Hyperventilation – or overbreathing – is breathing in a rapid, shallow way using the upper chest instead of the abdomen. Breathing in this manner produces more oxygen than the body needs, and the result is a fall in the level of carbon dioxide in the blood. The acid/alkaline balance of the body is also disturbed and this can cause a lot of strange and sometimes frightening feelings. It can result in panic attacks, unreal feelings, headaches, tingling around the mouth and in the feet and hands, a tight chest, pain in the neck and shoulders and digestive upsets.Here is how it is described in the Oxford Book of Psychiatry (1983); it shows how poor breathing habits can affect the whole body.Over-breathing is breathing in a rapid and shallow way which results in a fall in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood. The resultant symptoms include dizziness, faintness, numbness and tingling in the hands, feet and face, carpopedal spasms (severe cramp in hands and feet), and precordial discomfort (discomfort in the area of the chest over the heart). There is also a feeling of breathlessness which may prolong the condition. When a patient has unexplained bodily symptoms, the possibility of persistent overbreathing should always be borne in mind.It does not matter what causes hyperventilation; it may be a bloated abdomen cramping your lungs, or a blocked nose that starts the habit, or it may be that you have always been anxious and have been a poor breather since childhood, but no matter what the cause is, the worst symptom of hyperventilation is panic attacks.*97\326\8*
IBS AND HYPERVENTILATION: WHAT IS HYPERVENTILATION?
Posted: under Gastrointestinal.
June 7th, 2011
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