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Breathing Therapies for Children
-Healthy Breathing for Kids
-Intermittent Hypoxic Training
-Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
A child’s health and development can at times be assisted with breathing therapies. Breathing therapies may take the form of breathing exercises which a child learns to do by themselves, such as those taught in the Healthy Breathing for Kids program or involve the use of apparatus that modify oxygen and carbon dioxide in specific ways. Examples of this are Intermittent Hypoxic Training and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Breathing: Its importance in childrens health.
Correcting a child’s breathing can be one of the most important things we can do to improve their health. This is particularly true when there are signs of breathing dysfunction. Optimising levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide can assist body chemistry, metabolism and neurological function.
Common Signs of Breathing Dysfunction
• Mouth Breathing
• Snoring and noisy breathing at night
• Upper chest or thoracic breathing
• Forward head posture, tight neck and shoulders
• Unstable, irregular breathing, hyperventilation
• Narrow face and jaw contributing to orthodontic problems
Why does breathing dysfunction occur?
There are many reasons for poor breathing. People in industrialized societies appear to have a greater incidence of breathing dysfunction most noticeably mouth breathing, respiratory allergies and asthma. These problems may be due to changes in diet, environmental factors, genetic or even structural factors however once breathing dysfunction develops it can aggravate a child’s health problems.
Healthy Airways- Asthma, allergies, adenoids, tonsils and glue ear
Breathing habits such as mouth breathing can contribute to increased incidence of colds, asthma, allergies and ear infections. Controlled breathing techniques have been shown in several studies to reduce medication needs in asthmatics. They can also in some cases improve allergies, glue ear and improve health of adenoids and tonsils.
Breathing, the Brain and the Nervous System
Healthier airways and better breathing habits mean improved oxygen and blood supply to the brain, these are both very important for neurological development. Children with obstructed airways, snoring and mouth breathing habits have been shown to have a much higher incidence of aggression, hyperactivity and difficulty paying attention. Obstructed airways at specific periods of brain growth may result in impairment of cognitive development over the long term. Controlled nasal breathing exercises have been shown to result in an improvement in spatial intelligence.
Breathing techniques can also be used to create balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system,reducing the dominance of the flight or fight response. Techniques which induce slow breathing and which make the ratio of inhalation longer than exhalation have been shown to do this.
Another benefit of breathing exercises is that they can be used to train attention concentration and focus and decrease stress in a similar way to meditation. Meditation and relaxation techniques have been shown to improve behaviour, attention and learning ability in children. Focused attention on the breath is a fundamental meditation technique and has a long history of use as a relaxation tool. Children can easily be taught breathing techniques as tools that develop their skills of self-regulation.
Orthodontic Problems.
Children who habitually breathe through their mouths develop a different facial structure to children who breathe mostly through their noses. Mouth breathing is associated with a narrowing of the upper and lower jaw, a lengthening of the face, underdeveloped jaw and dental crowing. As well as the orthodontic and aesthetic problems it may affect swallowing and speech patterns. When children overcome mouth breathing the face and dental arches begin to develop more normally and the posture and structure of the body improves, lessening the need for orthodontic treatment.
Therapies and Programs
Healthy Breathing for Kids- Is a program of breathing retraining designed especially for children. It combines music, stories and games with breathing exercises. The program teaches breathing techniques in a way that is child friendly using music games and stories. The techniques taught in this program
1. correct dysfunctional breathing habits such as mouth breathing, breathing pattern disorders and hyperventilation.
2. teach children the use of breathing techniques for self-regulation and symptom control
Techniques used are child friendly modifications of proven breathing techniques utilising principles from respiratory psychophysiology, Yoga, the Buteyko Method and respiratory rehabilitation techniques. The Healthy Breathing for Kids program has been developed by Rosalba Courtney N.D. D.O. Rosalba is Osteopath, Naturopath and Breathing expert with over 25 years experience working with children’s health problems. She is currently completing a PhD on the subject of Dysfunctional Breathing and Breathing Therapies. Information on Healthy Breathing for Kids Consultations and Classes- Rosalba Courtney crthouse@tpg.com.au or Ph. 02-99183460 .
Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT)
This therapy stimulates the facility the body has to acclimatise to altitude. The result of a course of IHT sessions is improved efficiency in oxygen transport and utilisation. The body makes better use of oxygen that is available after the sessions of IHT are completed with results lasting many months. IHT is used by athletes to improve endurance and speed and by mountain climbers to prepare for time spent at high altitude. In Russia several children clinics claim that IHT is useful for treating children with frequent illnesses, asthma, bronchitis, neurological and developmental problems. Studies done on children with cerebral palsy showed evidence of improved neurological function and improved respiration. Outside of Russia this therapy has mostly been limited to athletes, the treatment of asthma and pre-acclimatisation to altitude.
For general information on Intermittent Hypoxic Training see www.go2altitude.com.
Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBO)
This is the administration of oxygen at pressures slightly higher than atmospheric pressure. This increases the amount of dissolved oxygen that is carried outside the hemoglobin molecules of the blood. The increased oxygen leads to constriction of blood vessels and may help to reduce brain swelling. In cases where shortage of oxygen has resulted in brain damage it is thought that the extra oxygen may help to regenerate damaged areas of the brain. Some studies have shown an improvement in Cerebral Palsy.
By Rosalba Courtney.
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