Breathing exercises for pain

Soft, slow breathing used in pain clinics and during labour.

Breathing does not remove pain. What it can do is change your relationship to it for a while, and interrupt the reflex that makes it worse: when something hurts, most people hold their breath and tense up, which amplifies both the sensation and the distress around it.

This is why slow controlled breathing turns up during wound dressing changes, injections, dental work and labour. It gives you something to do with your attention, and it stops the breath-holding. Those are modest mechanisms, and they are real.

Keep it slow and soft rather than deep. If a long count makes you tense, shorten it — the aim is for the breathing itself to require no effort.

Start with

Pursed-Lip Breathing

Breathing out through pursed lips gives you a slow, controlled exhale with something physical to focus on, which is easier to hold on to than a count when you are uncomfortable.

Start 4-minute session

Or read how it works first.

Before you start

New, severe or unexplained pain needs a clinician, not a breathing exercise. This is something to use alongside proper assessment and treatment, never instead of it.