Breathlessness: Common Causes and How Breathing Physiotherapy Can Help

Feeling like you can’t get a full, satisfying breath is unsettling, especially when tests come back normal and no one can quite explain it. Breathlessness is one of the most common,  and most under-treated, symptoms we see, and it doesn’t always come from your lungs or heart. Often, it comes from how you’re breathing, not just what your organs are doing.

What Is Breathlessness?

Breathlessness (or dyspnea) is the sensation of not getting enough air, working harder than expected to breathe, or feeling like your breath is shallow, tight, or unsatisfying. It can be constant, come in waves, or appear only in certain situations like stress, exercise, or lying down.

While breathlessness always deserves a proper medical work-up to rule out cardiac or respiratory causes, a large number of people are cleared medically and still struggle,  because the underlying issue is a breathing pattern disorder.

Common Contributors

• Dysfunctional breathing patterns — over-breathing, chest-dominant breathing, or breath-holding that develops as a habit, often after illness, anxiety, or injury. Want to know even more about dysfunctional breathing? Check out this post.
• Diaphragm weakness or poor coordination — the diaphragm is a muscle, and like any muscle, it can be deconditioned or working inefficiently. Learn how we evaluate diaphragm strength.
• Postural habits — a slouched or collapsed rib cage position limits how much the diaphragm and ribs can move
• Anxiety and stress — the nervous system and breathing are deeply linked, and chronic stress commonly shows up as tight, shallow breathing.
• Post-illness deconditioning, including after respiratory infections.

How Breathing Physiotherapy Helps

A thorough assessment looks at how you’re actually breathing: rib cage movement, diaphragm function, resting breathing rate, and the pattern of breath during rest, talking, and exertion. From there, treatment might include:

• Diaphragmatic breathing retraining to restore an efficient, low, relaxed breath
• Inspiratory muscle training to build diaphragm strength and endurance
• Manual therapy to release tension in the neck, chest, and rib cage accessory breathing muscles
• Nervous system down-regulation techniques for anxiety-linked breathlessness
• Graded reconditioning for post-illness or exertional breathlessness

You Don’t Have to Just Live With It

Breathlessness that isn’t explained by your lungs or heart is still real, and it’s still treatable. Once your breathing pattern is properly assessed, many people are surprised how much relief is possible.

If you’re in Kingston, ON, and unexplained or persistent breathlessness has been affecting your daily life, book an appointment with our breathing physiotherapist and let’s find out what’s really going on.