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<strong>16</strong><br />
Tuesday <strong>October</strong> <strong>16</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />
HEALTH & AWARENESS<br />
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi<br />
WESTERN NEWS<br />
Anxiety and breathing<br />
– are they related?<br />
When good breathing goes bad<br />
Have you experienced any of these<br />
breathing difficulty symptoms?<br />
• Disturbed sleep<br />
• Erratic heartbeats*<br />
• Feeling anxious and uptight<br />
• Upset gut/nausea<br />
• Chest pains*<br />
• Shattered confidence<br />
• Tired all the time<br />
• Achy muscles and joints<br />
• Dizzy spells* or feeling spaced out<br />
• Irritability or hypervigilance<br />
• Frequent yawning and sighing<br />
• Breathing discomfort*<br />
• Pins and needles<br />
• Feelings of ‘air hunger’<br />
*Check with your doctor if you experience<br />
these symptoms.<br />
These questions are asked on<br />
the website www.BradCliff.com.<br />
BradCliff was started by North Island<br />
physiotherapists Dinah Bradley and<br />
Tania Cliffton Smith, who specialise in<br />
hyperventilation and anxiety treatment.<br />
Their website notes one in 10 people<br />
experience some form of breathing pattern<br />
disorder or chronic over breathing at some<br />
time in their lives, resulting in a range<br />
of disturbing or frightening symptoms<br />
puzzling to you and your doctor.<br />
You feel unwell because of overbreathing,<br />
and overbreathing makes you feel unwell.<br />
A vicious cycle is established, which is a<br />
major stress all by itself. This is experienced<br />
currently by many Cantabrians, says Ietje<br />
van Stolk of Physical Sense Gym & Physio.<br />
As she explains, it is normal to breathe fast<br />
and in the upper chest when we are in danger<br />
and fight or flight is needed. We know all<br />
about that here, due to the earthquakes.<br />
Normally, once the danger is gone, our<br />
breathing should restore itself within a<br />
couple of days. We would then be using the<br />
diaphragm for our normal nonstressed<br />
breathing. We have been having a hard<br />
time restoring our breathing pattern<br />
here in Canterbury because every time<br />
our body tried to achieve that, the next<br />
aftershock came rolling in. Even though the<br />
aftershocks have significantly diminished,<br />
some people’s fight or flight mode<br />
breathing has become chronic, or habitual,<br />
Ietje says. And, as she points out, using the<br />
wrong muscles for breathing means these<br />
overworked muscles cause headaches, neck<br />
pain and jaw pain.<br />
With fast upper chest breathing, sighing<br />
and yawning, the resulting disturbance<br />
of our oxygen and carbon dioxide levels<br />
can give us the feeling we are not able to<br />
control our own body. One moment you<br />
are feeling fine, next moment your chest<br />
feels tight, you feel out of breath, your<br />
heart beats erratically and you may even<br />
experience dizziness and/or tingling.<br />
Very scary if you do not understand what<br />
is happening. No wonder this causes<br />
anxiety. Not being the boss over our own<br />
body makes us anxious, anxiety feeds the<br />
faulty breathing pattern, and so it goes on.<br />
The BradCliff physiotherapists have<br />
established a national network of<br />
practitioners that regularly train together<br />
and can help you overcome this problem.<br />
Physical Sense is part of that network.<br />
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<br />
parking. To enquire about specialised exercise classes or physiotherapy treatment, phone 377-2577 or visit www.triggerpoints.co.nz<br />
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45th<br />
Anniversary<br />
year!<br />
#areyouupforit<br />
45th Anniversary<br />
Retro T-shirt<br />
available when<br />
entries open on<br />
1st December <strong>2018</strong><br />
Sunday 24th March, 2019 www.city2surf.co.nz