Long COVID | Breathlessness | Breathing Control  

This article has been written and medically approved by Pharmacist Conor McSorley GPhC Reg No. 2223070

Dealing with Breathlessness

  • Choose a position to reduce the breathlessness, which is important to reduce your work of breathing and effort
  • Try and support your arms rather than grip or tense them
  • Stay calm, stop, drop your shoulders and try to use the breathing control technique below.

Breathing Control

Breathing control helps you to gently breathe using the least amount of effort and can help control your breathing whilst moving around and help recovery.

  1. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your tummy
  2. Slowly breathe in and out through your nose, keeping your mouth closed. If this is too hard, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.
  3. If you are relaxed, the air will be allowed to reach low into your lungs and your stomach will move out against your hand. If you are breathing in a controlled manner, the hand on your chest will hardly move.
  4. With every breath try to feel more and more relaxed and calm. Gradually try and slow your breathing.