Contents:
- Medical Video: Clearing Your Chest with Breathing Exercises
- What is paradoxical breathing?
- Signs and symptoms of paradoxical breathing
- What causes typical breathlessnessparadoxical breathing?
- Treatment and prevention of paradoxical breathing
Medical Video: Clearing Your Chest with Breathing Exercises
Breathing involves the movement of the diaphragm muscle which presses down to make the lungs expand so as to allow air from outside to breathe in. However, muscle abnormalities can make the diaphragm and lungs work instead. This condition is called paradoxical breathing, one of the causes of shortness of breath that you may never realize.
What is paradoxical breathing?
Paradoxical breathing is a respiratory disorder caused by abnormalities in the contraction function of the diaphragm muscles. Normally, the diaphragm muscle must press down so you can breathe, but this condition causes the diaphragm muscle to be pushed up so that the lungs cannot expand.
As a result, someone who experiences this condition cannot breathe freely to breathe as much oxygen as his body needs. Paradoxical breathing also causes the body to not emit as much carbon dioxide as it should. This can be a cause of shortness of breath and various other health problems.
Signs and symptoms of paradoxical breathing
Signs and symptoms of paradoxical breathing are:
- Very short breathing
- Easily feel dizzy and weak
- Easy to sleep and sleep too long
- Easy to feel tired
- Waking up tired
- Often wake up at night
- Heart rate is very fast
- Weak, tired, lethargic, weak (Low physical activity performance)
- Breathing really fast
- Experience the sensation of pain and pressure in the area around the chest and abdomen
What causes typical breathlessnessparadoxical breathing?
Basically a nuisance paradoxical breathing caused by diagebrama muscle abnormalities and is a type of disorder that is difficult to recognize.
Even so, there are some health problems that can cause this condition. For example:
Obstruction of Sleep Apnea
Obstruction sleep apnea can be a cause of typical breathlessnessparadoxical breathing. This condition is a breathing disorder during sleep which causes a person to stop breathing or breathe short while sleeping. This condition disrupts the flow of oxygen and the outflow of carbon dioxide. Over time, the chest wall can expand inward, not outward.
Experiencing trauma or serious injury to the diaphragm wall
Experiencing an accident can cause damage to the diaphragmatic area where the ribs and inner chest wall are released so that the diaphragm stops contracting normally when breathing air so that paradoxical breathing.
Nervous disorders
The phrenic nerve is a nerve that plays a role in regulating the movements of the diaphragm and other muscles in the chest or torso. Nerve damage in these parts can cause changes in muscle contraction when breathing. The condition is also related to neurological damage in cases such as complications of chest trauma, lung cancer, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, and Guillain-Barre syndrome.
The respiratory muscles weaken
Disorders of the respiratory system muscles such as multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrig's disease can be causes of shortness of breath due to paradoxical breathing.
Mineral deficiency
Lack of potassium, magnesium and calcium can affect breathing patterns through central nervous system disorders that regulate the breathing process.
Treatment and prevention of paradoxical breathing
Most cases from paradoxical breathing treated by treating the condition that causes it. For example, disruption of muscle contraction due to mineral deficiency will improve when the body has received sufficient mineral intake.
In the case paradoxical breathing caused by trauma to the chest, surgery is needed to repair the joints of the muscles and the ribs that have been removed or damaged. But in cases that are caused by disorders of chronic diseases and nervous disorders, it is likely that the treatment and healing process will be more difficult.
Handling to treat symptoms from paradoxical breathing also includes:
- The use of breathing apparatus such as oxygen masks
- Use of tracheotomy by making a new airway
- Replace lost electrolytes with intravenous fluids
- Do therapy for sleep apnea disorders
- Eliminates blockages or other foreign objects that cause airway contractions and blockage disorders.
Many of the causes paradoxical breathing cannot be overcome by lifestyle changes. However, these disorders can be minimized by behaviors such as:
- Maintain a healthy diet with balanced nutrition
- Maintaining healthy weight, this is needed to prevent sleep apnea
- Reducing smoking habits and alcohol consumption
- Strengthens the abdominal support muscles (core muscles) around the diagframa.
