Breathing pattern disorder

Breathing pattern disorder

This leaflet provides some information about Breathing Pattern disorders – patterns of over breathing where the rate and depth of breathing are in excess of the body’s needs.

Your physiotherapist will explain this in more detail during your assessment and treatment.

Breathing is an automatic function and we rarely think about it when all is well. However, abnormal patterns can develop over time and become established, causing symptoms and distress.

What causes a Breathing Pattern Disorder?

Commonly, a trigger starts a vicious cycle of over breathing as illustrated below. Such triggers may be an emotional event, stress, a physical cause such as pain or a disease process such as Asthma.

The faster and deeper you breathe, the more carbon dioxide you blow out and the level in your blood will drop. As time goes on, your body will try to keep the Carbon Dioxide at this new lower level and will make you feel the need to continually over breathe.

 Low levels of Carbon dioxide can cause a variety of symptoms around the body.

 Some of the common ones are:

• Chest Pain/Tightness
• Shortness of Breath
• Palpitations
• Tingling in Fingers
• Yawning/Sighing
• Poor concentration
• Dry Mouth
• Air Hunger

In order to reduce these symptoms, you need to change your breathing pattern so that you breathe less and start to return your carbon dioxide levels to normal again.

How to adopt a good breathing pattern

To reset your breathing, you need to adopt a good breathing pattern

• Breathing should be from the lower chest and stomach, not the upper chest
• Breaths should be gentle, relaxed and taken in and out through the nose.
• Breaths should be quiet and small so that people close by cannot hear you breathe.

1. Practice your ‘good breathing’ as many times a day as you can. Take time out in a quiet place so that you can fully concentrate on your breathing. Make sure that your breaths are small, slow, gentle and quiet.
2. When practising, you will feel an increasing desire to open your mouth and take a deep breath in or to begin breathing with the upper chest. When you reach this level, swallow once and continue for a little longer if you can.
3. With practice, you should be able to increase the time you can do your ‘good breathing’ before you feel the need to swallow or open your mouth to breathe.
4. Over time, this will steadily increase your body’s tolerance of Carbon dioxide and help return them to their normal levels.
5. You will find the exercises difficult to begin with but your breathing will gradually change the more you practice and your symptoms will get less.

You will be reviewed regularly by your physiotherapist as needed and your exercises progressed accordingly.

Contact details

If you have any specific concerns that you feel have not been answered and need explaining, please contact the following:

• Worcester Royal Hospital         01905 760622
• Alexandra Hospital                   01527 512114
• Kidderminster Hospital             01562 513066

Other information

The following internet websites contain information that you may find useful.

• www.worcsacute.nhs.uk
  Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
• www.patient.co.uk

Information fact sheets on health and disease

• www.rcoa.ac.uk

Information leaflets by the Royal College of Anaesthetists about ‘Having an anaesthetic’

• www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk

On-line health encyclopaedia

Feedback for Inpatient Therapies

Please scan the QR code or follow the link below: 

If you have been seen by a Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist during your admission, please leave us some feedback by scanning the QR code or following the link and filling in the short survey.

https://apps.worcsacute.nhs.uk/PublicSurvey/AHPFeedback

Ward admitted to:__________________________________

Therapy team who treated you: _______________________

If your symptoms or condition worsens, or if you are concerned about anything, please call your GP, 111, or 999.

Patient Experience

We know that being admitted to hospital can be a difficult and unsettling time for you and your loved ones. If you have any questions or concerns, please do speak with a member of staff on the ward or in the relevant department who will do their best to answer your questions and reassure you. 

Feedback

Feedback is really important and useful to us – it can tell us where we are working well and where improvements can be made. There are lots of ways you can share your experience with us including completing our Friends and Family Test – cards are available and can be posted on all wards, departments and clinics at our hospitals. We value your comments and feedback and thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

If you have any concerns or questions about your care, we advise you to talk with the nurse in charge or the department manager in the first instance as they are best placed to answer any questions or resolve concerns quickly. If the relevant member of staff is unable to help resolve your concern, you can contact the PALS Team. We offer informal help, advice or support about any aspect of hospital services & experiences.

Our PALS team will liaise with the various departments in our hospitals on your behalf, if you feel unable to do so, to resolve your problems and where appropriate refer to outside help.

If you are still unhappy you can contact the Complaints Department, who can investigate your concerns. You can make a complaint orally, electronically or in writing and we can advise and guide you through the complaints procedure.

How to contact PALS:

Telephone Patient Services: 0300 123 1732 or via email at: [email protected]

Opening times:

The PALS telephone lines are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4.00pm. Please be aware that you may need to leave a voicemail message, but we aim to return your call within one working day.

If you are unable to understand this leaflet, please communicate with a member of staff.

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