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Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbomb here. You've perhaps experienced the phenomenon of getting

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Speaker 1: the wind knocked out of you when you've got nailed

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Speaker 1: in the chest with a large ball during as sports game,

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Speaker 1: or when you fell off a bicycle or a jungle gym,

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Speaker 1: or maybe just fell out of bed. But what does

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Speaker 1: this phrase mean? Really? What's physically going on when you

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Speaker 1: take a hard blow to the abdomen or chest. It

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Speaker 1: can disrupt the process of breathing. Under normal circumstances, we

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Speaker 1: don't have to think about breathing. Of course, we can

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Speaker 1: take purposeful breaths if we want to, but it's generally

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Speaker 1: handled by our autonomic or involuntary nervous system. Your brain

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Speaker 1: works with sensors in your body to determine how much

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Speaker 1: oxygen you need to be taken in, and then cues

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Speaker 1: the muscles in your abdomen and chest to tmically contract,

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Speaker 1: thus creating a slight vacuum around the lungs, which causes

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Speaker 1: air to flow in through your windpipe and then relax

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Speaker 1: letting the lungs deflate. So it makes sense that taking

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Speaker 1: a sharp knock to that area would work up the process.

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Speaker 1: The medical term for this is frontispasm. A friend here

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Speaker 1: means diaphragm. That's the main muscle used in breathing. That

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Speaker 1: forceful impact can cause the diaphragm to either spasm or

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Speaker 1: become temporarily paralyzed. So your lungs probably empty due to

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Speaker 1: the impact and they can't fill back up with air

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Speaker 1: for at least a few seconds. It can feel really

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Speaker 1: uncomfortable and even scary, but fortunately it's usually not medically significant.

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Speaker 1: Just do your best remain calm. I know it's easier

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Speaker 1: than done. A relaxing your body might help your diaphragm

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Speaker 1: relax more quickly, and as your diaphragm relaxes, you'll soon

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Speaker 1: be able to take a deep breath again. Keep those

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Speaker 1: breath smooth, slow, steady, and deep to avoid sending your

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Speaker 1: body into further panic. Panic can actually cause a different

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Speaker 1: kind of breathlessness, a shortness of breath or feeling winded.

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Speaker 1: The medical term for that is you may have felt

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Speaker 1: it when you went a little bit too hard during

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Speaker 1: physical activity, but it can be caused by other factors

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Speaker 1: like mental or physical health. A dyspnia isn't a short

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Speaker 1: spasm it's a result of something being off in that

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Speaker 1: brain sensors muscle system that determines how much oxygen we

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Speaker 1: need versus how much we're getting. Maybe the muscles can't

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Speaker 1: keep up with the demand, or maybe something else is

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Speaker 1: going wrong in the system and oxygen isn't getting where

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Speaker 1: it needs to be, or maybe the signals themselves are faulty.

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Speaker 1: Just getting the wind knocked out of you isn't usually

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Speaker 1: serious and will resolve on its own in a few seconds.

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Speaker 1: The only time you might consider seeing a doctor is

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Speaker 1: if that same knock netted you another injury, like maybe

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Speaker 1: you hit your head when you fell, or you continue

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Speaker 1: feeling short of breath. That means the blow might have

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Speaker 1: bruised your rib muscles or even cracked a rib. Even

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Speaker 1: minus any kind of injury, if you feel winded and

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Speaker 1: can't seem to catch your breath during normal activities, that's

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Speaker 1: a good reason to check in with a medical professional.

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Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article what Happens when

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Speaker 1: the Wind's Knocked out of You on HowStuffWorks dot com,

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Speaker 1: written by Dominique Michelle Estino. Brainstuff is production of iHeartRadio

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Speaker 1: in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com. And is produced by

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Speaker 1: Tyler Klang. Before more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit

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Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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Speaker 1: your favorite shows.