Patient complaints that he does not have enough air are not uncommon. Almost everyone has encountered this phenomenon in their life, but not everyone knows that its systematic appearance can be a symptom of a number of pathological conditions that require immediate treatment.
The problem can occur when inhaling (inspiratory dyspnea) or when exhaling, when due to a lack of air it is difficult to exhale (expiratory dyspnea). If both signs alternate, this is mixed shortness of breath. In the process, the person feels a lack of oxygen and breathes heavily with a whistling sound.
Such conditions are typical for pregnant women, patients suffering from pathologies of the heart, pleura or lungs, as well as with traumatic injuries and neuroses. CELT specialists will help determine the reason why there is not enough air when breathing and alleviate the condition. You can find out the cost of our services by going to the “Services and Prices” tab. To avoid misunderstandings, we recommend that you contact our operators to clarify the numbers.
Why is there not enough air when breathing?
Lack of air in healthy people occurs due to the fact that their body receives less oxygen than it needs. It manifests itself during physical exertion, heavy work, climbing, or stress. There are times when the feeling of lack of air is provoked by too tight clothing, squeezing the body.
In older people, it occurs due to age-related changes in the heart and blood vessels and manifests itself even with light loads. In addition, difficulty breathing, as already mentioned, is part of the symptomatic complex of a number of pathological conditions. If you experience it regularly, you need to seek professional medical help in order to accurately determine the cause. The most common of them are:
- Staying in a poorly ventilated room with stale air;
- Unhealthy lifestyle, accompanied by frequent alcohol consumption and smoking;
- A number of lung diseases;
- Pathologies of the cardiovascular system;
- Traumatic chest injuries.
Another initiating factor is the second half of pregnancy. During this period, the uterus seriously increases in volume and provokes the diaphragm to press upward, which does not allow the woman to breathe as deeply as she is used to. The longer the period, the stronger and more often the deficiency is felt, and it occurs not only with minor loads, but also when walking, accompanied by slight dizziness or darkening of the eyes.
The above is especially pronounced in patients carrying twins, triplets, or just a large baby, or suffering from an obstetric anomaly such as polyhydramnios, in which there is an increased volume of amniotic fluid. The problem is particularly alarming against the background of inferior vena cava compression syndrome. When it is present, a woman not only finds it difficult to breathe and lacks air, but also experiences severe dizziness, sudden weakness, fainting and a serious drop in blood pressure.
Take a deep breath: learning to breathe correctly with a Moscow psychologist
Human breathing is an everyday and imperceptible process that we usually don’t think about. But as soon as you are deprived of oxygen for a minute, all other problems fade into the background. Often during anxiety, people experience a feeling of difficulty breathing, the inability to breathe deeply, or a sudden or increasing feeling of lack of air. Konstantin Zherdev , a specialist at the Moscow Psychological Assistance Service, told us how to cope with this illness
There are several types of shortness of breath:
- True shortness of breath is associated with diseases (usually chronic) in organs and systems.
- Functional shortness of breath indicates physical stress; a person experiences it, for example, when running. It goes away after the end of the load or as the body adapts to such work. This ability to adapt is sometimes called "second wind."
- Psychogenic shortness of breath is associated with the experience of acute or chronic psycho-emotional stress: anxiety, depression, neurosis, stress and even intense joy. Episodes associated with joyful difficulty breathing are well known to us: “the breath stole from the goiter from joy.”
“Often, hidden anxiety manifests itself through difficulty breathing, nighttime and daytime episodes of suffocation, which go away on their own. True, at the moments of these experiences they are seriously frightening. Such experiences were clearly illustrated by G. Fusli in a series of paintings, which he called “Nightmare”. As a rule, shortness of breath during anxiety goes away when attention is switched from it to something extraneous. Warm drinks, conversations, and simply getting out of an alarming situation have a positive effect on breathing,” notes the psychologist.
Breathe out your anxiety
Frequent shallow breathing, which often accompanies anxiety, leads to an increase in oxygen levels in the blood and a decrease in carbon dioxide. This shift in balance is accompanied by various unpleasant manifestations: dizziness, a feeling of suffocation, cold extremities, a feeling of impending loss of consciousness, and increasing tinnitus. Often such complaints are the reason for seeking help from doctors.
Of course, in order to rule out various types of diseases, you need to seek advice from medical specialists and undergo an examination. But it often happens that no diseases are detected. In this case, you should pay attention to your psychological state.
“To overcome these moments, it will be useful to reduce excess muscle tone, as well as normalize respiratory cycles. That is, allow the body to independently manage important processes, in other words, do not interfere. Using the power of breathing to create a comfortable psychological environment is the right way. Thinking that the body won’t cope without us and will forget to breathe is wrong,” advises Konstantin.
Moderate sports and physical activity, reducing caffeine and alcohol consumption, and limiting negative information load will also be useful.
Workshop from a psychologist
During an acute state of anxiety, the whole consciousness “screams” that there is not enough air and you want to inhale as deeply and often as possible - to get air into your chest.
Try to do the following: relax the muscles of the shoulders, neck, abdomen, relax the chest muscles, facial muscles, base of the tongue. At the same time, exhale calmly and slowly. Help yourself with your stomach by pulling your abdominal muscles inward as you exhale. Make room inside yourself for a short but full breath. Relax your stomach and take a calm breath (1-2 seconds) and exhale long again (4-6 seconds). Sometimes it is recommended to take a short pause between each cycle: inhale - pause for 2-4 seconds, exhale - pause, etc. If it is difficult for you to hold a pause, then at the beginning you can not include it in the exercise. Repeat this cycle of inhalation and exhalation 6 times. Practice breathing like this in a calm state. Do not hurry.
There is no need to try to exhale all the way and there is no need to take a sharp breath.
This leads to irritation by the air flow of the upper respiratory tract and causes a feeling of additional tension in the throat, and can also provoke coughing and tickling. The entire exercise is performed in a comfortable mode. The task is to breathe calmly and without jerking. Breathing cycles can be accompanied mentally with the phrase: “My breathing is smooth and calm.” We say the first part of the phrase - “My breath” while inhaling, the second part - “even and calm” - we say as we exhale. You can sign up for free classes on self-regulation and training in breathing techniques at the Moscow Service for Psychological Assistance to the Population
www.msph.ru. Source
Press service of the Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Moscow
Diseases that cause lack of air
| Diseases | Causes, symptoms |
| Cardiological | Patients suffering from pathological conditions characterized by heart rhythm disturbances complain of shortness of breath and lack of air:
People suffer from it in diseases characterized by a lack of blood supply to the myocardium: angina pectoris, ischemia. The severity of the feeling of lack of air depends on the form and degree of insufficiency: in mild cases it is recorded under minor loads or in stressful situations. The problem is manifested by a lack of oxygen and rapid breathing when doing work or while walking. Other symptoms include cyanosis, chest pain, and swelling of the legs. |
| Pleurisy | A feeling of lack of air develops during inflammatory processes of the pleural layers, accompanied by the appearance of fibrin on their surface or the accumulation of exudate in the cavity. Breathing disorders occur due to severe pain of an acute stabbing or dull pulling nature: the patient tries not to inhale deeply so as not to experience them. The above is accompanied by fever, chills, and cough. |
| Laryngeal stenosis | The most common triggering factor for lack of air is pathologies that provoke obstructions and, as a result, limited oxygen supply. This is typical for acute and chronic stenosis:
|
| Lungs | Inflammatory and diffuse lesions of the lung tissue - initiate deficiency due to the fact that part of the lungs is “switched off” from the breathing process. This happens when:
|
| Foreign bodies in the respiratory tract | Blocking the airways with foreign objects can not only make breathing difficult, but also make it impossible. The person feels suffocated, restless, and takes a position in which he can at least somehow breathe. The symptom develops suddenly after accidentally inhaling an object and is accompanied by coughing, lacrimation, and intense salivation. |
| Pulmonary and pleural neoplasms of malignant etiology | Respiratory disorders are accompanied by a complex of specific symptoms, depending on the location of the neoplasia. Common to all are rapid fatigue, appetite disturbances, and rapid loss of body weight. A similar thing happens with pleural cancer or lung adenocarcinoma, in which malignant cells spread along the walls of the alveoli and bronchioles. |
| Traumatic injuries to the lungs and chest | This type of injury is called thoracic. These include:
|
Rapid breathing (tachypnea)
General information
Rapid breathing is an increase in the frequency of respiratory movements (more than 20 per minute), not accompanied by a violation of its rhythm.
Tachypnea, as a rule, develops as a result of gas exchange disorders, which is accompanied by the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the blood and a decrease in oxygen content.
Causes
Rapid breathing is often associated with excitation of the respiratory center, which may be associated with pathology of the central nervous system or occurs reflexively.
Normally, a person’s breathing rate depends on a number of factors: the innate characteristics of the body, the person’s physical activity, age, body weight, general health, etc. The breathing rate is also related to the person’s condition. For example, rapid breathing is often observed during fever and pregnancy.
One of the reasons for rapid breathing is a stressful situation. The person breathes very quickly and finds it difficult to speak. Tachypnea is also observed in hysterical neurosis. In addition to increased breathing, there is instability of emotions, attacks of rage, etc.
Very often, rapid breathing in an adult or child is associated with colds. This is due to airway obstruction and increased body temperature.
Tachypnea may indicate bronchial asthma and intensifies before the onset of an attack.
Rapid breathing with attacks of wet cough in the morning may be a sign of chronic bronchitis.
With pneumonia and pleurisy, rapid breathing is accompanied by chest pain associated with respiratory movements.
With tuberculosis, rapid breathing is combined with a slight increase in body temperature, coughing, sweating, weakness, and poor appetite.
Sometimes rapid breathing indicates that a person has diseases of the cardiovascular system.
Rapid breathing in a child may indicate a foreign object entering the respiratory tract, inflammation of the epiglottis (epiglottitis), or other organs of the respiratory system.
Diseases and conditions that may cause rapid breathing:
- fever;
- bronchial asthma;
- cardiac asthma;
- hyperthyroidism;
- heart failure;
- acute respiratory failure syndrome;
- heart defects;
- COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease);
- acute pneumonia;
- exudative pleurisy;
- spontaneous pneumothorax;
- diffuse pulmonary pneumosclerosis;
- pulmonary embolism;
- diseases of the circulatory system, accompanied by circulatory failure;
- anemia;
- shock;
- bleeding;
- brain tumors;
- hysteria;
- anxiety, fear;
- chest injuries;
- benign and malignant neoplasms of the thoracic cavity;
- pulmonary edema;
- physical activity (running, hard work, sports);
- acute pain;
- disorders of the central nervous system (concussion, inflammatory processes, etc.);
- diabetic ketoacidosis;
- acute poisoning;
- fever;
- side effects of certain drugs;
- allergic reaction.
Which doctor should I contact if I have shortness of breath?
If this clinical manifestation is regular, you should first visit your doctor. He will conduct an examination, collect anamnesis - and, based on the information received, send the patient to an appointment with a specialist in pulmonology, cariology, hematology, neurology or endocrinology.
If a patient has a traumatic injury to the chest, he should consult a traumatologist. In cases where shortness of breath is part of an emergency condition - it appears suddenly and sharply - you should immediately call an ambulance.
Diagnosis of air shortage
The initial stages of diagnosis are usually carried out by a therapist. He carries out an examination and collects anamnesis, after which, after analyzing the data obtained, he sends the patient to specialized specialists. To clarify the diagnosis, the latter prescribe the following studies:
- Chest X-ray to detect diseases and injuries;
- Electrocardiography - aimed at identifying heart disease;
- Spirometry - examines the functions of external respiration;
- Laryngoscopy - detects foreign bodies and diseases of the larynx.
Treatment tactics
If attacks become frequent and are not associated with natural causes, the patient experiences weakness, panic, pain, you need to consult a specialist. Most likely, in such a situation, tachypnea is associated with a specific disease, and its treatment is the treatment of the underlying disease. As part of the basic treatment regimen, rapid breathing is gradually eliminated. To provide short-term relief, it is recommended to use a paper bag with a small hole. Place it on your mouth, holding the edges with your hand, and breathe for about five minutes. This optimizes gas exchange in the cells and the natural respiratory rhythm will be restored. It is also useful to do relaxing exercises.
Prevention and recommendations for shortness of breath
Physiological shortness of breath goes away on its own after the person has rested. However, if the problem arose acutely and suddenly, the following measures should be taken to alleviate his condition:
- Calm down and sit on a sofa or chair, comfortably resting your back;
- Remove or unfasten tight clothing, a belt that is too tight;
- Provide fresh air by opening a window or door;
- Humidify the air by hanging a pre-wetted sheet near the patient;
- Offer a herbal sedative.
If a person knows about his illness and he has drugs that alleviate his condition, he should be offered to drink them. If he does not feel better within fifteen minutes, he will have to call an ambulance.
There is no specific prevention in this case. However, you can minimize the risk of developing this condition by following these rules:
- Maintaining an active, healthy lifestyle;
- Avoiding excessive physical activity and stress;
- Body weight control;
- Timely treatment of diseases;
- Systematic completion of preventive studies.
Remember: lack of air can be a sign of serious pathological conditions. That is why CELT specialists recommend promptly finding out its causes and taking appropriate measures!
Make an appointment through the application or by calling +7 +7 We work every day:
- Monday—Friday: 8.00—20.00
- Saturday: 8.00–18.00
- Sunday is a day off
The nearest metro and MCC stations to the clinic:
- Highway of Enthusiasts or Perovo
- Partisan
- Enthusiast Highway
Driving directions
How does tachypnea manifest?
At rest, a person with tachypnea takes about 60 or more breaths per minute, while a healthy person breathes about 16-18 times per minute. This is a type of inspiratory dyspnea in which the patient does not have other clinical signs, for example, blue lips or a certain body position. Rapid breathing is the result of hyperventilation , which occurs due to a decrease in carbon dioxide in the blood. The amplitude of respiratory movements decreases, and the human body suffers from hypoxia . The arteries contract, and the volume of blood that circulates throughout the human body decreases. As a result, the body experiences a deficiency of oxygen.
Tachypnea is often observed in various diseases, which are accompanied by other characteristic symptoms. However, when diagnosing some pathological conditions, tachypnea is considered the most characteristic symptom. This applies, for example, to manifestations of pulmonary embolism . During hysteria, the patient's breathing rate can reach up to 60-80 times per minute (the so-called “dog breathing”). Tachypnea is a symptom that resembles shortness of breath . But with tachypnea, breathing is shallow, and no changes in its rhythm are noted.
With manifestations of tachypnea, the content of carbon dioxide in the blood decreases due to hyperventilation. This phenomenon is called hypocapnia and is manifested by severe dizziness and sometimes fainting. Treatment of tachypnea is always associated with manifestations of the underlying disease.
