Is CO2 a Waste Gas? Buteyko Breathing in Hospitals

Fred Brown, a Respiratory Therapist about the Buteyko Breathing Method

Breathe less to avoid the Emergency Room!

A respiratory therapist of many years shares his experience of applying the Buteyko Method of Breathing Normalization. In this video, Fred Brown was interviewed by Sasha Yakovleva. Fred applied the Buteyko Method and experienced immediate results; he also taught the basic elements of this method to his patients in a hospital in New York. 

Fred Brown: Buteyko Reenergized My Career 

I’ve been a respiratory therapist for over 25 years and during that time my passion for my career and feeling a sense of value has steadily been more and more mixed.

As a result of working in various locations in the hospital, I’ve been fortunate to have a wide variety of experiences ranging from critical emergency care to mild breathing therapy. I’ve found great satisfaction in saving lives in emergency care. On the other hand, I’ve grown discouraged with helping patients with mild to severe breathing problems.

Just placing a person in respiratory distress on a breathing treatment and praying the steroids would finally start taking effect, made me feel like my hands were tied in effectively and quickly helping people overcome their breathing difficulty. The use of a Bipap machine is often the next level of care but in my mind, I’ve often wondered if there was something else that could be effective before a Bipap machine is needed.

That was until being exposed to the Buteyko Breathing Normalization Method. Recently I was treating a severe asthmatic patient in the ICU. I expected that person to camp-out in the ICU for a few days due to their distress and increased work of breathing. To my surprise, the patient was transferred out of the ICU and to a regular unit by the end of my shift as a direct result of incorporating one or two of the Buteyko principles with nebulizer treatments.

Similarly, in the past, if a person had an annoying continuous cough and a nebulizer treatment did not help, I had nothing else to offer the person for relief. The other day I witnessed firsthand how by using the Buteyko Method, a patient was able to stop their irritating cough only after 10 minutes.

I’m sold on the effectiveness and usefulness of the Buteyko Method and will continue my training as a Buteyko Specialist to help others in and outside of the hospital. The only limitation I’ve seen with the method is if a person is distracted and they have an inability to follow through with directions, then the status of the person does not change.

In my personal application of the method, I’ve found a significant improvement in my ability to feel more refreshed in the morning with less sleep. Also, I’ve noticed a big difference in the openness of my sinuses, increasing my ability to breath clearer and better mental clarity.

Thank you Sasha, Dr. Buteyko, and all Buteyko practitioners.

Fred Brown, R.R.T.

Long Island, New York

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