Sex and lung conditions

It is okay to get breathless when doing any type of physical activity and your breathing should return to normal for you fairly quickly. This includes sex.

Breathing techniques

Breathing techniques can help you manage your breathlessness during exercise and sex if you need to. These include:

• relaxed, slow, deep breathing
• breathing through pursed lips as if whistling
• breathing out hard when doing an activity that needs a big effort
• paced breathing, using a rhythm in time with the activity, such as climbing stairs
• If you have a chesty cough that produces a lot of phlegm, you may be taught a specific technique to help you clear your airways. This is called the active cycle breathing technique.

There are also different positions that you and your partner can take to make sex more comfortable for both of you. Information about these techniques can be found at the end of this article.

If you have asthma

It’s okay to breathe faster and more deeply during exercise, but breathlessness is a symptom of an asthma attack. Refer to your asthma action plan for what to do when you think you’re having an asthma attack.

If you don’t have an asthma action plan, speak to your healthcare professional to create one together.

Talk to your partner

Be as open as you can about any difficulties you’re having, like managing your breathlessness. Let your partner know what’s going well, too.

You could say:

• Can we try out new positions that might help my breathlessness?
• I need to take regular breaks while we’re having sex.
• Can we have a quick look at these resources together?

Talk to your partner and stay open-minded. Explore what you both like sexually. Simply touching, being touched and being close to someone helps a person feel loved and special.

Your doctor, nurse or physiotherapist may also be able to suggest ways to help manage breathlessness during sex. You may find it helpful to ask if there is a clinician who can talk about this topic specifically.

Other things that can help

You could also try to plan sexual activity so that you’re having sex when you feel your best. For example, you and your partner could have sex in the morning if your symptoms are worse at night. The more you talk with your partner about these things, the easier it is.

You can also try new things, for example, different positions, until you find something right for you and your partner. You could also try using sex toys. For example, using a vibrator or massager may be a good way to pleasure a partner without using too much energy.