Management Of Hyperventilation

Hyper-ventilation means breathing in excess of what body needs.

Causes

This condition occurs whenever there is some medical problem like heart attack, bleeding, pregnancy, some respiratory infection like asthma or disease in lungs and many other ailments. It can also occur due to anxiety or panic situations.

Accompanying Symptoms

Hyperventilation is accompanied with certain other symptoms. Some them could be chest pain, dizziness, palpitation, dry mouth, weakness, shortness of breath etc.

Management

You need to consult the doctor immediately as this is an emergency situation. Till you reach the doctor take some precautions. When you are breathing fast it means you are taking more of oxygen and exhaling less of carbon dioxide. So the best way to get relief is to breathe in some paper bag. This would make you inhale some carbon dioxide which you normally blow in the air. This is the most effective cure for hyperventilation.

If you suffer from this problem regularly, you must take some yoga classes. There are various techniques in yoga that could help you in controlling your breath.

When you have this problem due to anxiety try to go for walk or do something that soothes you like listening to music or exercise or play anything of your choice. This would relax you.

Limit the intake of caffeine and nicotine as they are stimulants that initiate hyper-ventilation. If you smoke then do not think that smoking would help you and relax you. This thinking is wrong as smoking has nicotine that is a stimulant and encourages hyper-ventilation.

A simple exercise you can try is to put your one hand on chest and one hand on stomach you can do it while standing or it is good to do while lying on floor with your knees bend. Now take a deep breadth through your nose and let your stomach push your hand with the air inside. And then exhale while taking your own time and let your hand come slowly down with your belly. Repeat this 3 to 4 times and you would feel relaxed.