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Being short of breath, struggling to breathe, or feeling chest tightness or chest pain are common symptoms of a lot of chest and heart conditions, including:
Breathlessness is also called dyspnoea (pronounced disp-knee-ah). It can come on suddenly, or it can get steadily worse over time. Breathlessness can feel like:
It is normal to be short of breath sometimes – for example, when you run for a bus or climb a long staircase – but sometimes this breathlessness can become part of your daily life.
Breathlessness can be emotionally and physically difficult to cope with, but it can also be managed and improved over time. You can learn to avoid or manage periods of breathlessness.
Depending on what is causing your breathlessness, you may be able to treat the cause directly with medication. For example, people with asthma may be given medicine which relaxes the airways, and people with COPD may be given steroids or antibiotics to deal with flare-ups.
You may be given equipment like an inhaler, spacer, or nebuliser to deliver this medication. It is important to know how to use this equipment correctly – talk to your nurse, doctor, pharmacist or physiotherapist to make sure you are using it right. You can find more information on using inhalers at www.mylungsmylife.org
Alongside medication, you can make changes to your lifestyle to help with breathlessness. A healthy diet, appropriate exercise, and avoiding breathlessness triggers like smoking or allergies can make your breathlessness much more manageable. You can also learn techniques like breathing exercises and chest clearing exercises to help you to deal with your symptoms.
You may be referred to pulmonary rehabilitation, a programme which teaches a range of management techniques for breathlessness. Find out more about pulmonary rehabilitation in our booklet on the subject.
Joan has COPD and uses an inhaler and a nebuliser at home to help with breathlessness. While living with COPD is difficult, one thing makes it easier for Joan – being part of the Warblers singing group.
“For me, joining the Warblers is one of the best things I ever did,” explains Joan. “I’ve also done a pulmonary rehab course that gave me advice on how I can help myself and I do a tai chi class.
“But the singing is what maintains my lung health. It really opens my lungs up, and I can still feel the benefit hours later.
“The Warblers have helped me live with COPD. I couldn’t do without them. The class is a lifesaver.”
Read full story
If you are having trouble breathing, you may find it helpful to sit or stand in positions which open your airways and make it easier to breathe. What works best will depend on who you are, what causes your breathlessness, what you are doing, and where you are.
Ask your physiotherapist, occupational therapist, or other health professional for advice on useful breathing positions. Some positions which may help are:
There are two main types of breathing exercise that may be helpful:
Ask your physiotherapist or other health professional for what exercises you might find helpful. You can also find more detail about these exercises on www.mylungsmylife.org, or by looking at our booklet on Breathlessness.
Breathlessness can affect what activities you do and how you do them. This is a very personal thing, and the only certain way to know what works for you is by trying.
You can still be active and do physical exercise, while dealing with breathlessness. However, you might need to change what exercise you do, or build in more rest breaks. It can help to take things slow – avoid high-impact exercise that makes you breathless, and consider whether you can shift towards lower-impact exercises like: walking, gentle stretches, pilates or yoga, or careful swimming.
You may also need to consider your breathlessness when you plan day-to-day activities. For example:
Often, you may find that you have triggers. These are things that happen around you which make breathlessness more likely. For example: pollen, pollution, certain weather conditions, or smoke. By doing your best to avoid these situations, you may find your breathlessness affects your life less. You can check air quality – a common trigger for breathlessness – by texting WEATHER to 66777 to receive a free “Air Quality and Weather” text message from our Advice Line.
One of the common difficulties with breathlessness is that it can be very anxiety-provoking. It can also feel a lot like an anxiety attack – and, in fact, anxiety does often cause breathlessness. This can mean that, when you are experiencing breathlessness, you become anxious, and this can make the breathlessness worse.
To avoid this vicious cycle, it is important to try and stay calm while breathless. Remember that breathlessness, while unpleasant, is rarely dangerous. Try to be aware of how you feel and what, if anything, is causing you additional stress. Breathe slowly and deeply. Try to be aware of your surroundings and how your body feels.
For more information on anxiety and how to manage it, look at our page on Mental Wellbeing.
Download our booklet on Breathlessness to find out more about the topics discussed on this page.
View this page
The website My Lungs, My Life can provide a lot of helpful information on managing breathlessness and respiratory conditions.
Visit our Services page to find out more about the support that’s available to manage breathlessness.
This page was last updated on May 3, 2023 and is under regular review. If you feel anything is missing or incorrect, please contact health.information@chss.org.uk to provide feedback.