Dysfunctional breathing: what are the symptoms of incorrect breathing?

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Complaints due to incorrect or dysfunctional breathing are very diverse and difficult to recognize. Typical are chest and irregular breathing and excessive sighing. The cause is often wrongly sought in heart or lung problems due to the overlapping symptoms. To effectively treat breathing problems, you need to look at the underlying cause.

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What are the symptoms of incorrect breathing?

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What is the cause?

• Psychological factors, such as stress and anxiety
• An acute illness, for example a chest infection or pneumonia
• A chronic respiratory disease, for example COPD, asthma
• A trauma, physical or emotional
• Pain, especially in the abdomen or lower back
• Digestive problems such as reflux or diaphragmatic hernia

Read also: Breathing exercise against stress

How can you fix wrong breathing?

• Identify your triggers and address them. This can mean learning how to deal with anxiety, but also, for example, treating reflux or tackling back pain and shoulder pain.
• Learn breathing techniques, such as abdominal breathing. For breathing exercises you can go to a physiotherapist or respiratory therapist.
• Integrate relaxation techniques and mindfulness into your daily routines. This way you reduce the tension in your body and you will also be less inclined to breathe through your chest.
• You can also improve dysfunctional breathing with nutrition. Strong fluctuations in your blood sugar levels can make the symptoms worse. So keep your blood sugar stable by regularly eating smaller, healthy meals with enough protein. Avoid too much caffeine and alcohol.
• While the symptoms of dysfunctional breathing can be exhausting, it’s important to stay active. This helps you to breathe more efficiently, your physical condition will improve and you will also feel better mentally.

Read also: Breathing correctly: heart coherence as an answer to stress, burnout and hyperventilation

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