Relieving Back Pain With Diaphragm Breathing In Ellicott City MD | Part 1

If you’ve been a patient with us at our Ellicott City MD chiropractic clinic, you’ve certainly practiced some diaphragm breathing exercises. Regardless of the condition or circumstances you’re resolving with us, we want to check-off this box because there are so many benefits.

I know what you’re thinking, I’m alive aren’t I? Clearly I must be breathing. Well yes, but are you breathing optimally?

The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle that sits below the heart and lungs at the base of the rib cage. It needs to be exercised and strengthened, just like any other muscle.

Taking the time to retrain your respiratory system comes with a variety of benefits from pain management and stress relief, to improving cardiovascular and lung function, even optimizing athletic performance.

Today’s focus though, is the effect of diaphragm breathing on correcting postural distortions, which may be the source of your back pain. A common misnomer for it is “belly breathing.” Although the diaphragm sits around your “belly” region, it is a part of your core musculature and wraps 360 degrees within your body. The “core” itself is composed of the diaphragm at the top end, the pelvic floor at its base, and all of the abdominal muscles in between.

Barring any sort of respiratory or congenital conditions, most of us were born inherently breathing with the diaphragm (ever notice an infant’s little potbelly rise and fall as they breathe at rest?).

However, as we’ve become increasingly sedentary and assume a more forward-leaning, or protracted posture (think of driving, reading, typing, gaming), we’ve developed more shallow and dysfunctional breathing patterns that directly impact our posture, and potentially, pain.

Compared to the very active lifestyles of generations past, the engagement of the diaphragm is less intuitive than it used to be, and (not so) coincidentally, we’re seeing a rise in the incidence of low back pain, and postural distortions (like “hunched back” or “tech neck”).

So how does the diaphragm affect posture? Although its primary function is respiration, the attachment points on the ribs and spine make the diaphragm a significant postural muscle. If the diaphragm is not fully engaged when breathing, it cannot support the body.

Without effective diaphragm involvement, the spine lacks stability, not only contributing to pain, but modifying posture, as well. This is typically exhibited by a forward-protruding head and rounded shoulders, which tighten the chest muscles. With this restriction, the ribcage struggles to expand, and the upper back and neck muscles take over breathing mechanics. With that, the breath becomes rapid and shallow, and the more we default to this breathing pattern, the more our posture and back pain evolve.

By deepening the breath and engaging the diaphragm more, you can correct posture and relieve pain (more on pain management in part 2 of this blog!).

Ways To Practice In Ellicott City MD

• Seated Or Supine: Sit or lie in a comfortable position and wrap your hands around your waist so your fingers press into your belly and your thumbs press into your backside. Breathe through your nose if that’s comfortable, and inflate your abdomen from the bottom up. As you inhale, you’ll feel your back press into your thumbs and waist expand outwards into your hands. Your shoulders should stay relaxed, versus shrugging upward with each inhale. Control your exhale as if you were blowing out a candle.
• Waterfall Breathing: This is a great way to tune into your body and grow accustomed to deepening your breath. You will split your inhale into thirds and sigh it all out with one big exhale. Inhale one-third of your capacity and hold for a count, inhale again to two-thirds and hold, and then inhale to fill your abdomen as much as you can comfortably. Pause for a second at the top before exhaling it all out in a long, slow breath until your lungs are empty.