Buteyko breathing exercises

[KJ48]

Came across the idea of Buteyko breathing exercises - reviews look too good to be true. Am a bit skeptical and wonder if reviews are either made up or the reviewers don't get asthma that badly anyway! I am on a medium twice daily dose of symbicort, montelukast and spiriva and still struggling so getting a bit desperate (which is probably not helping my breathing!). Anybody any experience with any of the Buteyko materials?

[SheilaC]

I'll watch with interest for replies. My daughter is heavily into 'natural' remedies and thinks this is a good idea but I remember reading somewhere that it should not be done without supervision.

[hilary39]

There are many many kinds of breathing exercises out there. I have a funny book the actor Paul Sorvino wrote one in the 80s with exercises opera singers used to improve their lung capacity (using his daughter Mira as a model! )

I've tried them all and they definitely don't need supervision. In the case of Butekyo it's about holding your breath to see how long you can do so comfortably (he has theories that 40+ seconds means you're healthy, for example) and then trying to breathe slowly and shallowly for five minutes at a time four times in a row, taking your pulse and control pause in between.

I did it pretty religiously for 1-2 years a few years ago. I didn't see improvement per se but it was helpful to feel like I was doing something natural and deliberate to improve my asthma aside from taking medicines.

I have actually found diaphramatic breathing to be more useful, basically just lying on your back and taking deep breaths with long exhalations using your belly muscles for five minutes a day (you can google it for directions).

The idea of breathing exercises is to build your lung and chest muscles like you would in any other kind of exericse, if that makes sense, so I think it's a good thing to pursue regardless of which technique you pick, especially for us asthmatics.

This is a good reminder for me to be better abotu doing this, thank you!

[Hidden]

Buteyko has been shown to help some symptoms of asthma but importantly it doesent increase lung function.

I think the breathing exercises help you keep calm and reduce the feeling that you are short of breath so could be useful.

[Elspe]

We tried it years ago when it first got publicity. I didn't feel as if it helped me, and have never been able to hold breath for long. DH on the other hand, liked it a lot. To be fair, he does try a lot of new /alternative things and some of them work - or perhaps he just thinks they do. He was able to get well enough not to need Ventolin for weeks on end, somewhere I've never been. Got gradually worse over time though, and now he's back on Ventolin and Clenil.

[Jjude1003]

I’m also on Symbicort and Spiriva. I discovered Buteyko and other controlled breathing exercises and found them to be very helpful. What seems to be most helpful is the focus on breathing out and holding at the end of an exhale - which is a bit counterintuitive when you feel like you are struggling to get air in. From what I’ve read, this triggers a natural broncho-dilation response in your body. I’ve found it to be very effective when I’m suffering. I use it a lot when I wake up at night.

[Junglechicken]

I don’t know anything about this particular type of breathing exercise but I too have found diaphragmatic breathing beneficial for its calming properties when my asthma is causing problems. Usually do 15mins in the morning and 15mins in the evening. I also think it has trained me to naturally breath from my tummy rather than with the chest. Apparently it’s more efficient and less tiring to breathe this way.

[Gazza01]

Maybe try looking into pranayama yoga breathing. Some of it is pretty intense on the respiratory muscles and diaphragm but you can build on it gradually. There's plenty on YouTube. There have been lots of genuine trials which have showed significant increases in many of the pre and post Spirometry results. It's also been in the British medical journal, so not Mickey Mouse stuff. I still also great for anxiety. Some of the breathing makes you feel a bit stoned for a while. Which is good😊

Just start off slow and build up from there. I've been doing it for about a week now and am enjoying it immensely.

The results in the trials took three months.

They also added in the "sun salutatation" which is just a stretching exercise

For the lung and diaphragm area. I enjoy that as it really opens up the chest area almost from the first time I tried it. This is also on YouTube.

And maybe google something like prayama Spirometry or pranayama lung exercises. Something along those lines. Good luck.

[foxie7777]

What is amazing is there are so many natural ways to treat asthma but there seems to be a block in medicine. For 30 years I struggled and all doctors did was prescribe. no root cause analysis.

I discovered Buyteko therapy (used in Russia in last century) I have used it. The simple take is breath through your nose not your mouth. I sometimes tape my mouth during the day. Guess what 5 years later I am running 5k in Park Runs. This stuff does not make money for drugs companies so they dont publicise it. Its free!!

The control Pause method where you hold your breath, really indicates how long you are away from an attack.

Please take time to understand it. If you cant hold your breath for long then your control pause is very low. I had childhood asthma until I was 45. I could never hold my breath over 15 seconds. Now I can hold my breath for 2 minutes! Take time to understand it, it will change your life... it did mine

youtu.be/zm3JKiMb-Pc(Not working as expected?)

[1974lovejoy]

I have completed a course and although it hasn’t prevented any exacerbations it has made me very aware of using my diaphragm and controlling the breathing ., my physio told me it also helps the body deal with the “air hunger” our bodies get when unwell with asthma .. it’s also a good way to notice a change in symptoms of an attack is on its way !! I do a lot of the physio exercises when an attack occurs before reaching for inhalers ... only if they don’t work do I go to the next step..

I’d recommend a course of Buteyko even if it just helps you become aware of your breathing... and nasal breathing is so important for an asthmatic ... but very difficult to do !!!