Shortness of breath: What to do if there is a shortage of air?
Shortness of breath can have many causes that are not always due to illness. But did you know that illnesses are caused by wrong breathing? Or do you think that it does not matter how the air gets into your lungs? Are you breathing properly?
Who breathes properly lives healthy
Respiratory distress can be tackled by learning appropriate breathing techniques. This article aims to show that shortness of breath can be caused by limited mobility and what needs to be done about it.
Are you breathing properly?
Take the test:
Lie flat on your back with a small pillow under your head. Put one hand on the belly, the other hand below the neck. Now close your eyes and focus only on breathing. Quite normal as usual breathing. After the breathing has stabilized, you can feel whether the abdomen is lifting while breathing or the hand above the chest. If the stomach lifts, breathe well. If the upper hand rises, breathe too flat. Exceptions are possible for some diseases.
Watch as sleeping babies, cats or dogs breathe. The belly raises and lowers in a steady rhythm.
Why is proper breathing important?
Breathing improves the external and internal breathing.
The external breathing arises with the inhalation. Oxygen enters the lungs and fills the alveoli, where the gas exchange takes place. The exhalation is also in reverse order. In this case, more oxygen is absorbed as carbon monoxide excreted.
With the inner respiration the oxygen gets from the alveoli through diffusion into the blood. Molecules guide the oxygen further into the muscles and organs.
In adults, the normal respiratory rate is at rest, with between 12 and 16 breaths per minute. At high load breathing up to 50 breaths is possible.
To ensure that all organs, including the heart, are sufficiently supplied with oxygen, healthy breathing is necessary. It is obvious that superficial respiration does not adequately supply all organs. Thus, due to undersupply diseases and heart problems.
Just as important as inhalation is exhalation to dispose of enough carbon monoxide.
The lungs can not expand on their own when breathing. These muscles are necessary. The diaphragm, as the main respiratory muscle and other respiratory support muscles, to work on stretching the chest.
The most important respiratory support muscles are:
- The muscles between the ribs
- pectorals
- neck muscles
During inhalation the stomach bulges, at exhalation the abdomen lowers.
If the breathing is not right
The aim is to give the entire lung a regular respiration with normal breathing. Inhalation is via the nose, exhalation through the mouth. Even and quiet.
With increasing age the elasticity of the musculature decreases. The result is that the ribcage can not expand enough and the respiratory muscles only do half their work. As a result, the body is insufficiently supplied with oxygen.
Prevent diseases by keeping your muscles elastic for better breathing.
So your respiratory support muscles remain elastic
These exercises are easy to perform and aid in breathing. For a shortened chest muscles makes inhalation difficult, which leads to breathlessness. The recessed breathing logically leads to an increased gas exchange, which leads to a higher blood flow in the organs.
Exercises that expand the ribcage:
- Lie on your back with a small pillow on the back of your neck. Place one hand on the belly and the other hand below the neck, above the chest. Close your eyes and focus only on breathing. Normal breathing as usual.
- When the breathing rhythm has settled, change the position. You stay straight with your upper body while your legs glide slowly along the floor to the right side. This widens the ribs on the left side. Stay in this position for a few minutes and walk to the other side.
- Lie on your back and watch your breathing again. Extend your arms sideways, palms to the ceiling. So you stay relaxed as long as you want.
While sitting:
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Sit comfortably on a chair and let fall forward. With the erection, under slight stretch, you breathe in through the nose and stretch your arms towards the ceiling. With the exhalation through the mouth you let fall forward again.
The same exercise makes it a little more difficult:
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Stretching slightly, breathe in slowly until your arms are stretched. The exhalation forward lasts until you are completely bent to the very bottom.
This requires some practice. The goal is to exhale more as you inhale. Start with 3x inhale and 5x exhale. Increase until you have inhaled 5x and exhaled 7x. Everything slowly and smoothly without stopping in between the air.
This technique is a good exercise while going for a walk. One breath with every step. They automatically increase your tidal volume and counteract the respiratory distress.
Conclusion:
This article aims to show that there is not always a disease behind shortness of breath. There are many breathing techniques to increase the respiratory rate. This post is just a little insight anyone can do with success. Buy now 
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