Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects 7 to 21% of the general population and is a chronic condition. The symptoms usually include abdominal cramping, discomfort or pain, bloating, loose or frequent stools and constipation, and can significantly reduce the quality of life. This case report describes how a 22-year-old woman, who was initially diagnosed with IBS when she was a high school junior, healed herself from IBS with slow abdominal breathing without any therapeutic coaching. She has continued to be symptom-free for the last three years. The article reviews how slower diaphragmatic breathing (abdominal breathing) may reduce symptoms of IBS, explores the possibility that breathing is more than increasing sympathetic/parasympathetic balance, and suggests additional self-care strategies to reduce the symptoms of IBS.
Effortless Diaphragmatic Breathing: Reduce Symptoms of Hyperventilation, Panic and Asthma
The underlying premise of this protocol is if the startle response or alarm reaction is embedded in the performance of an activity which adversely affects the respiratory patterns (e.g. gasping, thoracic breathing, breath holding), then changing the respiratory patterns with effortless diaphragmatic breathing may lead to an improvement in health and performance. This protocol includes an assessment of dysfunctional breathing and training strategies toward effortless breathing.
Taking Control: Strategies to Reduce Hot Flashes and Premenstrual Mood Swings
Women have been troubled by hot flashes and premenstrual syndrome for ages. Hormone replacement therapy, historically the most common treatment for hot flashes, and other pharmacological approaches for pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) appear now to be harmful and may not produce significant benefits. This paper reports on a model treatment approach based upon the early research of Freedman & Woodward to reduce hot flashes and PMS using biofeedback training of diaphragmatic breathing, relaxation, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Successful symptom reduction is contingent upon lowering sympathetic arousal utilizing slow breathing in response to stressors and somatic changes. We strongly recommend that effortless diaphragmatic breathing be taught as the first step to reduce hot flashes and PMS symptoms.
Effect of Breath Patterns on Balance: Breathe Diaphragmatically to Prevent Falling
Balance is crucial in standing and prevention of falling. While standing, if we stiffen we might increase the occurrence of falling. This stiffening occurs when we tighten and breathe thoracically. Many people tend to hold their breath or breathe thoracically while attempting to balance. This study investigated whether diaphragmatic breathing or thoracic breathing increased or decreased postural sway as measured by Center of Pressure (COP). COP length is indicative of the postural corrections made by the subject while performing the task. Therefore, larger COP lengths mean that more postural corrections are being made and imply less stability.
Teaching Diaphragmatic Breathing to Children
The process of breathing has been linked to consciousness, health, and spirit. Newborns naturally breathe using diaphragmatic breathing. However, by the age of 10, most children use a shallow thoracic breathing pattern, except when in a supine position. Adult literature indicates that patients taught diaphragmatic breathing experience significant decreases in numerous physical and psychophysiological symptoms. There is a paucity of professional or lay literature that addresses the topic of breath training in children. This article describes the use of breath training as a component of biofeedback training and the possible uses of breath training for prevention and intervention of physical and psychophysiological disorders in children. Directions for future research are proposed.
Protocol for the Treatment of Asthma
This paper describes a training protocol to reduce the onset and severity of asthmatic symptoms. The methodology and helpful hints are described for each practice. Most subjects mastered the skills, inhibited their automatic escalation of dysfunctional breathing, and demonstrated the ability to continue to breathe diaphragmatically under a variety of conditions. Although this protocol was used with patients with asthma, it could be adapted as a treatment approach to other disorders (e.g., hyperventilation syndrome, anxiety or panic).
Breathing biofeedback to reduce side effects after a kidney transplant
A 39-year-old kidney transplant female participated in six biofeedback sessions to learn relaxation and enhance control. When she inhaled pentamadine it caused coughing, gagging and increased blood pressure and heart rate. Respiration feedback was recorded with abdominal and thoracic strain gauges. Training included cognitive and physiological breathing self-regulation skill. After training, respiration changed from 27 to 8 breaths per minute with concurrent abdominal movement; heart rate decreased and RSA increased. She was able to take the pentamadine inhalation treatment without evoking discomfort and her blood pressure and heart rate remained normal.
MacHose and Peper Effect of clothing on inhationa volume
Diaphragmatic breathing is included as an important component of relaxation training protocols. In the present study, we report on the effectiveness of a simple behavioral technique to illustrate that choices of tight, restraining clothing significantly affect the inhalation volume of the breathing pattern. This study investigates the use of of the incentive inspirometer to observe the effects of tight versus loose clothing on inhalation volume.
This study investigates the effects of partial exhalation to feelings of anxiety. In summary, a 70% approach is introduced and described as useful in demonstrating to the client that possible changes in breathing patterns can affect anxiety.
This study explored the physiological correlates of a highly practiced Yoga master while he voluntarily breathed approximately two breaths per minute. Implications for meditation and clinical applications are discussed.
Diaphragmatic breathing from a developmental perspective is a whole-body process. During exhalation, the abdominal wall contracts, and during inhalation, the abdominal wall relaxes. This pattern is often absent in many clients who tend to lift their chest when they inhale and do not expand their abdomen. This article describes factors that contribute to the lack of abdominal movement during breathing, as well as a methodology to record the surface electromyography (SEMG) activity from the lower abdominal muscles (external/internal abdominal oblique and transverse abdominis). Strategies are presented to teach clients how to engage the lower abdominal muscles to facilitate effortless breathing. In summary, lower abdominal SEMG feedback is a useful strategy to facilitate complete abdominal involvement during breathing
This report of findings describes students’ self-reported difficulty and anxiety during test taking and the effect of deliberate gasping or diaphragmatic breathing on the ability to solve math problems. Students reported a high frequency of blanking out difficulty during exams, and difficulty with math. The students reported significantly more difficulty in solving math problems when gasping than during slow breathing and significantly more anxiety during gasping than during slow breathing when solving math problems. Included are comments to improve study habits, memory consolidation, and how to incorporate somatic feedback of breathing patterns into learning and training within other settings such as during neurotherapy.
Abdominal surgery or injury may affect breathing and, if the disturbed breathing pattern is maintained, illness may result, as illustrated by two case examples. This report describes the process of learned avoidance of pain through which abdominal surgery may cause dysfunctional breathing. This clinical note is a reminder to clinicians to ask about abdominal surgery or injury during the intake. In cases in which symptoms occurred months after the abdominal surgery or injury, it may be possible to reduce the symptoms through teaching effortless breathing.
Millions of women experience substantial pain and suffering from vulvodynia, which is pain around the entrance to the vagina (vulva). A common treatment is surgical removal of the tissue (vestibulectomy). This case report describes the detailed process of a holistic biofeedback-based intervention that successfully resolved the vulvodynia in a 23-year-old woman. The four-session treatment interventions included teaching diaphragmatic breathing to transform shallow thoracic breathing into slower diaphragmatic breathing. Treatment transformed her feeling of powerlessness, a belief that there was nothing she could do, into empowerment and a hope that she could reduce her symptoms and optimize her health. After 6 weeks, she once again could initiate and enjoy intercourse and has been symptom free during the 8 month follow-up.
Diaphragmatic breathing from a developmental perspective is a whole-body process. During exhalation, the abdominal wall contracts, and during inhalation, the abdominal wall relaxes. This pattern is often absent in many clients who tend to lift their chest when they inhale and do not expand their abdomen. This article describes factors that contribute to the lack of abdominal movement during breathing, as well as a methodology to record the surface electromyography (SEMG) activity from the lower abdominal muscles (external/internal abdominal oblique and transverse abdominis). Strategies are presented to teach clients how to engage the lower abdominal muscles to facilitate effortless breathing. In summary, lower abdominal SEMG feedback is a useful strategy to facilitate complete abdominal involvement during breathing
Patients can learn self-regulation skills and biofeedback-assisted relaxation in the office, yet fail to show symptomatic improvement. In many cases, the individual is perpetuating behavior in the workplace or elsewhere that hinders healing and symptom reduction, or exacerbates their complaints. A brief case example of a 25-year-old male with repetitive motion injury from computer use serves to illustrate the problem. The biofeedback practitioners used cognitive reframing and humor to assist the patient to accept work and ‘‘workstyle’’ changes facilitating symptom reduction.
A Yogi master was psychophysiologically monitored while he pierced his neck and tongue with skewers to demonstrate control of pain and bleeding. The Yogi reported no pain during piercing and no bleeding was observed. This demonstration suggests a finding of conscious self-regulation, as opposed to disassociation, for controlling attention and responsiveness to painful stimuli. It could be hypothesized that clients with chronic pain could be taught how to control pain using the mind/body in a similar manner.
Sufi piercing: Dutch article by Booiman, A., Peper, E., Saleh, S., Collura, T., & Hall. H.
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