Hyperventilation syndrome (HVS) is defined simply as moving more air through your chest than your body can deal with. It may be caused by breathing faster than normal (more than 15 breaths a minute), mouth breathing, sighing or yawning frequently. Most people have experienced short episodes of acute over-breathing during stressful or frightening events, and that is very easy to spot. But chronic hyperventilation, characterised by a wide array of symptoms, mimics serious disease and is baffling to both sufferer and doctor alike.
The balance between the oxygen-rich air you breathe in and the carbon-dioxide rich air breathed out is controlled by your lungs. In chronic ‘over breathers’, too much carbon dioxide is flushed out of your system, producing unpleasant changes. Even slight falls in carbon dioxide levels directly affect nerve cells, as well as blood flow to your heart and brain, producing a wide variety of symptoms in any organ or system in your body.
Natural anxiety over symptoms leads to further over-breathing, creating a vicious circle. This new breathing pattern becomes a major stress all by itself. The normal pattern of breathing often changes from abdominal breathing to upper chest breathing, often through your mouth, leading to changes in upper chest and neck muscles, which in turn causes pain, tension and headaches.