Resting before and after visitors or meals also can be helpful if they cause shortness of breath, as sometimes occurs. If talking causes shortness of breath, shorten the time for visiting or talking. Talking can increase the number of breaths a person needs. If this happens, wait quietly until his or her breathing slows. Open a window or use a fan to get air moving in the room.
Air moving through a room helps a person to feel less short of breath.
In the winter, use a humidifier or place pans of water near radiators. People often breathe through their mouths when they are short of breath. This causes dryness in the mouth, but moistening the air being breathed can help. Humidifiers or pans of water placed near radiators help to loosen mucus and moisten the dry throat and nasal passages. If a cough brings up thick phlegm from the lungs, a humidifier can help to loosen that phlegm as well.