Hyperventilation and the number game

I would like to share with you all a trick that I learned a little while back for dealing with patient’s that are hyperventilating. I’m sure you have all had that patient who is breathing 28 times a minute after their boyfriend dumped them or had some type of stressful event. This usually leads to Carpopedal Spasms which often leads to even more anxiety. Getting your patient to slow down and regulate their breathing pattern can be very difficult. The technique that I am going to explain has proven to be helpful to me, but it isn’t perfect as it requires your patient’s participation.

Before I get into this technique, please remember to assess your patients properly. Always try and rule out other causes of rapid breathing before assuming that your patient is just hyperventilating because of stress or anxiety.

When I encounter patients that are hyperventilating I try to get them to follow a normal breathing pattern by having them take a deep breath and then telling them to count to 10 slowly without taking a breath. It’s OK if they can’t make it to 10. You can can start low and work your way up. Once they finish counting, let them take one more deep breath and then do it again. Continue doing this until they regulate their breathing.

Like I said before, it’s not a perfect technique as the patient has to be willing to participate. I have had it work plenty of times but have also found it to be useless on some patient’s too. Please let me know if you have success with this strategy. Also, if you have any other tips for treating hyperventilation, feel free to comment below!

I hope you enjoyed this quick tip.