Are you a nose breather, a mouth breather, or a combination of both? Whether you are fond of that dual-holed appendage fronting your face or not, it’s an important part of daily life. Respiration depends upon having those holes available to transport oxygen into the lungs. The mouth is supposed to be back-up, which is exactly the opposite of what happens when we have problems eating, as anybody who has been tube fed through a nostril can attest.
I read an article this past week about a man who spent several weeks with silicone plugs in his nostrils which were secured there with tape, along with several devices to register his vital signs, in order to study what happens to the bodies of chronic mouth breathers. It seems medical studies show that depending on getting oxygen through your mouth instead of your nose can cause a variety of problems including attention and behavioral problems, sleep disorders, poor oral health and the dynamic grouping of heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity.
According to the studies, air passing through the nose undergoes a complex cleaning process which enables the lungs to process the incoming oxygen more efficiently. The mouth, which seems a more direct and intake enabling route, instead deprives the lungs of this quality check. The inside of the nose contains structures designed to cleanse incoming air and remove irritants before going into the chest cavity. Breathing through the mouth sends everything you take in from the outside directly to the inside. It’s like not installing an air filter and allowing dust and particles to circulate unchecked.
The poor fellow in the study found out that his snoring increased twenty fold which naturally meant he wasn’t getting any healthy sleep. His mouth was dry all the time. By the time the study was over, he needed to thoroughly flush out his unplugged nostrils before he could enjoy the intake experience he was used to. Recovery took a while.
There also seems to be a social stigma attached to not using your nose to breathe, which is why some people go into exile when they get a cold and their noses clog. However, there are a number of reasons for somebody to need mouth breathing, so it’s improper to judge somebody by that. As part of a quest for better sleep, it may be a good idea to examine whether mouth breathing may be a partial cause.
The concept of how our health is affected by how we take in air was fascinating, and a bit scary. Fortunately I could sit back and breathe a sigh of relief. Hope you can, too.
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