45),which was higher than the control group by 80%(36/45),and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusion:Abdominal massage combined with fomentation of traditional Chinese medicine is effective in treating constipation-predominantirritable bowel syndrome.Its environmental protection,green,non-invasive treatment advantages are convenient for clinical promotion and application.

Kinematic Effect of Chinese Herbal Fomentation on Patients with Chronic Neck Pain

Objective：To clarify the effectiveness of Chinese herbal fomentation in treating chronic neck pain by means of changes in cervical kinematics.Methods：Seventy-six patients with chronic neck pain were included in the study and were randomized into two groups based on the random number generator of the SPSS software：fomentation combined with Chinese herbal（Group 1） and fomentation without any medicine（Group 2）.In both groups,the fomentation lasted for 60 min and heated to 35 ℃,once a day for 28 consecutive days.Standard lateral radiographs of the cervical spine were obtained including the neutral,full flexion,and full extension positions.Before and after intervention,the following parameters were used to evaluate the changes in kinematics：range of motion（ROM）,sagittal alignment and instantaneous center of rotation（ICR）.Results：After treatment,the ROM was significantly higher than that of before treatment in Group 1（51.5,95%CI：49.8-55.9;P〈0.05）.There was no significant difference between before and after treatment in Group 2（P〉0.05）.Although C2-C7 cervical alignment was increased in both groups after treatment,no significant difference was detected between before and after treatment（P〉0.05）.For Group 1,the significant X coordinate variation was only observed at C5/C6 level（38.1;95%CI：34.0,42.1;P〈0.05）.There was a significant upward trend in the Y coordinate of the ICR at C5/C6（-30.5;95%CI：-34.3,-26.8;P〈0.05） and C6/C7 after treatment（-6.1;95%CI：-6.7,-5.4;P〈0.05）.For Group2,the ICR location of each level was not statistically different between the pre- and post-treatment（P〉0.05）.Conclusions：Chinese herbal fomentation could improve abnormal mobility in terms of ROM and ICR.Chinese herbal fomentation might be an effective treatment for chronic neck pain.