Feeling Of Shortness Of Breath: Main Causes And What You Can Do

Shortness of breath is known in medicine as dyspnea. It can be due to multiple causes. What is clear is that it is a very unpleasant sensation and, beyond that, it can be the manifestation of serious health problems.

Faced with this feeling, it is important to know how we should act. Here we tell you what are the most common causes and some measures that can be carried out.

What is shortness of breath?

As we have said, shortness of breath is also known as dyspnea. It is the subjective feeling that it is difficult for us to breathe and that the air does not reach the lungs as it should.

Normally, breathing is carried out involuntarily and unconsciously. When there is this lack of air, an uncomfortable situation occurs that can even cause fear in the person, which makes this feeling worse.

What are the main causes of shortness of breath?

Anxiety

Anxiety is one of the main causes of shortness of breath in people without other health problems. In the face of an anxiety attack, a panic attack or situations of great stress, the sufferer may feel short of breath or a feeling of suffocation.

In these cases, the main thing is to learn to identify these attacks. When the time comes, it is important to sit down and try to calm down. You have to breathe normally to try to control the episode.

Many times it is necessary to seek the help of a professional, who will be the one who will teach the tools to cope with these types of conditions and overcome them.

Overexertion

Sometimes, an excess of exercise or a poorly performed exercise can lead us to feel short of breath. It can occur both in people used to doing sports, and in people who are in poor shape. However, it is more common to occur in people who are sedentary or overweight.

What we have to do in these cases is to adapt the activity to our physical condition, and increase the intensity as our capacity does. Little by little, we will be able to carry out exercises that require more effort.

At the moment when you feel dyspnea, it is necessary to slow down the pace of exercise and calm your breathing without feeling overwhelmed.

Heart problems

The heart pumps blood throughout our body. When the heart, for various reasons, does not work properly, this pumping of blood cannot be carried out correctly. It usually occurs when a person with heart problems performs an activity that requires an increased heart rate.

This causes that there are parts of our organism that do not get to receive the blood and oxygen they need, sending the signal to the central nervous system and manifesting as a sensation of lack of air. It can be accompanied by chest pain.

In these cases, it is important to see a specialist. This will be the one that establishes the treatment and the guidelines to follow, appropriate to each particular case.

Pregnancy

When the pregnancy is advanced, the placenta and the baby give the mother’s diaphragm less room to expand. This means that the lungs cannot do it correctly either, generating in the mother a sensation of lack of air.

It is something normal that happens in most of the pregnant women. It is important to stay calm. Sitting somewhat reclined and supported by cushions, at an angle of about 45 degrees, can help to control this sensation. Thus, it is important to try to breathe normally.

You can do the same to sleep, without being completely horizontal. The horizontal position makes shortness of breath worse because gravity puts more pressure on the diaphragm.

Respiratory problems

Here we can encompass very different pathologies. Allergy attacks, asthma, bronchitis, COPD, pneumonia, or any airway condition can manifest as a feeling of shortness of breath.

In these cases, the main thing will be to go to the specialist. The doctor will be the one who will diagnose what respiratory pathology is involved and will establish the appropriate treatment, if necessary. Treatment can range from rest to more specific treatments, such as antibiotics.

Obesity

The case of obesity is similar to that of pregnancy. By having fat accumulated in the abdominal area, it presses on the diaphragm and makes it difficult for it to expand, causing this annoying sensation of dyspnea.

In this case, it will be advisable to go to a specialist in nutrition and dietetics who will give us some guidelines to lose weight in a healthy and responsible way.

Neuromuscular diseases

There are different neuromuscular diseases that can affect both the diaphragm and the muscles of the thoracic face, causing the respiratory system to not work properly. In these cases, the specialist will diagnose and establish the appropriate treatment.

Conclusion: what to do when you feel short of breath?

At the moment when we feel like we are short of breath, the essential thing is to remain calm. We should sit in a safe and quiet place and try to control our breathing.

If, after a while, it does not normalize, we will go to the doctor or notify the emergency services, depending on the intensity of the symptoms.

In the event that dyspnea is caused by other underlying diseases, we must go to a specialist to carry out the necessary controls. It is important to follow the treatment that this indicates to us to have the symptoms as controlled as possible.