Apple A. Bodemer, MD, a dermatologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, teaches patients how to breathe mindfully. So does Kathy Farah, MD, an integrative family physician who practices in Roberts, Wis.
Mindful breathing
Mindful breathing is the most basic mind-body skill and one that can help interrupt the itch-scratch cycle and relieve pain, stress, and distress often experienced by children, teens, and adults with dermatologic conditions, they said at the annual Integrative Dermatology Symposium.
“As with any integrative modality, if it’s safe and effective, then let’s use it,” Farah said in a presentation on the mind-body approach to pain and itch.
“A breathwork session can literally take one minute,” said Dr. Bodemer, associate professor of dermatology at the University of Wisconsin and director of an integrative dermatology clinic. Bodemer, who completed a fellowship in integrative medicine at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona and sits on the American Board of Integrative Medicine, spoke on a mindfulness panel at the meeting.
Breathing techniques
Dr. Bodemer’s favorite breathing practice is the “4-7-8” breath taught by Andrew Weil, MD, founder and director of the center. This involves inhaling through the nose for a count of 4, holding for 7, and exhaling through the mouth for a count of 8. “It doesn’t matter how slow or fast, it’s the tempo that matters … On exhale, squeeze your abs in to engage your core and get air out of your lungs as much as you can,” she said, advising a cycle of three at a time.
A technique known as “square breathing” (breath in 4, hold for 4, breath out for 4, hold for 4) is another helpful technique to “reset the nervous system” said Farah, who worked for many years in a children’s hospital. With children, she said, “I often do five finger breathing.”
For five finger breathing, the children spread their fingers apart in front of them or on the ground and use the pointer finger of the opposite hand to trace each finger, inhaling while tracing upward, and exhaling while tracing down.
Evidence to support mindfulness in treating itch-scratch
Farah, associate clinical director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Roberts, Wis., said her commitment to mindfulness was influenced by a “seminal” study published over 20 years ago showing that patients with moderate to severe psoriasis who used a meditation-based, audiotape-guided stress reduction intervention during phototherapy sessions had more rapid resolution of psoriatic lesions than did patients who didn’t use the mindfulness exercise.
“Catastrophizing is a negative way of thinking, this itching will never stop,” Farah explained. The study shows that “mindfulness can actually help reduce some of the automatic scratching and response to itch. So it’s a great adjunct to pharmaceuticals.”
Among more recent findings: A cross-sectional study of 120 adult dermatology patients, published in the British Journal of Dermatology in 2016, assessed skin shame, social anxiety, anxiety, depression, dermatological quality of life, and levels of mindfulness, and found that higher levels of mindfulness were associated with lower levels of psychosocial distress.
Another cross-sectional questionnaire study looked at mindfulness and “itch catastrophizing” in 155 adult patients with atopic dermatitis. Higher levels of a specific facet of mindfulness termed “acting with awareness” were associated with lower levels of itch catastrophizing, the researchers found.
Affirmations – phrases and statements that are repeated to oneself to help challenge negative thoughts – can also help reverse itch catastrophizing. Statements such as “I can breathe through this feeling of itching,” or “I can move to feel comfortable and relaxed” encourage positive change, she said.
“I teach [mindfulness skills like breathing] a lot, without any expectations. I’ll say ‘give it a try and see what you think.’ If patients feel even a micron better, then they’re invested” and can then find numerous tools online, Farah said. “Can I do this [in a busy schedule] with every patient? Absolutely not. But can I do it with every 10th patient? Maybe.”
Bodemer’s experience has shown her that “breathing with your patient builds rapport,” she said. “There’s something very powerful in that in terms of building trust. … I’ll just do it [during a visit, to show them] and almost always, patients start breathing with me, with an invitation or without.”
For her own health, 4-7-8 breathing has “been a gateway to meditation and deeper practices,” she said. “But even without going very deep, it has a long history of being able to modulate the stress response. It’s the parasympathetic-sympathetic rebalancing I’m interested in.”
