Cleveland Clinic
Strengthen your breathing ability and help reduce anxiety and fatigue with belly breathing.
If you have pulmonary fibrosis, you may experience breathing difficulty from an inability to fully expand the lungs and fill them with air due to scar tissue buildup. However, there are breathing techniques that can strengthen certain muscles to help reduce breathlessness and related anxiety and fatigue.
Belly, or diaphragmatic, breathing can be an effective tool for helping you live better with chronic lung disease.
A patient article by the Cleveland Clinic explains that the diaphragm is a large, dome-shaped muscle just beneath the lungs and is the most efficient breathing muscle. In lung diseases like pulmonary fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), the diaphragm can become weakened.*
Belly breathing is meant to correctly utilize the diaphragm during breathing and make it stronger, which can allow for:
Positioning:
Performance:
As you become more proficient at belly breathing, you can advance to a seated position.
Positioning:
Performance (same as lying):
Cleveland Clinic advises beginners to practice belly breathing exercise for 5-10 minutes 3-4 times a day. As with any exercise, you can increase the duration and intensity to keep getting stronger:
You may become tired while doing the exercise, as it requires some effort to perform correctly, but readers are encouraged to “keep at it.” Performed properly and consistently, belly breathing will become easier and automatic, helping you breathe deeper and feel more relaxed.
*Cleveland Clinic. (2018, September 14). Diaphragmatic breathing. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/9445-diaphragmatic-breathing
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