Pegasus Post: October 16, 2018

16
Tuesday October 16 2018
HEALTH & AWARENESS
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
PEGASUS POST
Anxiety and breathing
– are they related?
When good breathing goes bad
Have you experienced any of these
breathing difficulty symptoms?
• Disturbed sleep
• Erratic heartbeats*
• Feeling anxious and uptight
• Upset gut/nausea
• Chest pains*
• Shattered confidence
• Tired all the time
• Achy muscles and joints
• Dizzy spells* or feeling spaced out
• Irritability or hypervigilance
• Frequent yawning and sighing
• Breathing discomfort*
• Pins and needles
• Feelings of ‘air hunger’
*Check with your doctor if you experience
these symptoms.
These questions are asked on
the website www.BradCliff.com.
BradCliff was started by North Island
physiotherapists Dinah Bradley and
Tania Cliffton Smith, who specialise in
hyperventilation and anxiety treatment.
Their website notes one in 10 people
experience some form of breathing pattern
disorder or chronic over breathing at some
time in their lives, resulting in a range
of disturbing or frightening symptoms
puzzling to you and your doctor.
You feel unwell because of overbreathing,
and overbreathing makes you feel unwell.
A vicious cycle is established, which is a
major stress all by itself. This is experienced
currently by many Cantabrians, says Ietje
van Stolk of Physical Sense Gym & Physio.
As she explains, it is normal to breathe fast
and in the upper chest when we are in danger
and fight or flight is needed. We know all
about that here, due to the earthquakes.
Normally, once the danger is gone, our
breathing should restore itself within a
couple of days. We would then be using the
diaphragm for our normal nonstressed
breathing. We have been having a hard
time restoring our breathing pattern
here in Canterbury because every time
our body tried to achieve that, the next
aftershock came rolling in. Even though the
aftershocks have significantly diminished,
some people’s fight or flight mode
breathing has become chronic, or habitual,
Ietje says. And, as she points out, using the
wrong muscles for breathing means these
overworked muscles cause headaches, neck
pain and jaw pain.
With fast upper chest breathing, sighing
and yawning, the resulting disturbance
of our oxygen and carbon dioxide levels
can give us the feeling we are not able to
control our own body. One moment you
are feeling fine, next moment your chest
feels tight, you feel out of breath, your
heart beats erratically and you may even
experience dizziness and/or tingling.
Very scary if you do not understand what
is happening. No wonder this causes
anxiety. Not being the boss over our own
body makes us anxious, anxiety feeds the
faulty breathing pattern, and so it goes on.
The BradCliff physiotherapists have
established a national network of
practitioners that regularly train together
and can help you overcome this problem.
Physical Sense is part of that network.
Physical Sense Gym and Physio is located at 300 Colombo Street, Sydenham. The Blue Line Bus stops in front of the door and there is ample
parking. To enquire about specialised exercise classes or physiotherapy treatment, phone 377-2577 or visit www.triggerpoints.co.nz
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