I notice from visiting folks in the hospital, ER, etc that when they get relaxed their breathing rate drops and I see their SPO2 monitor dropping. The monitors are typically set to beep at SPO@ 92%. So I yell at ‘em to breathe deeper. As few as four/five deep breathes gets their number back up to 95/96/97. Sometimes the high heart rate is the issue but other stuff happens also. Docs most frequently recommend the big inhale, hold, slow exhale and if that works, fine. What I also notice is that they don’t get around to mentioning that it’s best to do the breathing thru the nose as opposed to mouth-breathing. At the same time I notice they miss the other method which is deep inhale thru the nose, then rapid exhale thru the nose. There is benefit to cycling the lungs more often and the forceful exhale helps blow stuff out of the way that doesn’t belong there. Mouth breathing wastes oxy and causes burps.
A lot of years of heavy physical activity (I ran nearly 30,000 miles) convince me that rapid deep breathing gets one back to normal more quickly. And three quick, deep breathes usually gets the SPO2 back where it belongs. Try both methods and go with what works.
Heck, when I was working in Chronic Care, which I did for years, it was common to see orders ‘Maintain Sat 88-92.’
Anything below 88, I freak. I once had a Patient with a Sat of about 78%. That was a long time ago. She was middle aged (50s) and was born with Tetralogy of Fallot. Her mother read me the Riot Act when I went in, saw the numbers and headed toward that flow meter.
I learned something on that day.
Bingo on the breathing. COVID whacked my O2 and pulse.
Slowly coming back.
Breathing also helps in lowering my BP
A lot of elderly people don’t breathe deeply. I think that contributes a lot to “dementia” issues. Their brains aren’t getting enough oxygen. I have noticed it in my husband.
If I’m feeling brain foggy, I notice that I’m breathing shallowly and start taking deep breaths. It helps SO much.
I normally take a deep breath through my nose and let it out through my mouth. If I’m having heart issues, I hold it as long as possible before letting it out slowly.
You have to practice it to get it right.
check out the 405