A Window into the Functioning of Your Lungs
SeeYourBreath is an iPhone app that gives you a window into the functioning of your lungs through the sound of your breathing.
SeeYourBreath enables and encourages you to do what asthma doctors recommend – know your triggers and follow your asthma action plan, in order to breathe better and avoid asthma attacks.
You use SeeYourBreath to make a recording of your breathing for fifteen seconds.
SeeYourBreath enables and encourages you to do what asthma doctors recommend – know your triggers and follow your asthma action plan, in order to breathe better and avoid asthma attacks.
You use SeeYourBreath to make a recording of your breathing for fifteen seconds.
The app shows you a recording curve that is derived from the proportions of the different breathing tones found during the last ten seconds of that recording.
For the technically curious:
For the technically curious:
- The pitch increases as you move left to right.
- The height of the recording curve (recording) at any point shows the portion of the total volume at that pitch and lower.
SeeYourBreath gives you the power to sort out your breathing sounds – which are fleeting – in a clear and permanent visual way. You can use these recorded observations to explore your breathing under different circumstances.
It is essential for new SeeYourBreath users to know at the outset that the shape of SeeYourBreath recordings vary from person to person, whether or not they have asthma. What you learn from using SeeYourBreath will come from your comparing your own recordings, made at different times and under different circumstances, to each other.
It is essential for new SeeYourBreath users to know at the outset that the shape of SeeYourBreath recordings vary from person to person, whether or not they have asthma. What you learn from using SeeYourBreath will come from your comparing your own recordings, made at different times and under different circumstances, to each other.
For Sale in the App Store
SeeYourBreath is for sale in the App Store for $2.99. That’s it, total.
(No subscriptions, no in-app purchases, no pro-version, no time limit, no advertising, and no data collection involved.)
(No subscriptions, no in-app purchases, no pro-version, no time limit, no advertising, and no data collection involved.)
Personal Coaching Available
If you would like to work one-on-one with an app coach, SeeYourBreath coaching is available at $50 per half hour Zoom session.
Your coach will help you explore your asthma triggers and the actions you can take to make your breathing better.
A SeeYourBreath coach is your personal cheerleader, guide, and partner in exploring new ways to better control your asthma with the help of SeeYourBreath.
We can help you follow the instructions presented on this website to make the most effective use of this new tool, SeeYourBreath.
We will work with you to use the features of SeeYourBreath and learn from the experiences of other people exploring their breathing.
SeeYourBreath coaching is done on a session by session basis with no obligation.
You pay for a session after it is completed and if you are satisfied with the session.
Contact us to set up your first Zoom session. e-mail: [email protected]
Your coach will help you explore your asthma triggers and the actions you can take to make your breathing better.
A SeeYourBreath coach is your personal cheerleader, guide, and partner in exploring new ways to better control your asthma with the help of SeeYourBreath.
We can help you follow the instructions presented on this website to make the most effective use of this new tool, SeeYourBreath.
We will work with you to use the features of SeeYourBreath and learn from the experiences of other people exploring their breathing.
SeeYourBreath coaching is done on a session by session basis with no obligation.
You pay for a session after it is completed and if you are satisfied with the session.
Contact us to set up your first Zoom session. e-mail: [email protected]
Explore Your Asthma Triggers and Remedies
For example, use these SeeYourBreath recordings to see how you react to various possible triggers. See which self-help remedies – from hot tea to yoga meditation – help you breathe better.
Step by step you learn more about the actions you can take to optimize your breathing and to avoid asthma attacks.
Because you are enabled to explore your triggers and remedies in an immediate, visual, objective, recorded, and reviewable manner – you are encouraged to make the effort to discover what will make your breathing better.
Step by step you learn more about the actions you can take to optimize your breathing and to avoid asthma attacks.
Because you are enabled to explore your triggers and remedies in an immediate, visual, objective, recorded, and reviewable manner – you are encouraged to make the effort to discover what will make your breathing better.
yoga meditation, CCO license
Check Out a Specific Question about an Asthma Trigger or Remedy
You may benefit from using SeeYourBreath regularly to track your breathing.
You may also benefit from using SeeYourBreath on an isolated occasion to check out a specific question. Are your cat’s fur and saliva that are always present in your home forming a background of allergy triggers that continually push you to the edge of a full-blown asthma attack, without your realizing it?
Consider recording your breathing in the morning in your home. Then go visit your cat-free cousin for the day and record your breathing again. These two sets of SeeYourBreath recordings may tell you whether your cat is a significant issue that you must address to achieve good control of your asthma or basically a non-issue.
You may also benefit from using SeeYourBreath on an isolated occasion to check out a specific question. Are your cat’s fur and saliva that are always present in your home forming a background of allergy triggers that continually push you to the edge of a full-blown asthma attack, without your realizing it?
Consider recording your breathing in the morning in your home. Then go visit your cat-free cousin for the day and record your breathing again. These two sets of SeeYourBreath recordings may tell you whether your cat is a significant issue that you must address to achieve good control of your asthma or basically a non-issue.
Stocksnap Photo by Ivan Livesey
Three SeeYourBreath participants addressed cat allergy induced asthma problems in a variety of ways:
- A young teenager with asthma who longed for a pet cat prevailed upon her mother to go with her to visit a local cat café. They used SeeYourBreath to determine the daughter’s reaction to the cat allergens she encountered there. The teenager showed a definite hours-long response to these triggers and their household remains cat-less. Teenage SeeYourBreath Trailblazer
- The parents of a five-year-old with asthma know that their son’s uncle with asthma has a bad reaction to cats, and that is reason enough to keep their little boy away from cats as much as possible. SeeYourBreath Helps Dad Explore . . .
- A young woman, M.L., with a companionable cat found her breathing was affected by her cat’s fur and saliva more than she had previously realized. After keeping her cat out of her bedroom for several nights, M.L. saw how much the cat did affect her breathing. M.L. started to wipe her cat down with cat wipes in order to reduce the allergens in her home. New Power to Cope with Asthma
Work Your Way to Better Breathing
Normally we apply a remedy when we have a problem - we might do relaxation exercises when we are tense and use a humidifier when the air is too dry for us.
Because SeeYourBreath shows you small changes in your breathing that you may not sense yourself, you can gather useful observations by trying out remedies even when you are feeling good.
You try to make what you have tentatively established as "good" breathing even better using SeeYourBreath to observe and record the changes, if any. When you see a change you are encouraged to use the remedy proactively.
Because SeeYourBreath shows you small changes in your breathing that you may not sense yourself, you can gather useful observations by trying out remedies even when you are feeling good.
You try to make what you have tentatively established as "good" breathing even better using SeeYourBreath to observe and record the changes, if any. When you see a change you are encouraged to use the remedy proactively.
How to Guide Yourself to Optimal Breathing
Make three recordings before you apply your remedy and three recordings after. If the “after” recordings are different from the “before” recordings, then the “after” recordings show the direction towards optimal.
If the “after” recordings are not distinguishable from the “before” recordings, then you have evidence that you have found the optimal pattern or a range for your usual patterns.
Staying as close as you can to your optimal pattern (or in the range of your usual patterns) is a strategy for avoiding seriously troubled breathing.
If the “after” recordings are not distinguishable from the “before” recordings, then you have evidence that you have found the optimal pattern or a range for your usual patterns.
Staying as close as you can to your optimal pattern (or in the range of your usual patterns) is a strategy for avoiding seriously troubled breathing.
The Strategy of Aiming for Optimal Breathing is Empowering
N.C., a young woman from Southern California, says:
. . . testing out the app itself has made me so much more aware of the options that I have for managing my asthma. . . . And asthma, you know, interrupts my life. The app gets rid of that narrative and adds something a little more constructive, but also just a little more, you know, joyful, I think.
The graph below shows how N.C., upon awakening with tightness in her chest and upper airway congestion, proactively moved away from the possibility of a full-blown asthma attack by drinking hot tea and using her humidifier.
N.C. made the green recordings upon awakening, feeling asthma symptoms – tightness in her chest, and upper airway congestion. N.C. immediately drank some hot tea, turned on her humidifier for half an hour, and took some Tylenol. Her self-help remedies were effective. Half an hour later her recordings (colored orange) were higher and smoother, which is N.C.’s typical recording shape when she is at her best.
Practicing your remedies when you are not in an emergency is like a fire drill – when a real asthma flare-up arises, you are practiced and ready with your remedy.
Approach Your Potential Triggers Cautiously
Explore your triggers gingerly and when they are unavoidable.
You can use these SeeYourBreath recordings to see how you react to suspected triggers. Does previous experience lead you to think cold, dry air in the winter triggers your coughing and wheezing?
When you have to go outdoors in winter on a frigid day with dry air – let’s say to walk your dog – take the opportunity to make SeeYourBreath recordings right before you leave your home and right when you return home.
You can use these SeeYourBreath recordings to see how you react to suspected triggers. Does previous experience lead you to think cold, dry air in the winter triggers your coughing and wheezing?
When you have to go outdoors in winter on a frigid day with dry air – let’s say to walk your dog – take the opportunity to make SeeYourBreath recordings right before you leave your home and right when you return home.
P.V. Takes Her Dog Out
P.V. is a young woman in her twenties in the Northeast. She has asthma that is generally under good control, particularly since her work has gone remote and that has lessened her exposure to environmental triggers and a stressful commute.
P.V. has previously considered whether the cold air of winter pushes her toward troubled breathing, and in the worst case, a full-on asthma attack. She decided to observe her breathing with SeeYourBreath when she had to venture out into the cold for the short amount of time it takes to walk her dog.
Each measurement session consisted of P.V. recording her breath for fifteen seconds three times in succession, with a break of about fifteen seconds between the individual measurements.
P.V. has previously considered whether the cold air of winter pushes her toward troubled breathing, and in the worst case, a full-on asthma attack. She decided to observe her breathing with SeeYourBreath when she had to venture out into the cold for the short amount of time it takes to walk her dog.
Each measurement session consisted of P.V. recording her breath for fifteen seconds three times in succession, with a break of about fifteen seconds between the individual measurements.
- The three red recordings were made just before P.V. went out to walk the dog.
- The green recordings were made after P.V. was outside in the cold for fifteen minutes.
- The blue recordings were made after P.V. was back indoors and had warmed up for fifteen minutes.
- The black recording is of the background noise – noise in the environment recorded on the iPhone while P.V. was not breathing into the phone.
P.V.’s recordings suggest that the cold does indeed affect her breathing negatively:
- First, the green recordings (recorded after fifteen minutes in the cold) noticeably slump below the red recordings, made just fifteen minutes earlier, before P. V. left the warm house.
- Second, the blue recordings, recorded when P.V. was back in the warm house for fifteen minutes, overlap and surpass the red ones, made in the house before the dog walk.
- Also, the green recordings, made immediately after P.V.’s time in the cold outdoors, are of the same general shape as other of her recordings made during bouts of asthmatic breathing.
"Young woman working on laptop and writing at home"by shixart1985 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
You are Enabled and Encouraged to Discover Triggers and to Identify Remedies
With this information P.V. is enabled and encouraged to follow the often stated medical advice for a person with asthma – find your triggers and stay away from them.
In the future, when P.V. must walk the dogs in cold and dry weather, she may choose to explore the details of this trigger.
For example:
In the future, when P.V. must walk the dogs in cold and dry weather, she may choose to explore the details of this trigger.
For example:
- Can P.V. make the dog walk so short that it accomplishes its purpose and P.V. is back in her home before she experiences asthmatic breathing?
- Is there any scarf or mask that works for her so that the cold air is warmed and made more moist before she inhales it into her lungs?
- Does a home remedy like a hot beverage work prospectively – if P.V. were to drink hot tea before walking her dogs, would the warmth of the tea keep her breathing normal for a little longer in the outdoor cold?
As to home remedies, the next time P.V. has to walk her dog, she could try a self-help remedy once she is back inside her home – like sitting next to a warm vapor humidifier.
When P.V. records her breathing after the humidifier session, she will have a point of comparison for the next remedy she uses after taking her dog out on a frigid, dry day. For example, does a hot drink restore her lung function better than sitting by the humidifier?
P.V. can again use SeeYourBreath’s ability to capture and make a permanent record of her breathing to “remember” how she was breathing after the humidifier session and compare it to how she is breathing after the hot drink.
Both of these strategies – limiting the amount of exposure to a trigger and mitigating its effects with an immediate remedy – can be applied in other situations and pinned down and recorded with SeeYourBreath. (For example – time spent outdoors on a high pollen day and showering and changing your clothes when you get back into your air purified bedroom.)
Of course, P.V. will consult her medical provider immediately, should her asthma symptoms reach the level where she would normally consult with her doctor or go to the emergency room. SeeYourBreath is not a replacement for medical advice or treatment. SeeYourBreath is an is aid to observation.
When P.V. records her breathing after the humidifier session, she will have a point of comparison for the next remedy she uses after taking her dog out on a frigid, dry day. For example, does a hot drink restore her lung function better than sitting by the humidifier?
P.V. can again use SeeYourBreath’s ability to capture and make a permanent record of her breathing to “remember” how she was breathing after the humidifier session and compare it to how she is breathing after the hot drink.
Both of these strategies – limiting the amount of exposure to a trigger and mitigating its effects with an immediate remedy – can be applied in other situations and pinned down and recorded with SeeYourBreath. (For example – time spent outdoors on a high pollen day and showering and changing your clothes when you get back into your air purified bedroom.)
Of course, P.V. will consult her medical provider immediately, should her asthma symptoms reach the level where she would normally consult with her doctor or go to the emergency room. SeeYourBreath is not a replacement for medical advice or treatment. SeeYourBreath is an is aid to observation.
An Illustrated Asthma Diary
Here is a portion of an album in Photos containing documented screenshots.
You can add text, arrows, and magnifying glasses with the Markup feature.
In Photos you can zoom in on a screenshot by double clicking on it and then enlarge it further with a trackpad gesture or the use of a slider.
In the gallery below a double click will blow up a screenshot and clicking off of it will put it back.
You can add text, arrows, and magnifying glasses with the Markup feature.
In Photos you can zoom in on a screenshot by double clicking on it and then enlarge it further with a trackpad gesture or the use of a slider.
In the gallery below a double click will blow up a screenshot and clicking off of it will put it back.
Because you make notes on the screenshots of your SeeYourBreath recordings your SeeYourBreath recordings become an illustrated asthma diary.
Following Doctor's Advice
The SeeYourBreath method fits right in with the consensus of asthma medical advice, as typified by WebMD.
“Every day, write down:
“Every day, write down:
- Any asthma symptoms you had and how you're feeling
- Where you were and what you were doing right before a flare
- When you're using medication and how much
- Your PEF numbers
Disclaimer: The app is for informational purposes only. The app is no substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or emergency intervention or transmission of time-critical data. Users should always seek the advice of their healthcare providers for any questions regarding their medical condition. You agree that the app should not be used to make medical decisions. Users should never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of information provided via the app.