Tag Archives: breathing difficulties

Professor Stephen Spiro, Deputy Chairman of the British Lung Foundation, recently shared an observation he made when people try to breathe while slumped on the sofa. "You’ll notice that people don’t sigh when they sit slumped — they have to sit up to take a deep breath," he commented.

"That’s because the lungs work best when we’re vertical. If you’re slumped forward you don’t fully breathe and ventilate the lungs, because they’re compressed and the diaphragm is coming up into the chest — so you won’t breathe as easily and efficiently."

This compression of the diaphragm can cause breathing problems for anyone, but especially those with asthma or lung disease,...

One of our most popular blogs is ‘Foods for keeping your lungs healthy’, so we thought we'd give it an update and keep you posted with new information coming through that looks at how seven everyday foods and spices could help those with breathing problems avoid respiratory infection during the cold, winter months.

Please note however that this is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please always seek advice from your physician or health provider regarding a medical condition.

Echinacea

Echinacea is now one of the most popular...

Simply defined, asthma is a medical condition which affects the airways in some people. These airways are tubes which help us transport oxygen into and out of the lungs.

Breathlessness and wheezing are a couple of the symptoms of asthma. These symptoms differ in severity from person to person. Some people may suffer symptoms several times a week, or in worse cases several times a day.  Asthma can be at its worst during physical activity, when it's cold, or at night.  An asthma attack is caused when the lining of the bronchial tubes swells up. This then causes the airways to narrow which results in a reduction of air flow into and out of the lungs.  Recurrent asthma symptoms...

We were recently informed by a physiotherapist in Brazil of a 93 year-old patient who sadly didn’t have the strength to inhale her medication. Paulo, her phsyio, immediately thought of getting her to use POWERbreathe on a regular basis to train her breathing muscles to become stronger so that she could inhale the medication she’d been prescribed.

We’re delighted to report that she is now able to inhale her medication successfully after training with the POWERbreathe K5. And thanks to the Breathe-Link software, Paulo, her phsyio, was able to chart the progress she was making with her breathing strength and actually see her breathing power...

At the age of 6 months, the Doctors diagnosed me with Cystic Fibrosis. CF is a hereditary disease of the lungs and pancreas, resulting in more mucus production and the inability to produce digestive enzymes. Not only do I produce more mucus, but it is also thicker. Therefore, it is harder to get the mucus up.

I was given a life expectancy of 10 years of age. My 10th birthday came, and the age was changed to 18. I'm 26 now, so I think the Doctors have given up guessing.

Having Cystic Fibrosis means doing airway clearance every single day. Christmas Day and Birthdays are days in which shouldn't be ignored as it’s a...

I am using my new Powerbreathe Fitness Plus and it is a great help with my fitness training.  There is a Gym nearby which is a great help; various classes are available and good equipment to use, which is all helping my training schedule.  I am also cycling, so things are going O.K.

Looking back, my love of cycling has helped me remain fairly fit for someone who has had asthma since I was 2 years old, (I am now 74!!!) and it is this interest in cycling that lead me to discover Powerbreathe!

Mary (my wife) and I were out collecting shoeboxes for Link Romania and were headed for North Devon.  As we approached...

POWERbreathe first came to my attention many years ago when one of my patients who suffered breathing difficulties brought one to clinic and said that it had helped his breathing condition more than any of the inhalers he’d been given.  As his nurse I wasn’t in a position to tell him to throw them out and stick with the POWERbreathe but I think that’s what he probably did!

After that I started thinking about what a POWERbreathe could do for anyone with a pair of lungs - or even only 1 lung but for some reason it’s taken until now for me to get my own POWERbreathe. I’ve been using the Fitness Plus model for nearly 4 weeks.

Because I’m a bit of a saddo...

The catch is the position at the front end of the rowing stroke, with your body curled into a ball.

It is difficult and strenuous to take a full breath in this position for most people, so we are going to train to overcome that weakness by adopting the catch position, either on the rowing machine or using dumbells and performing Powerbreathe inhalations. We perform five inhalations in the catch position before take a full rowing stroke (exhaling on the drive, power-inhaling on the recovery) or performing a dumbell deadlift.

Perform that cycle five times at your full POWERbreathe resistance setting...

Yep, the inevitable happened this week. I was in a rush, work is hectic, I had to go to the track to meet my coach directly from work. I forgot the inhaler. Normally that means that coach goes easy, because he is always afriad of me having asthma trouble and not being able to help me. Today was different.

I am not sure why, but he rolled on regardless and punished me the only way a coach can. I was exhausted. I managed to still make imporvements on my run speed throughout the session and i was faster than last week. The fitness is returning.BUT... not a single problem with the asthma at all.

I am back into the swing of training now, and everything has at last stopped hurting!

Melanie Ryding
www.melanieryding.co.uk

Anyone who suffers from COPD will know that the most common and most troublesome symptom is dyspnoea, also known as shortness of breath.  As COPD progresses, shortness of breath also worsens. This has a detrimental affect on our daily activities and overall quality of life. Anyone with this respiratory condition will know how difficult it can be just going for a walk or participating in any form of exercise.various medications are available which help to a certain point with breathing. However, better breathing with COPD requires a much more comprehensive approach for COPD treatment. This includes the following:

Stamping...