diaphram

[billk200]

Can your diaphragm tear causing you to stop breathing?

[renegade22]

Hi my name is Rocky, Im 22 yrs of age & I have been suffering for about 3 1/2 yrs of my life with some strange dehibilitating illness/mystery diagnosis. It was found out within that time frame that some strange ailment caused an onset of multiple illnesses, such a rough case of Autonomic nerve dysfunction, peripheal neuropathy, Acid reflux & spasms, throat irritation, and thats just to name a few. But the things that those labeled issues dont account for are the things that worry me the most such as why do I get constant clicking sounds throughtout my body with most movements(NO1 HAS BEEN ABLE TO EVEN TRY TO EXPLAIN THIS ONE)? Why do I get heart palpatations while sleeping which lead to chest pains in the day time? Why do I get random pains all throughout my body. However the most troublesome pain of all as if those aren't more THAN ENOUGH IS THIS SHORTNESS OF BREATH BLATANTLY COMING FROM MY DIAPHRAGM because as some people stated in the past you can feel weakness just like you can a pain. Quite honestly 99.1% of the docs that I have seen where I stay have been quacks with God complexes & too many vaca's to attend to me therefore I am overlooked dying, and in desperate need for some help. My biggest concern is the ? of whether or not the overall scheme of things looks muscular such as "md, mg, or ms" and if so is there anything that can be done to lengthing my lifespan and resist breathing failure? The docs barely answer any of my ?'s and when they do they act as if there is nothing that can be done for muscular diaphragm problems..Someone any1 pls help with a word of expertise on these matters (especially the muscular issues). Thankyou

[mrwjd]

Many people have perforated diaphragms, most probably don't even know it.  The diaphragm is between the chest cavity and the abdominal cavity.  If the tear is large, and one or more organs can protrude a little way through it into the other cavity, that condition is called hiatal hernia.  Barring an accident with a pile driver or something, the protrusions are not going to interfere with the function of normal lungs.

There are some inconveniences, of course.  You may find that if you lie flat, your intestine, unrestrained by an intact diaphragm, pushes against your stomach which, in turn, pushes stomach acid into the esophagus.  The flow of stomach acid into the esophagus is called reflux.  The lining of the esophagus is not designed to handle the strong acid; “heartburn” is the name of the resulting pain in your esophagus, having nothing to do with your heart.

If it happens too often or lasts too long, you may develop reflux esophagitis, an inflammation of the lower part of the esophagus which feels like very severe heartburn and may, if untreated,  cause extremely painful spasms.  It is also a predictor for esophageal cancer, so you want to control it even before the pain grabs your attention, if possible.  

For pretty much everyone, a tear or a hiatal hernia does not affect our lungs or breathing enough to notice.  If you were an opera singer, you might find that perforating your diaphragm made it harder to reach your high notes or something, but I'm not an opera singer, are you?  For us, protecting the esophagus is the name of the game.  You will take pepcid-like meds as needed to suppress acid production, and lie on a pile of pillows, on a wedge under the mattress or pillow, or even in an adjustable (hospital-type) bed, letting gravity drain acid away from the esophagus and, pursuant to your question, give your lungs all the space there is.  Some foods relax the sphincter between stomach and esophagus, permitting stomach acid to flow more freely into the esophagus, and you will want to avoid those as much as possible.  The most significant of them is chocolate.  :-(

If you are having difficulty breathing, or feel short of breath, it is unlikely the tear in your diaphragm is responsible.   I hope when you see a doctor, he or she will find your breathing difficulty is nothing serious.  (If he recommends “breathing into the diaphragm,” don’t worry—it’s just a mental image to help you know when you’re breathing right, and really has nothing to do with the diaphragm!  (unless you’re a high tenor, yadda, yadda)).

Good luck.  Breathing issues are so frustrating because not breathing freaks you out and results in gasping for air, which is a lot like not breathing some more, which makes it hard to track down the first cause.  But at least you won’t be diverted during diagnosis by concerns about trouble between your lungs and the tear in your diaphragm.