Living with breathlessness can affect your daily routines and the way in which you manage the daily tasks that we all need to do; getting dressed, having a shower, shopping, cooking and so on. You may notice there are times when you are more, or less, breathless. Think about the ways in which you already […]
Remember breathlessness related to anxiety is normal. It is your bodies way of trying to help you in situations which you find difficult or in which you worry about your ability to cope. Explore and understand the triggers for your anxiety. If you find anxiety is becoming a problem which is affecting your day-to-day life. […]
The challenge is for the condition to be recognised. Your child should be referred for expert assessment and management. This is usually done by a paediatric respiratory physiotherapist. They will carefully explain the terms used and work out a plan with you and your child based on individualised breathing control exercises.
When anxiety becomes severe it can cause your child to become very breathless and feel that they cannot breathe. This is acute hyperventilation and can be very frightening. These are commonly described as panic attacks. If the individual child or young person’s breathing pattern is altered for some time it can become their normal way of […]
However, anxiety can become chronic: In some people, this anxiety cycle can evolve into an altered breathing pattern. This is even more common in people who already have a respiratory condition for example asthma. It is less common (but can happen) in children. It is more common in teenagers (and adults).
When your child’s brain is not used to them being breathless, it can over analyse their symptoms. Your child’s brain interprets a normal (breathlessness) reaction as a threat. Anxiety and breathlessness can be linked. The anxiety cycle: Threat → Alarm → They feel breathless → They feel their heart is pounding → You and / […]
If your child tries to avoid activity and exercise, they become deconditioned (unfit). Your child can then fall into the cycle of inactivity: They feel breathless → They avoid activities that makes them breathless → They do less → Their muscles become weaker and less efficient → They get more breathless → They avoid activities […]
Your child’s normal breathlessness caused by activity or exercise. Breathlessness related to your child’s anxiety. Breathlessness caused by a tendency to reactive airways / asthma.
Oxygen is vital to everyone, not just people with respiratory problems. Only certain people with COPD will need home oxygen therapy. *This situation affects some patients with severe COPD – measuring oxygen saturations when you are stable is a good screening test; a specific oxygen assessment is indicated if stable oxygen saturations are below normal. […]
