I am one of those that has been given the honor of traveling life with the companionship of COPD and severe Asthma.

While the honor is many times pushed by the frustration and battle with those companions, I have over time come to grips that it is what it is and I must make the best of it.

I knew I must learn more about this companion the medical folks call COPD and severe Asthma, so I have read about, ask questions about it and spent time nearly every day scouring the internet for information, articles and more.

I also knew it is good to share, so as a writer I decided what better way to share what I am learning and finding than through informational, inspirational and personal writings about my travels with COPD and severe Asthma.

This is part of an on-going series we call ‘Reflections of COPD/Asthma’ and today we give you set six, or the final set of a six-part set we refer to as ‘Outside/Inside of Them Lungs’, where we discuss the inside of lungs and what needs to happen, how it happens and why it happens.

Set 5 – – ‘Looking at Your Lungs from the Inside’:

Today we will look at ’What Went Wrong’ or why is it becoming so hard for you to breath?

Today we finish off our series about the ‘Outside/Inside – Your Lungs’ with a quick discussion of three more possible causes for the battle you have with COPD/Asthma.

‘Weak Airways’ could be one of the causes and the weak airways could come when the airways lose their integrity and/or strength to stay open due to the loss of the elastic fibers that give them that function.  When a person loses that elasticity, your airways will appear to pinch shut or collapse, which in turn prevents air from escaping.

‘Bronchospasm’ is also referred to as the inflammation or swelling inside the walls of a person’s airways caused by long term exposure to lung irritants.  A person can develop less room for air to pass through when the inside diameter of the airways become decreased by constant ‘bronchospasms’.

When those airways get irritated, the muscles surrounding them will tend to become squeezed and tightened, which also causes obstruction and making it harder for proper airflow in and out of the lungs.

The final area that can cause your lungs to ‘go wrong’ would be the ‘muscles of breathing’.

We all know the main muscle of breathing is your ‘diaphragm’ as it is meant to do most of the work of breathing by pulling on the bottom part of your lungs so air can flow properly.  But when your lungs become overinflated, it causes your diaphragm to become flat instead of dome-shaped, which puts you and the movement of your lungs at a disadvantage mechanically.

Anytime a person’s ‘diaphragm’ is not working properly, the other muscles will have to come to action and try to help get the business of airflow moving.  Unfortunately, these accessory muscles are not meant to do this job – that is when your muscles in your collarbone, neck and between the ribs tend to become tense, sore and sometimes feeling very fatigued.

While most people take breathing almost for granted, the fact is, breathing takes a lot of work and energy, and when the main muscles are not doing their job and the accessory muscles get called into play – that is when you develop problems with your shoulders, back and chest area.

So, there you have it, a six-set series on ‘Outside/Inside of Them Lungs’.  Hopefully some of the information will have given some an insight or remembrance of just what may be going on while you battle your own individual fight with either COPD and/or Asthma.

As always, if you or anyone you know have any symptoms involving lung and breathing functionality, and they linger over and over while disrupting a lifestyle – then please ask questions and get it checked out.

ALWAYS REMEMBER > A person without good breathing, is a person with a life of constant caution’, so let’s do what we can, to learn what we can, to improve what we can.

NOTE TO REMEMBER: We only give descriptions and highlights of various aspects of having COPD and/or asthma and no way do we ever want our information to be considered medical treatment type of information, always consult your physician for more, clearer and more medical founded information.

With that I bid to all – smiles, prayers, blessings and steady breathing – Mr. William.

(Copyright@2017, CrossDove Writer – reprint or use by written permission only.)

To follow more postings written by Mr. William, check out either wheezingaway.com or on Facebook at COPD Travels.

(Information used is gathered from a various number of books, magazines and websites followed and read by Mr. William.)