Coughs and colds change how your breathing feels. If you have a blocked nose or phlegm on your chest, breathing takes more effort. That is nothing to worry about as it is a normal response to illness. In most cases, your breathing returns to normal once the infection has passed, but for some people it does not. A Breathing MOT can help you understand why. Why breathing feels harder when you’re unwell When you have a cold, a few things happen at once: A blocked nose pushes you

Have you heard the term 'hyperventilation syndrome' but never known what it actually looks like? At the Breathing MOT we often see patients who display textbook symptoms of hyperventilation syndrome and assume something serious is wrong. For example, we recently worked with a patient who was breathless, dizzy, tingling fingers and convinced her heart or lungs weren't working properly. Nothing structural was wrong. Her breathing was. We find that hyperventilation syndrome ofte

By the end of August/early September, many of us have spent much more time outdoors more than usual - festivals, holidays, dog walks, days out... especially with the weather as it has been in the UK this summer! And some may have noticed their breathing felt a little off: more breathless than expected, a sense of stuffiness, an irritable cough that comes and goes. If that sounds familiar, there's a good chance the summer environment played a role. The question is whether the