May-June 2009 Buteyko Newsletter from Jennifer Stark, Australia -
Tips for Asthmatic Children
- Stop Snoring
- Asthma
- Buteyko Practitioner Training in BRISBANE!!
- Buteyko Tip of the Season Tips for asthmatic children
One hundred years ago asthma used to be found in less than 3% of the population, yet today something like 25% of children have asthma. What has changed in the past century to increase the incidence of asthma so dramatically? As Buteyko practitioners, we believe that it is an enormous change in lifestyle that has brought with it a whole range of ill health. Buteyko is easy for children to learn and it works very fast in correcting the poor breathing pattern associated with asthma. The following tips should help to get children breathing better until they can learn the whole Buteyko method:
Tips for Asthmatic Children
* Part of the lifestyle change that has affected our health is the lack of physical activity. Until 30 – 40 years ago, it was perfectly normal for children to be active every day rather than watching hours of television or using computers. This activity helped to keep children healthy, not only with good fitness, but also because of its production of carbon dioxide that is vital for good health. So physical activity that does not make the child breathless or provoke asthma, should be encouraged as much as possible.
*Keep a diary of their asthma - when, where, what they were doing, what they have just eaten, possible triggers etc.
* If preventive medication such as Flixotide, Flovent, Pulmicort, or Intal has been prescribed, then use it correctly rather than relying heavily on bronchodilators.
* Keep reliever medication handy (eg. Ventolin, Salbutamol, Albuterol, Bricanyl). Use it whenever it is necessary but remember that it is designed to give relief from asthma and not prevent it. This means that it is usually not advisable to use a reliever until symptoms appear.
*Encourage the child to breathe through the nose at all times.
*Actively discourage deep breathing exercises.
*Do not allow your child to over-eat, particularly before bedtime.
*Discourage the eating of chocolate because this seems to be the food most commonly reacted to by asthmatics.
Stop Snoring
Snoring is linked to all manner of ill health, including depression, heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. To top it off, as well as being bad for your health, snoring is really annoying for other people who are sleeping near by. This last part of the problem (the fact that snoring upsets other people), is probably the main reason why there are LOTS of treatments available that all say they can stop snoring.
The main cause of snoring is breathing too much air through a narrowed space, which makes the relaxed tissue in the throat start to vibrate. This is similar to running a wide calm river through a narrow gorge: the weight of the slow, calm water makes the water in the gorge more faster and it starts making a noise.
When we are asleep, the amount of air breathed drops by about 20% from a relaxed waking state, and so for a healthy adult this would reduce inhaled air from around 5 litres of air each minute to approximately 4 litres and allowing sound restful sleep. However, if your waking breathing pattern is perhaps 10 litres of air each minute (because you are breathing 20 times a minute instead of the normal 12), then you will still be breathing around 8 litres of air when you are asleep.
Breathing 8 litres of air each minute during sleep is going to cool, dry and irritate your airways; especially if you breathe through your mouth instead of your nose. The delicate tissue in the airways swells and creates extra mucus, making it more difficult to breathe. When it is difficult to breathe, you automatically breathe with more force, and this can cause the sound of snoring.
Confused? Let’s take it one step at a time:
* Normal volume of air breathed when resting but awake is 4 – 6 litres of air each minute (average 5 litres).4 – 6 litres of air is usually achieved by taking approximately 12 breaths per minute quietly through the nose.
* Normal volume of air breathed during sleep is 20% less than the resting but awake volume (about 4 litres of air).
* By breathing 20 times a minute (once every 3 seconds instead of once every 5) the volume of air quickly rises to 10 litres of air breathed each minute.
* Breathing 20% less than 10 litres is 8 litres of air, which is double what a healthy person breathes during sleep.
* Breathing 8 litres of air each minute cools and dries the airways, creating inflammation and increasing mucus production.
* Breathing 8 litres of air each minute also causes a loss of carbon dioxide in the lungs and bloodstream.
* This loss of carbon dioxide revs up the nervous system, making it less likely that sleep will be sound.
* The loss of carbon dioxide makes it more difficult for the body tissues to access the oxygen carried in the bloodstream (Bohr effect), and so normal tissue activity is harder to achieve, as well as muscles tiring more quickly, with increased lactic acid production.
* The lower concentration of carbon dioxide causes an increase in histamine production, which adds to the inflammation that the inhalation of extra cold dry air has started.
* A loss of too much carbon dioxide is a real threat to the health and safety of your body, and so the brain takes steps to fix this problem by narrowing or even blocking the airway to raise the concentration in the lungs, which has the effect of raising the pressure of carbon dioxide in the bloodstream back towards normal.
* A narrowing or blockage in some part of the airway causes snoring and also apnoeas (temporarily not breathing).
Most of the treatments for snoring include all manner of things that try to make you breathe through your nose, which should be a good thing because usually less air is breathed through the nose than the mouth. There are strips, springs, magnets and all kinds of devices that you can put on your nose, in your nose, in your mouth and over your mouth. There are pillows that keep your head and shoulders higher than your feet, your jaw closed, or your chin jutting out. If these things don’t work then there are acupressure rings, oils to inhale or spray on your throat; and surgery to widen your nose, throat or to stiffen or shrink the uvula so that it makes less noise.
Note: before you consider trimming this little flap of tissue remember that it helps to stop food and/or liquids from entering the nasal passages (as can occasionally happen when you laugh when drinking), and so this may be a less than desirable side effect of the operation.
Unless you need surgery to unblock a broken nose, none of these things are terrible effective because they usually just make it easier for you to breathe your 8 litres of air each minute, and so as a rebound effect, the airways have to take stronger action to prevent the loss of carbon dioxide. The strongest action that the body can take is to stop breathing altogether, and this is called Sleep Apnoea.
Again almost all of the treatments for sleep apnoea involve expensive surgery, gadgets or machines that aim to get you breathing through your nose. These include the same kinds of surgery that is used for the treatment of snoring, and mouthguards to keep your jaw shut, to pull your lower jaw forward, and to pull your tongue and lower jaw forward. If your sleep apnoea is too severe, then the CPAP is said to be the answer to everyone’s problem. This machine blows air up your nose to maintain sufficient pressure to keep the airway open.
We ask the question: Instead of all of these ways to make you breathe through your nose, why not just use the Buteyko method and unblock your nose naturally? Not only will the Buteyko programme unblock your nose, but it will also get you back to breathing 4 litres of air when you are asleep, like you used to before you had these problems. Then not only the snoring and sleep apnoea disappear, but also the insomnia, restless legs, nightmares, and many other problems that people have with sleep.
“Josephs condition has improved significantly in just two weeks. He is sleeping better and is a more relaxed child, I thought that it would be difficult to keep him interested in doing the exercises, but as he is feeling better that hasn’t been a problem. His fitness has improved and he’s enjoying playing sport more.” Sue
"I have found the new breathing technique very beneficial and I no longer get so tired during the day and sleep very well at night. Friends have noticed my breathing is no longer heavy and say I look better." Sylvia
What are you waiting for? Find your closest Buteyko practitioner now!!!
Asthma
Have you seen someone develop asthma symptoms while they breathe quietly through their nose? We have yet to find anyone who answers “Yes” to that question because you don’t normally get asthma when you breathe quietly through your nose. Instead it usually occurs when you breathe through your mouth, laugh a lot; or cough, yawn, sigh or sneeze repeatedly. The Buteyko method is not just a set of breathing exercises, but a complete education programme that Professor Buteyko developed, which reverses the symptoms of asthma because it reverses the hyperventilation that causes it. Simply by understanding this gives you more control over your asthma because you are better able to recognise potentially troublesome times and know what to do next. “I understand my asthma now so I know how to treat myself and that is the most empowering thing of all.” Anita The programme has been proven in clinical trials to reduce your automatic breathing pattern by around one third so that after a short period of time you do not get chest tightness unless something extraordinary happens. And as you work towards this relief from asthma, you have special exercises that open up the airways, so that Ventolin is almost never needed once you learn the Buteyko method.
“After having mild asthma all my life this method of treatment was a Godsend. Right from day one I noticed improvement. I sleep more soundly, feel better, have the power of control over my asthma. The treatment has not only benefited me but also my wife and family who have found me more tolerant, less irritable, a much better person to be with. I just keep asking myself why did I not do this years back.” Neil
Try the Buteyko method yourself, and see if you can rid yourself of asthma too. Buteyko Practitioner Training in Brisbane With something like 15% of the entire world having asthma and the same with a snoring problem, there seems no shortage of demand for Buteyko. If you want to teach the Buteyko method that is challenging and interesting as well as enormously rewarding, then email Jennifer on training@buteyko.co.nz for more information about the training that is being held again this September in Brisbane, Australia.
Buteyko Tip of The Season
If you haven’t already done so, then “LEARN THE BUTEYKO METHOD!!” should be the tip for every season. But an additional one for the in between seasons of Autumn or Spring is to watch out for allergens. Let your nose filter them out. Keep breathing through your nose as much as you can. Make it a personal challenge to breathe only through your nose for a whole day, and see if you feel any different.
Better Breathing = Better Health