Catching your Breath

Our son has recently been diagnosed with Cough Variant Asthma, which means that every time he gets the slightest cold, he may have coughing for months with jags lasting as long as 45 minutes. That's an awful long time for a 3 year old to cough.

He has been suffering with this since he was a toddler, only we did not know what it was. We were told that it was normal for kids to cough a lot and given the usual array of medications. Some we tried, and some we thought were too intense for a toddler, so we toughed it out with over the counter meds and steam treatments. Now he is almost 4, and in some ways his condition seems more tenacious than ever... We feel only slightly more comfortable using the prescribed medications, Pulmicort and Prednisone, but thankfully we got a doctor who finally diagnosed it. We are not happy that our son has to deal with this condition, but we are relieved to that we have a firm diagnoses. We are not sure if these meds are going to work or not, we're only on day two.

The good news is that now Griffin has fully developed language skills, so we can also try some alternative methods. In my research, I came across a breathing method that is supposed to promote health in anyone who uses it, but was originally developed for people suffering from breathing disorders, like asthma. It's called the Buteyko Method, after the man who invented it, Dr. Buteyko.

The Buteyko Method of controlled breathing is right in line with ancient breathing practices like yoga and meditation breathing. This holistic technique is based on the idea that in general, we all breath too much, due to physical ailments or stress/anxiety. This is known as Chronic Hyperventilation Syndrome. Practicing controlled breathing is a way to slow it down and let the mind and body get the full benefit of our breath. Over breathing (or breathing more than the medical norm) does not increase oxygenation of the arterial blood, but reduces oxygenation of vital organs (leading to tissue hypoxia) due to CO2 induced vasoconstriction.

At the core of the Buteyko method is a series of breathing exercises that focus on nasal breathing, breath-holding and relaxation. At present it is used to treat asthma, sleep apnea, snoring, and anxiety/panic attacks. These conditions are associated with disrupted or irregular breathing patterns and the Buteyko exercises aim to 'retrain' breathing to restore a more natural pattern. *Wikipedia*

Learn more about Buteyko Breathing:

Buteyko: A to Z

Buteyko Breathing

Applying Buteyko

TV Asia