Breathing a Better Way Could Help Your Pain

We all breathe. Obviously, we have to. But did you know that breathing slightly differently might actually help when you’re in pain?

When you live with chronic pain, there is usually no quick fix available. There are no magic cures. Along with medical help, it’s useful to have a few pain management techniques at your fingertips. One of my most used pain management tools is a breathing exercise called belly breathing, also known as diaphragmatic breathing.

My Physiotherapist Explained That Breathing in a Better Way Could Help My Pain

I first learned about the importance of learning breathing techniques a few years ago when I was attending a physiotherapist due to my chronic rib and back pain. A few days before one of my appointments, I fell and broke a rib. They were already painful enough without that happening! I was in extreme pain, and the physiotherapist’s first words when he saw me were, “Are you breathing correctly?”

Had I been able to laugh, I would have. I thought to myself, Of course, I’m breathing correctly. I’ve been doing it since I was born. I’m actually quite good at it.

However, I wasn’t good at it when my ribs were so painful. My breathing was fairly shallow because I was trying to protect them. But he explained that I was doing more harm than good. Shallow breathing was slowing my healing and I was putting myself in danger of getting pneumonia.

The physiotherapist told me that breathing differently could help my pain. He suggested belly breathing. Initially, it wasn’t easy because I was in so much pain. However, I persevered and did notice a difference. Breathing like that calmed me down when my pain was at its worst and helped me to cope much better.

I now practise this type of breathing every day, even on the ‘better’ days. It feels natural and helps me to cope when my pain is bad.

What is Belly Breathing?

When we breathe, we fill our lungs with air. At least that’s what we think we do. In reality, with normal breathing, most healthy people only use about 70% of their lung capacity.

When we use belly breathing, we push air deep down into our lungs, meaning that we breathe in more oxygen than when we breathe normally. In doing so, we are giving our bodies a boost by supplying them with extra oxygen.

Why Oxygen is so Important

With every breath we take, oxygen passes into the bloodstream where it is carried to the heart and pumped throughout the body. That oxygen is vital for our well-being. It gives us energy. Our brains need it. The digestive system needs it. Cells need it in order to repair and renew themselves. Every organ, muscle and tissue in our bodies needs oxygen to function.

Is Belly Breathing Better – How Can it Help Pain?

Belly breathing isn’t a magic cure but it can help to give people pain relief.

Reduce Muscle Tension

According to the London Pain Clinic, belly breathing can reduce tension in the muscles which could potentially lessen pain levels. This simple act of relaxing your body might help to reduce your pain.

Calming

The Harvard Medical School explains that breathing this way stimulates the vagus nerve, which runs from the head down the neck, through the chest and then on to the colon. This activates a relaxation response, reduces the heart rate and blood pressure and lowers stress levels.

It’s well known that pain causes stress. It’s also well known that stress causes pain. A small, simple act of breathing differently could help to break that vicious circle. Getting de-stressed and relaxed will have a positive impact on pain. In any situation in life, we respond better if we remain calm. If we can stay calm, we can also cope with pain better.

Read more about coping with stress

Distraction

Even just focusing on breathing like this might help you to stop thinking about your pain for a few minutes. Then, once you feel calmer, you’ll hopefully be able to use other distraction techniques to help take your mind off your pain.

Here are some simple distraction techniques

Better Sleep

If you’re calmer and relaxed, you could also find it easier to sleep. Disrupted sleep always has a detrimental impact on pain.

Here are some more ideas to help you sleep better

Learn Belly Breathing

It’s best to learn belly breathing while lying down, but you can also do this exercise while sitting.

• Lie on your back with your knees bent. Support your head with pillows to make yourself comfortable.
• Put one hand on your upper chest and the other just below your rib cage. Breathe normally so that your hands can feel how your diaphragm moves when you breathe.
• Now breathe in slowly through your nose. Focus on that breath as you gently push the air deep down into your lungs until you feel your stomach rise. The hand on your chest shouldn’t feel any movement.
• Exhale through pursed lips very slowly. Focus on that breath as it leaves your body. You will feel your stomach flatten. The hand on your chest shouldn’t feel any movement.
• Repeat several times.

Try to get into the habit of practising this exercise for a few minutes at a time, 3 or 4 times a day. It will then start to feel normal to you and it will be easier to do whenever you feel stressed, anxious, unable to sleep or if you are in pain.

There is No Simple Solution for Chronic Pain

As I said at the start of this post, there are no simple answers for dealing with chronic pain. Hopefully, this breathing exercise might help you. Even if it doesn’t reduce your pain level, it might help you cope with it more easily. It’s worth a try.

Please let me know how you get on if you try this breathing technique. I hope it helps you.

Thank you so much for reading.

If this post resonated with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
And feel free to share it with your friends or support groups.
Take care,
Liz.

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One slow breath at a time