Parents often find themselves accompanying their children through excruciatingly difficult periods of hospitalization and surgery in order to clear breathing passages that are caused by enlarged adenoids. This cycle leads to costly procedures that ultimately are not very effective. Adenoids grow back, and the cycle of narrowing air passages continues, creating symptoms such as excess mucus, headaches, and other serious health issues continues. Chronic colds and flu-like symptoms, hearing loss, oxygen deficiency resulting in a lack of energy and vitality, and the development of sometimes very serious or fatal health problems can result from enlarged adenoids. It is therefore important to not only treat symptoms, but discover and correct the root cause, as well.
According to practitioners of the Buteyko method for normalizing breathing, removing the adenoids merely treats one symptom of a more fundamental problem: an abnormal way of breathing. Many people develop enlarged adenoids because they are breathing too much, or “over-breathing” which is also known as hyperventilation. Oxygen that we inhale when we breathe is passed to our organs through the hemoglobin in order to sustain health and vitality within our bodies. As part of the oxygen cycle, we produce carbon dioxide which we release when we exhale. We do not, however, release all of the carbon dioxide that is produced, but rather some remains to regulate oxygen in our cells through what is known as the “Bohr effect.” If we breathe too much, or hyperventilate, it becomes more difficult for the cells to process and use the oxygen that is contained in our hemoglobin. The end result is that the more intake of oxygen we sustain, the harder it is for our bodies to process it. The development of enlarged adenoids may therefore be the way the body compensates for hyperventilation by narrowing air passages in order to reduce oxygen intake. This, however, creates further health problems and symptoms.
The Buteyko method teaches children how to normalize breathing by inhaling and exhaling in a more easy and gentle manner while using the nose for inhalation rather than the mouth. When breathing normally, the right amount of oxygen goes to the vital organs of the body and many patients report not only that enlarged adenoids have stopped growing, but that they decrease in size, as well. The immune system is therefore allowed to be restored and begins to function properly, and the symptoms associated with enlarged adenoids, as well as the corollary dangers, diminish and even disappear.
Many parents and patients discover that once they are breathing normally and oxygen is actually being used to sustain optimal use in their cells, they become less sluggish, more alert and able to concentrate, and less likely to act out or to be nervous and tense due to hyperventilation.
Adenoids Surgery – When you improve breathing, you improve your total health. The Breathing Center offers a free breathing test online and a free Buteyko Health Evaluation report with our recommendations. The test will help you determine how your breathing is influencing the quality of your sleep, as well as recommendations for improvement.
