Al Ciampa
Level 7 Valued Member
Buteyko Breathing Technique – Nothing to Hyperventilate About
I've posted this before and I know @Steve Freides has seen it. While the linked article is critical in tone and much of its content, it does acknowledge that Buteyko breathing techniques have been shown to result in fewer reported asthma symptoms and less need for asthma medications, while also pointing out that they did not result in improvement in pulmonary function tests.
I am not trying be that guy who poo-poos Buteyko every time it comes up.
As someone who has been diagnosed as both having and not having asthma (at different times, by different doctors, using different assessments) I've actually practiced related breathing techniques as taught by Scott Sonnon, and the straw breathing taught by Pavel, and found them beneficial. Not being a pulmonologist and not having specifically practiced Buteyko breathing methods, I don't feel prepared to authoritatively comment on them.
However, I think the effects are likely much more limited than Buteyko advocates often claim (to be fair, the claims on the website of the Buteyko organization Steve F represents are more modest and qualified than those of some other Buteyko-branded organizations and proponents) and I suspect due to a different mechanism.
Im referring only to my experience; and can actually care less about both the general claims and their critiques.