There are 2 main types of breathing pattern disorder. If you have had them for a long time, they can feel like your normal breathing.
Hyperventilation/Overbreathing:
This occurs during exciting or stressful situations. You may experience symptoms such as a racing heart, tingling in your fingers and breathlessness. These generally disappear when the stressful period is over.
Dysfunctional Breathing:
This can occur with physical exertion, strong smells, cold weather, stress or other triggers. Symptoms include breathing rapidly through the mouth, having tension in the shoulders, and breathing with the upper chest. This can cause symptoms of hyperventilation such as chest and throat tightness, and breathlessness,
Breathing Pattern Disorders
Sometimes you can experience breathing difficulties that are not due to infections in your lungs, but due to changes in your breathing pattern.
As these symptoms can occur for other reasons, it is important you speak to your GP first, to check for any other causes.
As these symptoms can occur for other reasons, it is important you speak to your GP first, to check for any other causes.
What are breathing pattern disorders?
What are the symptoms?
Breathing pattern disorders can present in a variety of different ways, and include symptoms such as breathlessness, chest or throat tightness, dizziness and tingling in the hands.
What can I do to help?
There are some simple steps you can take that can help your breathing pattern. This can take time to improve, so it is important you keep practicing daily.
This video can show you what to do.
Further information can be found in this leaflet
This video can show you what to do.
Further information can be found in this leaflet