Buteyko breathing technique and asthma

Buteyco breathing technique has been developed by Ukrainian doctor Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko. He promotes that the way we breathe is the main concern of illnesses such as asthma and other respiratory diseases. He claims that we were led to believe that we expel carbon dioxide because it is the waste product of the body which used up oxygen entirely. But then, our body really needs carbon dioxide to regulate our pH balance as well as aid the oxygen performs its role of fuelling our body organs and cell structures.

This is how the Buteyco breathing technique was developed. It teaches that instead of taking deep breaths to inhale more oxygen and expel more carbon dioxide, it promotes the shallow breathing instead. In this way, the levels of both the oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood are properly regulated to allow both to perform their specific actions more effectively.

This technique is especially aimed towards asthma sufferers. Although it is also promoted to other individuals with varied breathing difficulties such as cardio-vascular diseases, hyperventilation and skin conditions. It could also be used to those who are susceptible to lapse into breathing irregularities caused by anger, anxiety or panic attacks.

This technique employs three key concepts which are nasal breathing, reduced breathing and relaxation. With the reduced breathing method, the general idea is to control the breathing pattern. The new concept of breathing he introduced is to either decrease the breathing volume or to reduce the breathing rate.

One of the things that this method teaches is to promote air hunger or the technique of holding one’s breath until you come to the uncomfortable point. This is the same as the gasping for air that is usually experienced during an asthma attack. The principle behind this is to relax the breathing system so that the tension felt in the chest, throat, diaphragm, shoulders and abdomen is greatly reduced.

Nasal breathing on the other hand is designed to maintain clean, warm and humidified air for the lungs. This type of breathing also helps manage the concentration of nitric acid and carbon dioxide in the lung area. It could also help asthmatics go through an aerobic exercise routine that is helpful to his general health.

Promoting relaxation and not going into over breathing during an asthma attack is also key to managing the disease. By preventing the rapid breathing at the onset of an attack, breathing less could abort a full blown one.

However, the effectiveness of the Buteyco breathing technique is still under continuous study. The method is designed to manage an asthma attack and to be calm and relaxed so as not to feed on the possibility of a more severe attack. Medications are not to be substituted for this type of technique.