Lack of control or feelings of helplessness, along with the unpleasant effects of hot flashes, can be addressed with a simple breathing exercise. Exercise should be done when the woman experiences the first signs of impending distress. The exercise was developed by prominent Soviet physiologist Konstantin Buteyko, MD, PhD. He trained about 200 Soviet medical professionals on how to apply this breathing exercise to hundreds of women.

Contraindications and Restrictions: If you suffer from heart disease and high blood pressure, panic attacks or migraines (for unidentified causes), you should exercise caution in relation to the instructions suggested below as it may trigger your specific symptoms. If this is the case, look for a gentler version of this exercise that doesn’t involve holding your breath.

Steps to follow

1. Exhale normally (or just relax) and pinch your nose. (The mouth should be closed all the time. If your nose is blocked, look for the instruction or an article “The breathing exercise to unblock the nose” on the Internet). Hold your breath, while nodding your head, for as long as you can. . Count how many seconds your maximum breath hold is (after your usual exhale) for future reference. [This number reflects your health state and intensity of hot flashes.]

2. When you have a strong urge to breathe (it will take 10 to 60 seconds), resume breathing, but only through your nose. Take a small inhalation using your belly (tummy or diaphragm) and then simply relax to exhale. Then breathe in one more time and relax to breathe out. Maintain air hunger (shortage of air) for about 2-3 minutes by having this reduced breathing:

– small inhalations with the diaphragm (approximately 30-40% less than your usual inhalations);

– relaxed exhalations.

3. In 2-3 minutes repeat the procedure: hold your breath; reduced breathing with hunger for air for another 2 minutes.

During the first few tests, check that your body responds positively to the sudden increase in CO2 during this breathing exercise: you should warm your hands and / or feet during reduced breathing. (CO2 is the most powerful vasodilator that greatly improves perfusion or blood flow and oxygenation of all vital organs and tissues in the human body.) Later, with experience, you can try a more effective version of the same exercise: holding your breath and reduced breathing with severe shortness of breath.

Permanent solution

The intensity of hot flashes, as noted by Soviet and Russian doctors, correlates with the results of the breath hold time test. However, these physicians, using Buteyko’s respiratory autooxygenation therapy, apply a stress-free version of the breath retention test. It is called CP (control pause) and is done after the usual exhalation and only until the first stress or discomfort. The maximum breath hold time is approximately twice as long as the CP. So if you divide your numbers by 2, you will get your current CP value.

The CP test, as the research revealed, reflects body oxygenation and intensity of breathing. The faster and / or deeper we breathe (hyperventilation), the lower the oxygenation of the human body due to the effects related to CO2 (vasodilation and Bohr effect). The exact relationship between respiratory rate, CP, maximum pause, alveolar CO2, is reflected in the proprietary Buteyko Health Zones Table (the link between health states and respiratory parameters), while symptoms of hot flashes disappear when the woman is over 40 s CP 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.