Q&As & Breathing Advice
Infant Breathing | Pediatric Dentistry | Chronic Sinusitis | Asthma | Sleep Apnea | Athletic Performance | Braces and Breathing Problems | TMJ | Anxiety/Panic | ADHD | Autism | Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | Diabetes | Autoimmune | Oral Posture | COPD
Over the next few months video FAQs will appear on this page. These answers won’t be coming from me; I’m a science journalist, not a breathing therapist nor doctor. All information and advice will be offered by experts in the field, doctors and researchers who have spent decades researching these subjects and have been kind enough to riffle through hundreds of emails and provide simple, scientific answers and approaches to proper breathing.
Ask questions, offer answers, or share your story with a larger community on the Breath Facebook public group.
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Dr. Belisa Vranich (@drbelisa) is a clinical psychologist and a leading expert in the biomechanics of breathing. She's the author of the books Breathe and Breathing for Warriors. She answers these reader question: How can we breathe better while sitting? How does body position impact breathing? How do you rebalance your breathing after an injury to your core? How do you rebalance your breathing after an injury to your core? Breathing to help incontinence?
Nancy Rothstein (thesleepambassador.com) has been educating people and corporations about the importance of sleep and how to optimize it for more than a decade. She collaborates with dozens of medical experts, scientists, and leaders to advance the field of sleep research and practice. Rothstein answers these reader questions: How should we breathe before sleep? What's the difference between central and obstructive sleep apnea? How does nostril size affect sleep quality?
Dr. Deepti Agarwal (@breathandbodyMD) is an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital in the Chicagoland area who answers questions about breathing and chronic pain, fatigue, and more: What is the best breathing technique to diffuse stress? Can breathing help with fibromyalgia? How best to breathe if you have gout, hypertension, and Reynaud’s syndrome.
Dr. David Hanscom (that's Ha[n]scom: we apologize for misspelling in the video!) spent three decades as an orthopedic spinal deformity surgeon and now focuses on helping patients alleviate chronic mental and physical pain. Dr. Hanscom has been working with Dr. Stephen Porges and other renowned researchers to develop a protocol to strengthen the body in the age of Covid-19. He answers these questions: How can breathing lower inflammation? Are these specific breathing practices that can blunt stress? How should we breathe if we are feeling sick? More at drdavidhanscom.com.
Dr. Umakanth Katwa is an Instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. He is also an attending physician in pediatric pulmonary and a sleep specialist at Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Katwa answers these questions: Is any sleep apnea normal in an infant? How does a mother’s breathing affect an infant? Is infant snoring damaging? Does breastfeeding improve breathing in infants?
Airway and sleep specialist, Dr. Steven Y. Park (Albert Einstein College of Medicine), answers reader questions on sleeping and breathing: Is any snoring normal? How is sleep apnea implicated in Alzheimer’s? Does CPAP cause weight gain? What does urinating throughout the night tell us about health? Learn more in Dr. Park’s book Sleep, Interrupted: A Physician Reveals the #1 Reason Why So Many of Us Are Sick and Tired and at doctorstevenpark.com.
Patrick McKeown is a world-renowned breathing therapist, best-selling author of The Oxygen Advantage, and leading authority in the field of breathing for asthma, anxiety, and rhinitis. McKeown answers reader questions on Covid-19 and more, including: How can we best breathe while wearing a mask? How should we breathe if someone nearby coughs? How can I bolster my immune system to help better protect myself form Covid-19? Can breathing help assess general respiratory health? Is deep breathing the same and heavy breathing? How can I best breathe for low blood pressure? Learn more at Buteyko Clinic and Oxygen Advantage
Dentist, author, and sleep and airway specialist, Dr. Mark Burhenne, answers reader questions on mouth taping (sleep tape) and issues related to respiration and dental health, including: How could mouthbreathing give us cavities? What is the connection between mouthbreathing and snoring? Can I measure my sleep quality at home? What if sleep taping doesn’t work? Any tips to help breathe better while sleeping? Learn more in Dr. Burhenne’s book The 8-Hour Sleep Paradox: How We Are Sleeping Our Way to Fatigue, Disease and Unhappiness and at Ask the Dentist.
Jill Miller (www.tuneupfitness.com) is an author, instructor, and renowned expert in fascia, posture, and breathing and has studied anatomy and movement for more than 30 years. Miller answers these readers questions: Why is it bad to breathe just from the chest? What is nerd neck and how do I avoid it? Does posture help us breathe better? (And, sorry for the vintage 90s VHS quality; twas a bad day at the internet.)