Struggle and findings with respiratory problems and inviting your experiences

[hari78]

I myself a victim of many respiratory problems since childhood which progressed from bronchitis, sinusitis, allergic airway blockage, SOB, dizziness, sleep problems and panic attacks. Its been a horrid journey so far, and the problem stealthily growing ...
Have been trying to isolate the causes of such altered breathing, have not got results completely as a cure, but I am still trying to find out ways that can help me out of this problem.  
Want to share my findings and invite your two cents to correct it / share ur own experiences so that we can help eachother out of the respiratory mess ..
With readings from Butyeko , normalbreathing and many other hyperventilation sites, I was able to match my own experiences with what they have written. Any chronic respiratory disease is based on a serious of previous history of respiratory ailments. So if respiratory problems like frequent coughs , colds, bronchitis, asthma keep on persisting, they will have to be seriously attended to in the first place.
All conditions like chronic fatigue, panic attacks, sleeplessness, low bp, chills, low fever which are difficult to examine via tests by a doctor are caused by dysfunctional breathing. Most likely due to hyperventilation.
Basically body always balances itself according to principle of homeostasis.   .   Acidity - alkalinity,   CO2 - O2.  Body ph is slightly towards alkaline ie. 7.4  If body becomes tilted too much towards either side, then problem results. Foods can tilt this balance.
But the activity that goes on 24 * 7 is respiration and so contributes majorly to this shift.  In case of hyperventilation too much of O2 OR too less CO2, both resulting in the same thing ie. increased body alkalinity and then a host of above mentioned ailments occur.

Factors affecting respiration :
1. Posture
2. Chest wall, diaphragm , ZOA mechanics. Pattern of breathing wrt body structures
3. Nature of breathing
4. Tissue health and strength
5. Metabolism
6. activities of daily life.
7. Stress and anxiety.
8. Food habits and sleep habits.

Following factors can affect respiration and  each one can break or make health. Read one point a day to be able to assess and implement the cause and effect of each of it.

1.  Posture :

.As wrong breathing can shape your body wrongly in the childhood itself, making it  a permanent feature ..
Bad breathing leads to bad posture and vice versa.

a) Spine should have its natural curves.  It should not be too straight and chest should not be inflated. As this is a posture stuck in inhalation mode. This posture will lead to short back muscles, increased lordosis leading to respiratory problems.
b) Niether too slumped and overly rounded back and depressed chest as this is stuck in exhalation mode posture.

Any deviation from normal posture / spine countours indicates some alteration in the breathing pattern.
eg.  If thoracic spine is too straight OR  slightly inward (instead of being slightly outward and kyphotic, this indicates rib flaring and again stuck in inhalation mode.  
Also, increased cervical / lumbar lordosis also contributes to stuck in inhalation mode.

So spinal curves should not too exaggerated / too less.
Best treatement in case of altered curves, go to a postural specialist / chiropractor and ask him about breathing and postural exercises, so that the curves can be normalized. Cervical (slight lordotic), thoracic (slight kyphotic), lumbar (slight lordotic), sacral (slight kyphotic).  

While sitting, sit on the sit-bones.

Traditional sitting like slumped sitting / squatting, helps the spine, diaphragm and abdominal muscles to aid in respiration, like in this link

http://www.naturaljointmobility.info/Slumped%20Sitting.htm

2.  Chest wall, diaphragm , ZOA mechanics. Pattern of breathing wrt body structures

==> Type of breath : abdominal / thoracic / three dimensional ?

http://www.positivehealth.com/article/breathing/breath-taking

==> Three dimensional breathing :

Very informative article on respiration mechanics.

http://www.yogaanatomy.org/2005/the-case-for-the-3-d-diaphragm-%C2%A9-leslie-kaminoff-2/

Ideally, diaphragm should cause a movement in abdominal as well as thoracic region. Diaphragms downward action, to increase vertical chest dimension. Its pull on the lower ribs at the ZOA should cause lateral chest expansion and motion of upper ribs should increase anteroposterior ribcage dimesion.

Any type of deviation in this pattern leads to ONLY abdominal  OR  chest breathing and respiratory problems.
Ideally it should be diaphragmatic with movement in all areas abdomen and chest.
Also lying on the back causes abdominal breathing. But this pattern if persisted in vertical postion doesn't work against gravity and compromises posture and results in bulging abdomen / lordosis. Lordosis again causes a "stuck in inhalation"  posture of the body, worsening the respiratory problems.  

3. Nature of breathing cycle:

Generally  exhalation should be slower than inhalation. There are natural pauses at end of each phase. Especially pause after exhalation is missed by many, leading to hyperventilation. This is taking the next in-breath, before sufficient CO2 is generated in the body as a result of metabolic activities.

Too much in-holdin of breath can give results similar to hyperventilation.
Also breathing in excess of metabolic needs is the major problem in hyperventilation,  

(See article by Joel Carbonnel about disorderly diaphragm and in-holding breath pattern which is caused by fear, pain, concentration, too much thinking etc.

http://www.positivehealth.com/article/breathing/a-disorderly-diaphragm

)

breathing too heavy or too shallow can also cause problems.
exhaling shorter than inhalation causes loosing of CO2 too fast.
Basically less tolerance to CO2 causes hyperventilation,
For effective utilization / take up of O2 by cells, presence of CO2 is a muust.

(See Bohr effect by Butekyo theory or the normalbreathing.com website )

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

Thanks for sharing this useful information. Would like to add, smoking is the root cause of respiratory ailments like COPD and emphysema. The lungs age with smoking and cause decreased lung functioning. The incidence of lung cancer is also high in people who smoke. So, the first step towards good lung health is to  quit smoking.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[hari78]

continuing last post ...

4. Nutrition and good diet rich in anti-oxidants is necessary to have good strength of all tissues, including the respiratory organs lungs and muscles of respiration etc.
Anti oxidants help neutralize the free radicals that are generated as a part of the anaerobic respiration and these free radicals damage the cells. So anti oxidants like fruits, green Tea would help neutralize the free radicals.

5. Metabolism

CO2 is a by product of metabolic activities . So doing exercises ( and NOT hyperventilating while doing those ) , and non sedentary activities will definitely help metabolism and further healthy growth in body cells.

6. Activities of daily life :

Too much thinking and mental activity causes breath holding patterns and must be broken. We must see that we are not holding our breath unconsciously.
Too much of computer / gadget / phone use, causes our breathing patterns and speeds to be altered according to their speeds, thus disturbing our natural rythms.
Try to include mundane activities like ironing clothes, dusting, dishwashing, car washing in your daily activities and DO NOT THINK while doing those.
Just plainly do them or just be aware of your natural breathing rhythm while doing them.


7. Stress and Anxiety:

Also stress and anxiety causes breathing patterns to be altered. This is very difficult to avoid in todays world. To handle it better, avoiding unnecessary stressful situations, learning to let go of things, instead of holding on to them can help. Also chanting the name of your favorite GOD in such situations helps a lot, because what it essentially does is concentrates your attention  inwards towards your breath. By doing this, you do not lose out on your natural rhythm of (inhalation-exhalation-pause) , the disturbance of which is the cause of all problems.


8. Food habits and sleep habits :
Avoiding allergy causing food items. Avoding heavy to digest foods. If certain foods cause cough and colds, better avoid them.  Sleep only when required and how much ever needed. Lying on the back, causes respiratory problems to worsen. If possible avoid it.


Other informative articles :

Regarding the diaphragm

http://www.positivehealth.com/article/breathing/the-umbrella-muscle

Schroth method for respiration scoliosis and posture

http://www.schrothmethod.com/

If anyone has more solutions / ways out / please contribute / correct.

Regards
Hari