This is a chapter 1 summary of “Recognizing and Treating Breathing Disorders” by Leon Chaitow. It’s Been A While I know it has been a while for some Therapy Notes (©™®#zacistheshizzy), but I decided to revisit some Chaitow as I read his new edition. The chapters have changed quite a bit so far, and many new things have been added. Here is the updated chapter one. A Lotta History Hyperventilation disorders have been through the ringer, and to this day are hardly diagnosed. Some of the biggest classifications in my eyes arrived in 1908-09 from phsyiologists Haldane, Poulton, and Vernon. These fellows classified symptoms of overbreathing to include: Numbness Tingling Dizziness Muscular hypertonicity. This symptom cluster occurred with respiratory alkalosis. In 1977, Lum, Innocenti, and Cluff developed assessment and treatment programs for breathing disorders in the UK, which spearheaded breathing disorder literature. Despite these scientific advancements, many physicians do not diagnose hyperventilation as a legitimate problem. Some of these patients even go so far as to being accused as malingering. Hearing this problem is quite unsettling, as I am seeing more and more people who overbreathe; and possibility correlating, more and more people with chronic pain. A future post is in order to show how I think the two are connected. Breathing Pattern Disorders (BPD) and Symptoms So many symptoms could occur with BPDs. The most extreme of these symptoms is hyperventilation syndrome, defined by the following: Breathing in excess of metabolic requirements. Reducing CO2 concentrations in the blood below
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Course Notes: Advanced Integration Day 4 – Curvature of the Spine
Today we get wild and crazy and talk about scoliosis and the like; the last day of AI. For day 1, click here For day 2, click here For day 3, click here Scoliosis Variations The entire day focused predominately on treating scoliosis, which oftentimes amounts to exaggerations of the common patterns PRI discusses. Because scoliosis is an exaggerated PRI pattern, one must beget the question if the pattern or scoliosis came first? This question obviously cannot be answered, but for our intents and purposes we ought to assume pattern precedes curve. That way we may be able to alter the impairment. The scoliosis we can alter is often functional aka rotational. These types are ones that everyone has; the question is to what degree. Nonpathological Curve The nonpatho curve is an exaggerated version of the LAIC/RBC pattern, oftentimes with superior T4 syndrome involved. In this pattern the left ribs are externally rotated and right internally rotated. This reason is why 98% of scoliosis has right sided rib humps. A rib hump is akin to excessive rib internal rotation. In this case, the spine looks like so… Here we can see how the spine excessively right orients up to T8-T9, then rotates left superior to that. These patients will present with typical Left AIC and Right BC test results along with typical right lateralization. One difference may be the right shoulder is not as low as typical with most patterned individuals. This change is due to compensating for the excessive curve. When
Read MoreThe Post Wonderful Time of the Year: Top Posts of 2013
The Best…Around Time is fun when you are having flies. It seems like just yesterday that I started up this blog, and I am excited and humbled by the response I have gotten. Hearing praise from my audience keeps me hungry to learn and educate more. I am always curious to see which pages you enjoyed, and which were not so enjoyable; as it helps me tailor my writing a little bit more. And I’d have to say, I have a bunch of readers who like the nervous system 🙂 I am not sure what the next year will bring in terms of content, as I think the first year anyone starts a blog it is more about the writing process and finding your voice. Regardless of what is written, I hope to spread information that I think will benefit those of you who read my stuff. The more I can help you, the better off all our patients and clients will be. So without further ado, let’s review which posts were the top dogs for this year (and some of my favorite pics of course). 10. Lessons from a Student: The Interaction This was probably one of my favorite posts to write this year, as I think this area is sooooooo under-discussed. Expect to be hearing more on patient interaction from me in the future. 9) Clinical Neurodynamics Chapter 1: General Neurodynamics Shacklock was an excellent technical read. In this post we lay out some nervous system basics, and
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Chapter 5: Interaction of Psychological and Emotional Effects with Breathing Dysfunction
This is a chapter 5 summary of “Multidisciplinary Approaches to Breathing Pattern Disorders” by Leon Chaitow. The second edition will be coming out this December, and you can preorder it by clicking on the link or the photo below. Intro This chapter is dedicated to showing the connection between the body and consciousness; how our psyche is influenced by breathing and vice versa. This chapter was easily my favorite out of the entire book. Breathing Strategies Optimal breathing involves moderate abdominal expansion, some intercostal involvement, and minimal involvement of accessory muscles. Conversely, chest breathing is dominated by accessory muscle use. These two breathing styles are merely end points on a continuum rather than discrete categories. In terms of which strategy is used, chest breathing is often the preferred route for consciously mediated intentional breathing; whereas abdominal breathing is the main route for relaxed, automatic breathing. One reason you would want to override automatic breathing is to prepare for sudden action. At the onset of exercise, ventilation immediately jumps. This change occurs via three phases, with the first phase occurring independent of exercise load. This phase is a conscious exercise preparatory action. The other increases occur as exercise demands increase. When we are in an emergency situation, these breathing phases change. Prior to the initial pre-action deep breath comes a breath holding phase, which helps increase sensory organ stability. These preparatory breathing changes are great for imminent danger or action, but problematic when threats are non-physical and in the future. While
Read MoreChapter 4: Biomechanical Influences on Breathing
This is a chapter 4 summary of “Multidisciplinary Approaches to Breathing Pattern Disorders” by Leon Chaitow. The second edition will be coming out this December, and you can preorder it by clicking on the link or the photo below. Loose-Tight Chaitow likes to use the loose-tight concept as a way of visualizing the body’s three-dimensionality while assessing. He likes to look at comparing structures as tight or loose relative to one another. Those areas which are loose are often prone to injury and more likely to be nociceptive. If we try to see which muscles have a tendency towards tightness or looseness, stabilizers tend towards laxity and mobilizers to increased tone. Obviously, all muscles function in both capacities, and some even stay more towards the middle (scalenes). But the tendency depends on which function is more dominant. Posture and Respiration (Not PRI, Peepz) Taking the previous concepts, Janda’s crossed syndromes can have a role in ones breathing function. With an upper crossed posture, the slumped upper body position negatively influences breathing function. Lower crossed syndrome will put the diaphragm in an anterior facing position, thus affecting diaphragm length-tension and breathing function. Facilitation Facilitation is an osteopathic term for a process involved in neural sensitivity. There are at least two forms of facilitation: spinal (segmental) and local (trigger points). Once facilitation occurs, any additional stress the individual undergoes can increase neural activity in the segment. There are several ways to observe facilitated segments. You can observe these via palpation: Goose flesh
Read MoreChapter 3: Biochemical Aspects of Breathing
This is a chapter 3 summary of “Multidisciplinary Approaches to Breathing Pattern Disorders” by Leon Chaitow. The second edition will be coming out this December, and you can preorder it by clicking on the link or the photo below. The Focus When talking about breathing biochemically, the focus will be shifted toward oxygen delivery to the tissues and carbon dioxide removal. Maintaining these gases is a complex body task due to their constant fluctuations. Looking at pH is a great way to get a glimpse of the the entire body. We know the pH scale runs from 1 to 14, with the physiological normal being between 7.35 and 7.45. If we have a value at 7.5 or above, our body goes into alkalosis. An example of this would be in the case of hyperventilation. If our pH drops to 7.3, we go into acidosis. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) CO2 determines blood acidity, and comes primarily from the mitochondria. It is the biological equivalent of smoke and ash. CO2 levels can vary with exercise, as more is produced when we are training. However, pH stays balanced because oxygen demand increases. The opposite occurs when we are not exerting ourselves because CO2 is not produced as much. Another example of changing CO2 levels is during breath holding. More is not necessarily produced, but CO2 levels rise because we are not exhaling it away. This rise is what we feel when we hold our breath. Metabolic Alkalosis and Acidosis Aberrant breathing can cause respiratory
Read MoreChapter 2: Patterns of Breathing Dysfunction in Hyperventilation Syndrome and Breathing Pattern Disorders
This is a chapter 2 summary of “Multidisciplinary Approaches to Breathing Pattern Disorders” by Leon Chaitow. The second edition will be coming out this December, and you can preorder it by clicking on the link or the photo below Intro This chapter’s goal is to cover both normal and abnormal breathing patterns. Often, breathing disorders can seem similar to serious disease when in reality the patient may not be getting an adequate breath. In fact, hyperventilation syndrome (HVS) and breathing pattern disorders (BPD) have the following incidence: 10% of general medicine practice patients have HVS/BPD as their primary diagnosis. Female:male is about 2:1 to 7:1; most commonly in the 15-55 year age group. Acute HVS only makes up about 1% of cases. Normal Breathing The normal resting breathing rates equate to around 10-14 breaths per minute, which moves around 3-5 liters of air per minute through the airways. Not so Normal Breathing HVS/BPD can be defined as a pattern of overbreathing where the depth and rate are greater than the body’s metabolic needs. In some cases, such as during exercise and organic disease, hyperventilation is an appropriate response. It is when these causes are not found that we attempt to affect these breathing patterns. There are a large number of symptoms that may coincide with HVS, but none are absolutely diagnostic. Oftentimes these symptoms are exaggerated when one has a hyperventilatory episode. I will break the signs and symptoms into the following categories: Neurological Headache Numbness and tingling Giddiness/dizziness Ataxia
Read MoreChapter 1: The Structure and Function of Breathing
This is a chapter 1 summary of “Multidisciplinary Approaches to Breathing Pattern Disorders” by Leon Chaitow. The second edition will be coming out this December, and you can preorder it by clicking on the link or the photo below Motivation Breathing has been something I have been interested in very much since I first learned about its power from Bill Hartman and through the Postural Restoration Institute, and this excellent book is a great way to get a full overview. The first chapter covers too much anatomy to go through every little detail in my short blog post. So study up. Here are the highlights. Structure, Function, and You In order to have favorable respiration, structure makes all the difference. Adequate thoracic, ribcage, and breathing muscle mobility must be restored and maintained in order to uptake a quality breath. This can be achieved via re-education and training. Realize too that psychological distress can also play a huge role in how we breathe. Disorders such as anxiety and depression can have corresponding breathing dysfunctions. It may be the way the body responds to ensure survival. Ergo, when attempting to change breathing patterns favorably, one must address both structural and psychological factors. Homeostasis Homeostasis is the body’s process to normalize itself. If too many homeostatic-disrupting tasks are occurring at one time however—such as nutritional deficiencies and toxin ingestion—homeostatic function can become overwhelmed. This systematic stress can lead to breakdown and a switch to heterostasis, in which the body must be treated. We can
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