Nasal congestion is a serious health problems that affects millions of people every day. While some types of medication may provide a relief, there is a simple breathing exercise developed by Russian medical doctors who have been teaching the Buteyko breathing technique to more than 200,000 patients in the USSR and Russia. The exercise involves breathing less (!). Why do we need to breathe slower or less?
Available physiological publications have established that ordinary individuals breathe too fast and heavily in comparison with humans living about one century ago. The median respiration rate in contemporary adults is around 10-14 liters of air in 1 minute, while the medical norm is only 6 liters of air per minute. Breathing more air per minute at rest is called hyperventilation.
Hundreds of medical research articles have shown that hyperventilation produces lowered levels of oxygen in the cells of the human body. This is due to losses in carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide performs countless critical processes in the human body. They include bronchodilation (dilation of airways), release of oxygen in capillaries (the Bohr effect), expansion of blood vessels and numerous other biochemical processes. Most importantly, overbreathing leads to tissue hypoxia, generation of free radicals, chronic inflammation, and the suppressed immune system.
How abnormal breathing or hyperventilation causes congested nose
Some of the immediate consequences of abnormal breathing (hyperventilation) related to congested nose are:
- chronic inflammation of sinuses
- persistent bacterial and viral infections in sinuses due to the suppressed immune system
- decreased blood supply and oxygenation of cilia cells (as a result, their reduced capacity to clear waste products)
- over-production of mucus in nasal passages.
Breathing exercise for the congested nose
Pinch your nose and start walking fast with your nose pinched and your mouth closed. You will be able to make around 15-25 steps. While walking, you should hold your breath until a strong desire to breathe. Then sit down on a half of a solid chair with your spine totally straight and focus on your breath. After you release the nose, you need to breathe little but less than before. How is it possible?
Instead of taking a big inhalation, take a slightly smaller inhale (about 20-40% less than your usual inhalation) using the abdominal muscles and then relax all muscles for exhalation, especially upper chest and other respiratory muscles. Make another (smaller or shorter) inhale and again relax. With each inhalation, practice this reduced or shallow breathing for 1-2 minutes while remaining relaxed.
As a result of this reduced breathing, you will get more oxygen in body cells and get a quick relief. What about the same problem with a congested nose later?
Problem with a congested nose relates to your body oxygen levels that can be measured using a simple DY body oxygen test. Exhale normally and count your stress-free breath holding time, but only until the very first signs of stress or discomfort. Bear in mind that this test is done after your usual exhalation and without any pushing yourself.
When your breathing is heavy and fast and your body oxygen levels are less than 20 seconds, you can easily get a congested nose. After testing thousands of people with congested noses, Russian medical doctors found that all these people have less than 20 s for this body oxygen test. In this case, these patients could repeat this respiratory exercise to relieve a congested nose up to 20-100 times per day.
Permanent solution to congested nose problems
You need to slow down your heavy breathing and achieve more than 25 seconds for the body oxygen test in order to have nose breathing all the time. You can achieve more than 25 s if you practice special breathing exercises that increase oxygen content in tissues and follow correct lifestyle changes.
Resources from NormalBreathing.com
Sinusitis: Its Simple Cause and Proven Treatment
Nasal Congestion: Its Simple Cause and Proven Treatment
Dr. Artour Rakhimov is the creator and author of NormalBreathing.com that has hundreds of medical quotes, tables, charts, clinical trials results, graphs, research abstracts, manuals, free breathing exercises, lifestyle modules, analysis of respiratory techniques, and other resources for more oxygen in body cells and better health.
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