Breathing Techniques to Get Through a Crohn's Flare-up

At the top of my wish list is a white wooden lawn chair just like my parents had in our backyard in Ohio.

It's the place I most associate with relaxing to the point of getting drowsy during lazy summer evenings. Even the mosquitoes were too laid back to bite. Unfortunately, I don't have space for a lawn chain in my tiny townhouse yard.

Breathing techniques for patients who suffer from Crohn's disease have relaxation as their primary goal. Reducing pain is another.

These techniques can make a monumental difference in the way someone feels during two different aspects of a Crohn's flare:

Wear and tear: This is the term I use to refer to a flare overall. Patients report all kinds of symptoms, from diarrhea and blood in the stool to joint pains and fever and depression. Whatever the symptoms, they create a feeling that the illness is out of control.

Once we enter into a flare, we sense our bodies have let us down. We thought the medications would work, but here we are. Recreational plans get cancelled; the gastroenterologist gets a call. We might miss some work, and our bodies demand extra rest.

What this translates into - beyond disappointment and even panic - is just plain stress.

There are several breathing techniques that can help you relax during a Crohn's flare. You can best accomplish then when wearing loose clothing and reclining in your favorite comfortable chair or sofa.

The simplest technique is inhalation-slow exhalation breathing. You pull in as much air as you can and release it slowly, counting to 10 as you exhale. Repeat this until you feel a sense of relaxation. You will gain more control of your breathing with practice, and you might even feel your blood pressure falling.

A second technique involves focused imagery. Pick a word that creates a pleasant mental picture, for example, beach. Then form a mental picture of a pleasant scene related to the word. Some Crohn's patients rotate several words and scenes. Close your eyes and imagine yourself in the scene. When you feel calm, slowly open your eyes and resume activity.

The most effective breathing technique I use to calm myself is guided meditation. I use about half a dozen narrated meditations, some accompanied by soothing music, to relax. All of these use simple breathing techniques and focus to calm the body.

Meditation CDs or DVDs are not cheap. Therefore, before purchasing one, I always like to hear an excerpt. SoundsTrue offers many meditations with audio samples that you can listen to on your computer before deciding whether to buy.

Pain and more pain: Unfortunately, some flares bring with them acute pain. For most of us, depending on daily prescribed narcotics is not a viable way of life. One type of pain arises from cramping. Some of us also experience the sharp waves of pain from an intestinal obstruction. Incisions hurt after recent surgeries.

If you have eaten and find you're feeling sharp pain for hours, sometimes accompanied by nausea and vomiting, get emergency care. You might be experiencing an intestinal obstruction or blockage.

Whether you end up in the emergency room or at home, some breathing techniques can actually reduce pain. Since pain is scary, even to an experienced patient with Crohn's disease, you might first need to use the general techniques above to calm yourself.

Waves of pain most typically occur in Crohn's disease in tandem with the wave-like motions of the digestive tract - peristalsis - that push food all the way through the large intestine. The disease itself can cause problems with motility. Narrowing of the bowel can cause food to back up, resulting in pain.

I have found that instead of tensing my body in anticipation of the next wave, I need to relax as it starts to hit. Some patients report they are able to get through the crest of the pain by using the panting taught in birthing classes. I have found that focusing on using longer and longer periods of exhaling as the crest of pain approaches causes my gut to relax. As a result, the pain lessens. Eventually, it stops, or the medical staff intervenes with a "happy" shot.

Although I love guided meditations with deep breathing and music, I don't find the sounds helpful during acute pain. Many episodes occur in the emergency room, where the general hustle and bustle is just too distracting to focus on music.