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Managing Acute Attacks of Shortness of Breath The goal of breathing retraining is to help you avoid sudden periods of shortness of breath. There still may be times when your breathing control gets away from you. Imagine one of the following: *You are feeling pressured to hurry to keep up with someone while walking. *You have forgotten to pace yourself and tried to get up a flight of stairs in record time. *You just had a breathing treatment and can feel secretions (mucus, sputum or phlegm) clogging your breathing passages. *All of these situations and some added ones of your own can lead to acute shortness of breath. What do you do? The tendency of many people is to gasp for breath. You may notice that you are using your neck and shoulders to help you breathe (using your accessory muscles) and you may be inhaling and exhaling for the same length of time. For such times try the following steps: POSITION, BREATHING, RELAXATION. POSITION: Get in a position that helps your breathing muscles work most efficiently (and takes the load off your other muscles that are not involved in breathing). Sit, leaning slightly forward, rest your arms on a table or your lap. If you are standing and have no place to sit down, lean against a wall. BREATHING: Get your breathing under control. Start by breathing out through pursed lips. Gradually breathe out for longer and longer. As this gets easier slow your breathing down even more. Remember, breathe in the nose, out the mouth. Breathe out for twice as long as you breathe in. RELAXATION: As you are getting your breathing under control, consciously relax all the muscles not involved in breathing. Pay special attention to your shoulders and arms. Drop your shoulders down, let your arms go limp. Close your eyes if this helps you to relax. You may even try saying the word relax in your mind. Once your breathing is under control, resume your activity, but at a slower pace. If secretions are your problem, spend some time on the techniques to help you clear secretions. There may also be times when you need to use inhaled medication to help you control some of your shortness of breath. Your doctor or a member of the pulmonary rehabilitation team can help you determine when inhaled medications might be helpful. A WORD OF CAUTION: Prolonged shortness of breath more than your usual may be a sign that something else is going on. If you cannot get your breathing under control, or shortness of breath seems to be increasing for you, it may be time to contact your doctor. |
